Cyprus-Forum.com

[pumpernickle]

I have settled in Cyprus for some time now, and I am as shocked and dismayed at the phenomena of 'cabarets' now as when I first arrived.

There seem to be more of these God awful hell holes, decked out in faulty jaded neon lights and tacky signs, that doctors surgeries and schools. they are everwhere, and seem to have proliferated alarmingly over the years that I have been coming to Cyprus since the early 1980s.

What I can't understand is how a conservative, orthodox and civilised nation as the Greek Cypriots are, tolerate what amounts to a widespread trade in human misery and criminality.

Cabarets are not places of harmless entertainment. and they are not strip joints. They are unabashed, barely concealed brothels. And it's not like I am rabidly anti prostitution.

My angle is that these places are owned and run by scum bags, and the women forced to work in them are sex slaves trafficked in from the former communist bloc, and thy are exploited and treated like dogs for little or no money or freedom.

I think it is a human rights outrage and an utter disgrace, not to mention a damning indictment and symbol of shame upon the Greeks. Sorry to say this but it is true.

People dont seem to notice or care that these places, and the poor women who work in them, are on their door steps. What a joke.

There should be campaigns to have them shut down and the women taken into refuge, and given care and employment or a way out of the misery.

The women should be given refugee status or green cards or alternate jobs, and the men responsible jailed or deported whichever appropriate.

as for the locals who go there, enjoy a life of mysogeny and emptiness. I'm sure your wives are proud of you.

[Hazza]

You are not the only one that feels this way pumpernickle. As far as I'm concerned, this may sound harsh, but I see anyone going into these places as rapists. Girls are sold as sex slaves, they have their passports taken away from them so they can escape, they have no money and nowhere to go. Their families are threatened and I truely believe that harm will be done unless the girls do what they are ordered to do, at least up until they pay off their debt.

The goverment won't do anything, they are corrupt, same with the police, they too are corrupt. Given a few quid, authorities turn a blind eye. Until somebody with a strong character steps in and is brave enough, more and more of these places will pop up.

The girls can't do anything because they don't want to put their families lives at risk, organisations won't start up to help these girls because nobody wants to take on the mafia types who will stop at nothing to make a few quid at the expense of these poor girls.

Anyone who believes that these girls do it volunterily is either very naive or in denial.

Now I'm a single guy in my mid 30s. It can get very lonely out here, but I wouldn't even dream about stooping so low to be with these girls, to rape these girls.

[TheCabbie]

I agree with the sentiments above, but not all the girls are forced to work here, in my job I often pick these girls up from hotels in the morning and take them back to their rooms, it must be said that I've met several that have come back to Cyprus after their contacts ran out as they've made good money here.

There were some bad cases a few years ago. particularly when a Russian girl fatally jumped off a third floor roof of a cabaret as she didn't want to prostitute herself, I've no time for the people that force girls into this business somebody should have got life for that... Of course nobody did.

When I was back in the UK I went through Walsall, there's a street there where girls as young as 13 are on the game, I certainly don't want to see that sort of thing again.

I think we should all realise that there will always be prostitution, personally I'd like to see it well regulated and safe for both prostitutes and customers.

[devil]

I'm against outlawing, as there are a few "proper" night clubs. Outlawing would force these to close down, as well. OTOH, I'm sure that applying existing laws to the letter would suffice to cut down the sleaze, especially regarding pimping. Notwithstanding, if some people were unable to get their "tail", they may be more prone to rape or, worse, go in for paedophily. It would therefore be necessary for state-approved brothels to open with regular medical supervision and possibly regulated tariffs - and no pimping!

However, be assured that this phenomenon is not new: I remember it existed in 1952. Tanzimat Street in Nicosia was almost 100% brothels with Turkish "ladies" and the so-called night-clubs acted in the same way. Some were tolerated by the Brits, as they rendered a "service". If I remember correctly, a proper nightclub with no prostitution opened in '52 or '53, the Chanteclair.

