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'''Prostitution in Iran''' involves two main categories: [[prostitution]] which is illegal nationwide, and a form of temporary marriage instituted by the [[Shia Islam]]ic government, known as ''[[nikah mut‘ah]]'' or ''sigheh'', a practice that is considered to be legalized prostitution by many Iranians and foreign observers.<ref name=Sciolino2001/><ref>{{cite book |last=Haeri |first=Shahla |title=Law of desire: temporary marriage in Shi'i Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=f1CzcNX-nVgC&pg=PA157 |series=Contemporary issues in the Middle East |year=1989 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=0815624832 |page=157 |quote=He challenged the views of a certain Russian writer (whose name he could not remember) who has alleged that ''mut'a'' is legalized prostitution. The Ayatollah Shari'atmadari maintained this to be an erroneous understanding, typical of what foreigners think of ''mut'a''.}}</ref> Though the statistics are hidden by authorities, illegal prostitution is on the rise in Iran and was identified by [[Interpol]] as "one of the most profitable activities in Iran" in 2004.<ref name=Hughes2004>{{cite journal |last=Hughes |first=Donna M. |authorlink=Donna M. Hughes |date=January 27, 2004 |title=Sex Slave Jihad |journal=FrontPageMagazine.com |url=http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/sex_slave_trade_iran.pdf}}</ref> Among those profiting are government officials.<ref name=Hughes2004/> Also, thousands of native Iranian women and girls have been taken from the country and sold into prostitution elsewhere.<ref name=Hughes2004/> The United States has classified Iran as a "Tier 3" country in regard to [[human trafficking]] mainly concerning prostitution; Iran makes no effort to comply with the U.S. federal statute [[Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000]] (TVPA).<ref name=Trafficking2010/>
{{USgovtPOV|date=February 2010}}
{{Refimprove|date=February 2010}}
⚫
'''Prostitution in Iran''' may under some circumstances incur various punishments ranging from fines and jail terms to execution for repeat offenders. Prostitution has increased over the past decade and the [[Iran|Iranian]] government has considered regulating prostitution in order to combat this act.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100595.htm|title= Human Rights Report: Iran|date=2009-02-25|work=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor|publisher=U.S. Department of State|accessdate=20 December 2009}}</ref>. In 2007, the [[United States State Department]] placed Iran as a "Tier 2" in its annual Trafficking in Persons reports, stating that "it does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2004/33195.htm |title= Trafficking in Persons Report |date=2009-02-25 |work=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=20 December 2009}}</ref> In 2010, [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] downgraded Iran to "Tier 3", noting that the country makes no significant effort to solve trafficking problems, mainly in relation to prostitution and forced labor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142759.htm|title=Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 |author=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |date=2010 |work= |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=6 January 2011}}</ref>


==Illegal prostitution==
The exact number of prostitutes working in Iran is unknown. However, in Tehran, their visibility on street corners suggests that there are tens of thousands. Most prostitutes are runaways from poor and broken homes. <ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/2137652]</ref>
After the [[Iranian Revolution]] in 1979, prostitution was outlawed in all of Iran.<ref name=FoxNews2007>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,277449,00.html |title=Iranian Minister Calls for Temporary Marriages to Fulfill Sexual Desires |agency=Associated Press |date=June 3, 2007 |work=Fox News |accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref> However, prostitution did not stop; nationwide, at least 300,000 prostitutes were estimated in 2002 by welfare officials,<ref name=Sistani2002/> and in [[Tehran]], the number of teenage prostitutes rose by more than 600%;<ref name=Hughes2004/> most are runaways from poor families.<ref name=Economist2003/> The average age of prostitutes in Tehran has been dropping.<ref name=Economist2003/> In 2004, [[Donna M. Hughes]] reported that there were some 250 brothels operating in Tehran, and an estimated 84,000 females engaging in illegal prostitution, many of them unassociated with brothels.<ref name=Hughes2004/> Girls and young women running away from home increase the numbers of prostitutes, with some 90% of these ending up as prostitutes.<ref name=Hughes2004/> Other factors include high unemployment rates: young Iranians of both sexes 15 to 29 years old suffer from 29% unemployment while females from 15 to 20 years old see 43% unemployment.<ref name=Hughes2004/> In 2006,


