ALL ABOUT THE WAR AND SEX WORK IN UKRAINE WITH VICTORIA SAKHNENKO

"ALL ABOUT THE WAR AND SEX WORK IN UKRAINE" IS A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH REGIONAL LEADERS AND PARALEGALS OF THE CHARITY ORGANISATION LEGALIFE-UKRAINE. We are talking about the impact of the war on the lives of Ukrainians, the fate of sex workers in Ukraine. We are comparing what have changed over the time and what remains unchanged.

The first person our manager Natalia Dorofeeva (Наталія Дорофєєва) talked to was Victoria Sakhnenko (Вікторія Сахненко), the leader of the initiative group of sex workers and the head of the Mykolaiv city branch of CO "Legalife-Ukraine"

Natalia: Hello, Victoria! Please, tell us, what is the current situation in your city? How does this war affected lives of this city residents?

Victoria: Sometimes it seems to me that this war did not affect everyone equally. Even living in the same city, some people suffer because of destroyed housing and the loss of loved ones, while others seem not to notice what is happening, perhaps because there is a lull in Mykolaiv at the moment.

But, I understand that the war affects everyone, regardless of their profession, even those who are in relative safety or have gone abroad.  Almost everyone has been affected by the separation from their loved ones, because it happens that men leave their families to defend the country, and women are forced to leave their homes in search of a safe place for themselves and their children. Constant anxiety for their own lives and for their families destroys the psyche. Of course, all of this changes habits, lifestyle, living conditions, and worsens health.

As for sex workers (SWs), a significant number of them also left the city – they left to the west of Ukraine or abroad - in search of a safe place and with the hope of a new life. Many of them left sex business because in a foreign city/country, integrating into the local sex work market is not always an easy matter, and it is also a risk.

Also, if you are lucky, new opportunities arise in a new place - to find another job, to connect with a permanent partner, even to start a family. Therefore, for now SWs of Ukraine often leave sex work to find themselves in another life. I know several women who have succeeded in this.

Do you know any women, perhaps internally displaced persons (IDPs), who have never engaged in sex work before, but were forced to do so because of the war?

With the escalation of hostilities in Mykolaiv, some of the city’s residents were forced to settle in dormitories, where both women and men were living together.  In such conditions, women often have sexual relations with men for some kind of reward, whether in the form of gifts, drinks, or even money. But I would not consider this as sex work and refer to such women as sex workers, because such relationships are casual.

The same thing happens with IDPs who also live in compact settings. In cases where they provide sex services for remuneration, it is of an accidental nature and does not affect the overall situation in the field of sex work.

Then, what changes are taking place in sex work, what has changed in the work of those SWs that have remained in the city? Have prices and demand for sex services changed?

When our city was under constant shelling, there was no water and electricity, of course, not all SWs worked. Now, many of those who left have returned to the city, the overall situation has improved, and the work has become more active.

But from my observations, almost 90 per cent of street workers have disappeared, most of them just went to work in apartments - advertising their services, looking for clients, negotiating services through social networks and websites. Some locations in the city have closed, but this is more often related to business relations, for example, the owner of a mini-hotel or sauna raises the price for a stay, this does not suit the Sex Worker, and this place simply stops working.

Prices for services have increased slightly over the past year. I think this is due to the dollar exchange rate, and in general, prices are rising for everything, so why shouldn’t sex services become more expensive?

Most of the clients today are military men coming from the frontline. There are also those who work in the city, but most of them are in the city temporarily. Therefore, the demand for sex services changes depending on the arrival of the military in the city. Consequently, it happens that a sex worker has to work a lot, and sometimes there is no work and no income at all.

Why do military men turn to sex workers, and do they differ from civilian clients from the perspective of sex workers?

I believe that military men turn to sex workers for the same reasons as all other men, regardless of whether it is war or peace. But I think that war exacerbates the need for intimacy and sex, because a person who is on the verge of life and death, who is experiencing unhuman mental and physical stress, must somehow get rid of the tension, forget about death and horrors for a moment.

