“Issues of Sexual Exploitation in Bulgaria” - reactions

Bulgaria ranks third in the EU in trafficking girls for sexual exploitation; only Russia and Ukraine top our country! Тhis is the main conclusion of the conference “Issues of Sexual Exploitation in Bulgaria”, organized by RiskMonitor on 26 October and held in the National Parliament. Most of the media make this announcement their leading news.

Media publications emphasize the data on prostitution and sexual exploitation presented by RiskMonitor experts. According to the experts report, organized prostitution is a lucrative business, and profits in the mid-level prostitution market in Sofia, for instance, range between 30 and 60 million leva a year. According to Minister Tzvetanov, the average monthly profit from a Bulgarian prostitute in a EU country is between 12 and 18 thousand euro.

Both Mr. Tzvetanov and RM experts drew attention to the fact, that the huge profits are not the only reason for organized crime to take over the prostitution markets. Through the control of prostitution, and esp. the business with so-called elite prostitutes, organized crime has access to political and business figures, police officers, prosecutors, who thus become easy targets for blackmailing and political racketeering.

Both Mr. Tzvetanov and RM experts drew attention to the fact, that the huge profits are not the only reason for organized crime to take over the prostitution markets. Through the control of prostitution, and esp. the business with so-called elite prostitutes, organized crime has access to political and business figures, police officers, prosecutors, who thus become easy targets for blackmailing and political racketeering.

Dnevnik newspaper quotes the official statistics from October 2010, presented by Minister Tzvetanov, according to which there are 1326 prostitutes registered. However, the study conducted by RiskMonitor shows regions in the country and large cities, such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, and Bourgas, where the prostitution market is blooming and the number of prostitutes reaches hundreds and thousands of women. Similar is the situation in the large winter and summer resorts, as well as in border regions and towns, such as Sandanski and Svilengrad. Media reports also highlight information from the RiskMonitor study, according to which four major groups run the prostitution market in Sofia; however there is no clear territorial division among them, as exists among the criminal groups running the drug markets.