To prosecute criminal prostitution, two men or four women must have witnessed the sexual act.<ref name=Singer2006>{{cite news |url=http://www.duclarion.com/2.964/documentary-discusses-social-problems-in-iran-1.47399 |title=Documentary discusses social problems in Iran: Film, "Epitaph," speaker Ana Sami address prostitution |last=Singer |first=Daliah |date=October 24, 2006 |work=DUClarion.com |publisher=University of Denver |accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref> The crime may incur various punishments ranging from fines and jail terms to execution for repeat offenders. A typical punishment is 80 lashes with a whip, given to male or female offenders.<ref name=Singer2006/> However, women rarely receive the same justice as men; they may be executed for adultery after bringing sex abuse charges against a man.<ref name=Trafficking2010>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142760.htm |title=Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 |date=June 2010 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=January 4, 2011 |location=Washington, D.C. |archivedate= |quote=The law permits temporary marriage for a fixed term (sigheh), after which the marriage is terminated. Some persons abuse this legal process to coerce women into prostitution; there are reports of Iranian women subjected to forced prostitution through fixed-term marriages to men from Pakistan and Gulf states. Law enforcement data is unknown; there were reports of some prosecutions for traffickers who forced Iranian girls into prostitution in the Gulf. Investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking offenders were not priorities in the country. It was extremely difficult for women forcibly held in commercial sexual exploitation to obtain justice; first, because the testimony of two women is equal to that of one man, and second, because women who are victims of sexual abuse are vulnerable to being executed for adultery, defined as sexual relations outside of marriage. Official complicity may be a problem; human traffickers were reported to have very close links to some authorities and security agencies.}}</ref>
⚫
In 2008, General Reza Zarei, the Tehran police chief, was arrested in a brothel with six prostitutes.<ref name=Spiegel2008>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,550156,00.html |title=Prostitute Scandal Rattles Tehran Government |date=April 28, 2008 |work=Spiegel Online International |accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref> His arrest caused embarrassment for the government of President Ahmadinejad, because he was in charge of [[Vice#Law enforcement|vice]] in Tehran—he was expected to arrest prostitutes, not pay them for services.<ref name=Spiegel2008/> The prosecutor in the case remarked that Zarei exploited his office to profit materially from prostitution.<ref name=Spiegel2008/>

Some 25,000 children in Tehran are homeless, living off the streets; most of these are female. Many city shelters for runaway children are run by corrupt officials who funnel the runaways into prostitution.<ref name=Hughes2004/> Among arrests made in [[Karaj]], one clinic called the Center of Islamic Orientation was reported the center for a prostitution ring made up of eight senior officials including one former head of a Revolutionary Tribunal.<ref name=Hughes2004/> Another prostitution ring in [[Qom]] resulted in arrests of people from governmental agencies, including the Department of Justice.<ref name=Hughes2004/>

From 1979 to 1997, prostitution was not discussed publicly by the Iranian government.<ref name=Economist2003>{{cite journal |date=October 16, 2003 |title=Women in Iran: Shorn of dignity and equality |journal=The Economist |publisher=The Economist Newspaper Limited |location=Ghazvin and Tehran |url=http://www.economist.com/node/2137652}}</ref> Under President [[Mohammad Khatami]], in office from 1997 to 2005, Iran initiated a slightly more transparent stance.<ref name=Economist2003/> Nonetheless, a BBC journalist was deported in 2002 for taking photographs of prostitutes and was told, "This is not a true reflection of life in our Islamic republic. We don't have prostitutes."<ref name=Hughes2004/>

⚫
In 2008, General Reza Zarei, the Tehran police chief, was arrested in a brothel with six prostitutes that he instructed to stand naked in a line and pray.<ref name=Spiegel2008>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,550156,00.html |title=Prostitute Scandal Rattles Tehran Government |date=April 28, 2008 |work=Spiegel Online International |accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref> His arrest caused embarrassment for the government because he was known on television for his stern sermons on morality, and because he was in charge of [[Vice#Law enforcement|vice]] in Tehran—he was expected to arrest prostitutes, not pay them for services.<ref name=Spiegel2008/> In prison, Zarei reportedly attempted suicide.<ref name=Lapidos2008>{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2189816/ |title=How To Spot a Persian Prostitute: Streetwalkers in chadors |last=Lapidos |first=Juliet |date=April 23, 2008 |accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref> The prosecutor in the case remarked that Zarei exploited his office to profit materially from prostitution.<ref name=Spiegel2008/>