I cannot say that they are very different from civilians. In general, they behave like all other men. The women I have talked to did not tell me that they had noticed any noticeable difference in the way they treated women between the military and civilians. Likewise, sexual preferences are more or less standard for everyone, they are not looking for anything surprising.

In my opinion, military clients during a war are a common phenomenon. The SWs treat this as work, it is there, and it is good. The only issue is the mental health of clients, especially when they come straight from the front line. I have already heard about isolated cases of intoxicated soldiers showing aggression towards girls. It’s good that SWs have experience in dealing with such situations. But this women have also suffered a lot of fear.

What security measures do SWs use with military clients to avoid such situations?

It’s the same as with civilian clients.  Everything is like with civilian clients. A lot depends on where SWs work. In a sauna or in a brothel, where there is an administrator, because he is the one who controls security: he assesses whether clients are adequate, balanced, how drunk they are, or whether this guys have just arrived from the front line, etc. If the girls are on their own, then everything is individual: they negotiate on their own, assess the client’s condition and adequacy, and decide whether to accept the order. Some of them carry pepper spray, others inform their friends where they are going and with whom, and when they are expected to return, and agree on what to do if they do not return by a certain time. Everything is very individual.

What about health and privacy protection? What is the main danger for SWs today?    

If we talk about health, it is the simplest means of protection, i.e. condoms, lubricants, timely testing for HIV and STIs.

In terms of protection of personal life, all SWs avoid publicity, the vast majority will not disclose their identity and face. It is also noticeable that they began to cooperate more in twos. Previously, there were more singles. Now they work in pairs, rent an apartment, and they feel safer that way.

In terms of risks and dangers, almost nothing has changed compared to the pre-war period, but everyone sees Russian aggression as the main danger.

I wonder if the war has had any impact on the interaction with the police. What do SWs say about relations with law enforcement officers?

Relations with police have not changed in any way over the past year. In general, our police officers have been quite loyal to sex workers, both before the war and now.

But, just like before the war, they do not forget to manage raids as part of the fight against human trafficking, and girls are told: "We only catch pimps. Don’t worry, just sign that you were forced." After the raids, the fate of the SWs varies. But, as a rule, those girls who managed not to be prosecuted temporarily scatter, wait for the fuss to die down and return to work, often under the “police roof.” Saunas, mini-brothels that have been searched many times, are now back in business. I know of a case that happened during the war, when some girls disagreed with the owner of the place. Soon after the quarrel, the police came to visit them, disguised as clients. I don’t know the details of what happened next, but the bottom line is that now this girls are renting some place and working for the police, paying them a kind of tribute.

The war brought a new problem. In the first months, the territorial defence soldiers were very harsh on SWs who worked on the street: they insulted them, made illegal searches of personal belongings without protocols. Later, they moved away from raids on the streets. Although, most likely, the SWs themselves left the streets for apartments and saunas.

Given such violations of their rights and the "protection" of sex work, is the issue of the illegality of sex work today a concern for SWs?

To be honest, girls are not very concerned about the legalisation or decriminalisation of sex work - they don’t have time for that. Moreover, most of the girls always say that it is a forced job, that it is a temporary. But life shows that it happens differently... When you start talking to them about it, they may agree that it would be good if it were legal. One of the girls even said that "if it were legal", she would open a mini-hotel and do everything according to the law, pay taxes and the girls would be protected.

What are the problems and needs that the SWs come to you with, and have these needs changed because of the war?

The main thing is a material problems. Due to the absence or critical decline of income, the SWs are unable to feed their families and provide housing. For the first three to four months, we had the opportunity to help this girls financially, thanks to the support of Legalife-Ukraine, we transferred a little money to the girls for various urgent needs.

And then our charity organisation simply took SWs under its care: almost every month we sent humanitarian aid to SWs. The list of things that the SWs of the Nikolaev region received is very large: food, medicine, hygiene products, warm clothing and various means necessary to survive in conditions of a power outage, etc. In addition, I, as a manager, continue to consult girls. Most often this concerns violations and protection of the rights of SWs.