Photo Gallery Fighting Prostitution in Ukraine

Experts say that there are 12,000 prostitutes in Ukraine, many of whom are university and high school students trying to make ends meet in difficult times. One group has found creative -- and sometimes abrasive -- ways to let foreign tourist know that "Ukraine is no whorehouse."
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Ukraine has become a favored destination for sex tourism, particularly from Western countries. A group of mostly young women in Kiev has organized a group called Femen to bring attention to this fact and how it degrades the country's women.

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Foto: Andreas Ehrmann
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According to figures from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, there are approximately 12,000 prostitutes in the Ukraine. A recent poll conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that one in every eight of these prostitutes was a student at university or high school. Here, a Femen member speaks with a tourist about sex tourism in Ukraine.

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Foto: Andreas Ehrmann
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Most of the group's members are university students, but there are also some high school students and even a few men. Their mission: to fight against sex tourism and prostitution -- and to do so with riotous activities.

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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For example, on one occasion, some of the students belonging to Femen threw themselves into mud puddles on the street in order to protest against "the political mud-slinging in our country." In particular, they were voicing their displeasure with the long-lasting feud between President Victor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, which crippled the country and turned many off to politics.

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Foto: Femen
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On another occasion, the women dressed up as nurses with backpacks full of syringes to protest in front of the Turkish Embassy. Anna Hutsol, one of Femen's founders and leaders, says that the action was "meant symbolically." "We wanted to cure foreigners' sex addiction," she says.

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Foto: Yuriy Krivenko
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On another occasion, some members who are fashion designers came up with some fairly intricate costumes that bore pricetags. Women wearing the costumes threw themselves in front of the feet of men "to demonstrate how women are forced to debase themselves."

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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On another occasion, members allowed themselves to be tossed about by men...

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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...and symbolically crucified.

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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One member threw a pie in the face of Oles Buzina, the author of a book entitled "Ladies, Back to the Harems." One of his controversial positions holds that women belong to the herd and should be prepared to have sex at any time. The woman was let off with a €8.50 ($12) fine.

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Foto: Yuriy Krivenko
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Femen recently received a bit of unexpected support from Germany in the form of Helmut Geier, who also goes by the name of DJ Hell. "I found out about the group via a newspaper article about it," Geier explains.

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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He paid his own way to fly to Ukraine and put on a performance with Femen members in downtown Kiev. The banner reads: "Ukraine is not a whorehouse."

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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Femen believes that sex tourism in Ukraine will continue to grow. One reason is the fact that Ukraine will co-host the European Championship football tournament with Poland in 2012.

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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Figuring that not all the fans drawn by the tournament will only be interested in sports, Femen has drawn up a special plan of action. The group's members have prepared a tip for foreigners: "Don't frequent prostitutes. Instead, visit the Mikhail Bulgakov Museum dedicated to one of our country's greatest writers."

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Foto: Slavica Ziener
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"If we were to run around dressed in baggy clothes, no one would pay any attention to us," says Anne Hutsol, one of Femen's founders and leaders.

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Foto: Slavica Ziener