===Sex slavery===
Thousands of native Iranian women and girls have been taken from the country and sold into prostitution elsewhere, including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, United Kingdom, France, Turkey,<ref name=Hughes2004/> Iraq and Germany.<ref name=Trafficking2010/> Near the [[Iran–Pakistan barrier]] in the [[Khorasan Province|province of Khorasan]], poor families have sold their girls and young women aged 12 to 20 to Pakistani men who marry them and then sell them to brothels.<ref name=Hughes2004/><ref name=Trafficking2010/> Similarly, poor Iranian families in [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province]] have sold their girls and young women into sex slavery in Afghanistan.<ref name=Hughes2004/> Afghan boys, women and girls are also subjected to forced prostitution in Iran.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142759.htm|title=Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 |author=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |date=2010 |work= |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=6 January 2011}}</ref>

⚫
In 2007, the [[United States State Department]] placed Iran as a "Tier 2" in its annual Trafficking in Persons reports, stating that "it does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2004/33195.htm |title= Trafficking in Persons Report |date=2009-02-25 |work=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=20 December 2009}}</ref> In 2010, [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] downgraded Iran to "Tier 3", noting that the country makes no significant effort to solve trafficking problems, mainly in relation to prostitution and forced labor.<ref name=Trafficking2010/> The report noted that young Iranian males were being forced into prostitution in brothels in southern Iran, and that there was widespread prostitution forced on females.<ref name=Trafficking2010/>

==Temporary marriage==
{{Main|Nikah mut‘ah}}
In Shia Islam, temporary marriages are allowed for a variety of reasons, but the most prevalent is ''nikah mut‘ah'' or ''sigheh'', a temporary marriage primarily used to trade money for sex.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brooks |first=Geraldine |title=Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-LwAWfcrdz8C&pg=PT56 |year=2010 |publisher=Random House |isbn=0307434451 |page=56 |quote=Sigheh, agreed between a man and a woman and sanctioned by a cleric, can last as little as a few minutes or as long as ninety-nine years. Usually the man pays the woman an agreed sum of money in exchange for a temporary marriage. The usual motive is sex...}}</ref> A ''Sigheh'' marriage can be as short as a few minutes or as long as 99 years.<ref name=Saben2010/> ''Sigheh'' is forbidden by the majority of [[Sunni Islam]] who make up 85% of Muslims worldwide, but in Iran it is allowed. In Shiaism, it is permissible for women to make a living practicing temporary marriage. ''Sigheh'' is considered by many Iranians to be a form of legalized prostitution,<ref name=Sciolino2001>{{cite book |last=Sciolino |first=Elaine |title=Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=T7QYk48OPqYC&pg=PA127 |year=2001 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=0743217799 |pages=127–129 |quote=In his two-volume 1892 opus on Iran, ''Persia and the Persian Question'', Lord Curzon described his shock at the widespread practice of ''sigheh'' among pilgrims in Mashad, where, he said, 'a gigantic system of prostitution, under the sanction of the Church, prevails.'&nbsp;... Most Iranians I know regard the practice as little more than legalized prostitution, for ''sigheh'' is a public advertisement that a woman is not a virgin.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Slavin |first=Barbara |title=Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Mc-oRlP6_fEC&pg=PA142 |year=2009 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0312384912 |page=142 |quote=Such a large population of students, primarily male, has made Qom a city known for more than spiritual contemplation. The courtyard of the gold-domed Fatemeh shrine is a well-known place for arranging ''sigheh'', or temporary marriage, a practice condoned in Shiite Islam that sometimes resembles legalized prostitution.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Maslin |first=Jamie |title=Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4w4d6DjmDXMC&pg=PA55 |year=2009 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |isbn=1602397910 |pages=55–56 |quote=...many Iranians see it simply as legalized and sanctioned prostitution.}}</ref><ref name=Saben2010>{{cite book |last=Saben |first=Roxana |title=Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=DyhMQJVnxs0C&pg=PA314 |year=2010 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0061965286 |page=314 |chapter=Glossary |quote=''sigheh''. Temporary marriage; a Shiite practice that allows couples to marry for a period of their choice, from a few minutes to ninety-nine years, by reciting a verse from the Koran. ''Sigheh'' is frowned upon by many Iranians who see it as a front for prostitution or as a way for men and women to legitimize extramarital relationships, but it has also become a practical method of dealing with the Islamic regime's crackdown on couples who are dating.}}</ref> especially middle- and upper class Iranians who see in it the "degradation of women".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bird |first=Christiane |title=Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mI4txCJZmZIC&pg=PA169 |year=2002 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=0671027565 |pages=168–170 |quote=Though for the most part a marginalized activity, ''sigheh'' has been a hotly debated subject in Iran since 1990, when then-President Hashemi Rafsanjani made a speech in which he urged war widows and young people who had not yet earned enough money for marriage to engage in ''sigheh''. Most middle- and upper-class Iranians took vehement issue with the president's comments, equating temporary marriages with legalized prostitution and the degradation of women.}}</ref> Foreign observers have long equated ''sigheh'' with prostitution; In 1892, [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston]], was shocked at the many pilgrims practicing ''sigheh'' in [[Mashhad]].<ref name=Sciolino2001/> He described it as "a gigantic system of prostitution, under the sanction of the [Shia Islam] Church".<ref name=Sciolino2001/>