[Maria28]

I think they should be outlawed.
Women should not be a commodity to be sold.

If some women want to sell "sex services" they should be allowed to do it by themselves only, without "managers".

[dms007]

I too think that these places should be banned.
Most of the time these places flourish because of the patronage they receive from the clients.
Something must be done to stop the people from visiting them too, because as long as there are people willing to pay to get these services someone would be there to provide them legally or illegally.
So there are two things to be done, shut the cabrets done and do something that would deter people from wanting these services.
I completely agree with Maria that women are not a commodity but I do not agree that "they should be allowed to do it themselves".
If women are not a commodity then it follows that they cannot make a commodity of themselves.

[pumpernickle]

having read the responses thus far, i do feel vaguely encouraged that there are actually people out there who have the right idea and approach to this horrendous trade in human misery.

Up till now, I honestly believed myself to be living in a nation of Ostriches, with their heads in the sand all the way from Polis to Protaras.

Once again, I'm no Conservative, not by a long chalk. My grievance is not with the girls, or with prostitution or 'social stability' or 'morality' in the traditional sense...it's simply a case of untethered injustice and criminality being allowed to breed and destroy in the name of harmless entertainment.

The points made by Hazza regarding corruption are very very interesting. I don't know the first thing about the government or the police in Cyprus. I dont even know the number you need to call to get the filth! let alone info on their credibility.

I'd like to know more....although the reality of finding a horse's head in my bed tomorrow morning is enough of a disincentive. I'll leave it I feel!
Bastards.

Don't mean to sound a bit weird for a bloke, but it stinks of a patriarchal system that is utterly taking the piss out of women. Especially those who are vulnerable and from countries where running water and 'food' are luxuries.

Well, I think that the best way forward in this instance is to increase the proliferation of litigation. Get more solicitors in Cyprus, take advantage of EU law and legal aid alowances, get the Russian and Estonian girls et al to visit lawers and get suing.

I've had enough of these crimes going on un checked.

Wake up Cyprus please!!

[cypezokyli]

hi pumpernickle
welcome to the forum

as to your comment:

What I can't understand is how a conservative, orthodox and civilised nation as the Greek Cypriots are, tolerate what amounts to a widespread trade in human misery and criminality.

u gave the answer yourself :

but it stinks of a patriarchal system that is utterly taking the piss out of women

we are concervative (even though somehow we think we are not ) , and cristian and patriots only when it comes to words.

as for the most ancient occupation of the world...there is i guess the obvious problem with it... that it is the most ancient...one way or another it will always exist, legal or illegal. (hope i am not that pessimist on this one)
these things exist allaround the world it just that in cyprus they are disproportionately a lot for such a small island. plus there are all kinds of interests in the cypriot "mafia" and police corruption.

to add on the above reasons, for the exisatnce of this phenomenon , i would say we are too concervative when it comes to our relationships, sex, discussing over the previous two...

it is indeed disgusting to take advantage of the girls just because they are poor.

[pumpernickle]

having researched all there is on the Cypriot cabaret problem online, it seems that under pressure from the EU, the government stopped issuing licenses for new cabarets in mid 2004. That's pretty late in the day to stop the legal endorsement to a slave trade. Especially for a country that should be more advanced and stronger on human rights, EU or no EU.

Turning my tirade on the punters for a moment, who the hell are the people who spend money at these joints? are we cab drivers and construction workers, or british squaddies and coppers? or both?

you know what action needs to be taken??

People need to organise demonstrations outside these places, and bring the media in for a party. Stand outside and picket the f**kin places, calling for the arrests of the gangsters in charge.

Has anyone seen the God damned mess of a disaster zone by that never-will-be-completed roundabout in Larnaca, en route to the petrol refinery on dekhelia road??

you know, the one that leads to chris cash and rip-off, at end of Makarios wotsit avenue. The one with around a dozen or more cabarets. Perfect location of a demo.

Anarchy has its uses in society...

[devil]

Candidate for a rough-up while the cops look on and laugh?