Holy cities such as Mashhad<ref name=Sciolino2001/> and Qom have more runaways and others working as prostitutes, using ''sigheh'' to make a living.<ref name=Lapidos2008/> Tourists and scholars are their main clientele.<ref name=Lapidos2008/>

In November 1990, President [[Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]] advocated ''sigheh'' in a sermon given at the [[University of Tehran]], considered a public forum for political ideas.<ref name=Sciolino2001/> He said that sexual desire was given by God and had to be fulfilled, and he proposed a legal solution so that young Iranians and war widows would not be "promiscuous like the [[Western culture|Westerners]]".<ref name=Sciolino2001/> Thousands of demonstrators protested against the proposal, saying that women would not be helped by the practice; that ''sigheh'' was "little more than legalized prostitution".<ref name=Sciolino2001/>

===''Efaf'' houses===
Early in 2002, officials of the Social Department of the Interior Ministry suggested legalizing prostitution so that sexually transmitted diseases such as [[HIV]] could be controlled.<ref name=Hughes2004/> For example, 24% of Iranian men seeking treatment for [[gonorrhea]] report being infected from a temporary marriage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abu-Raddad |first1=Laith J. |last2=Akala |first2=Francisca Ayodeji |last3=Semini |first3=Iris |others=Gabriele Riedner, David Wilson |title=Characterizing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GESIifUcDcwC&pg=PA71 |year=2010 |publisher=World Bank |isbn=0821381377 |pages=71–72 |quote=Twenty-four percent of male gonorrhea patients reported acquiring the infection from temporary wives.}}</ref> The proposed solution was to organize government brothels called ''efaf'' ("chastity house", "decency house" or "morality house") within which temporary marriages could be consummated.<ref name=Hughes2004/><ref name=Sistani2002>{{cite news |url=http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2002/Aug_2002/efaf_house_4802.htm |title=Efaf House: Religiously Licensed Prostitution in Iran |last=Sistani |first=Mitra |date=August 4, 2002 |publisher=Iran Press Service |location=Cologne |accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100595.htm |title= Human Rights Report: Iran |date=2009-02-25 |work=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=20 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142760.htm|title=Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 |author=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |date=2010 |work= |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=11 August 2010}}</ref> The buildings would only be open to unmarried women citizens, and male citizens who were unmarried or whose wives were incapacitated by mental or physical illness. Both sexes were to receive a health check and were to be required to register their temporary marriage. The couple would then go to selected hotels or guest houses for sex.<ref name=Sistani2002/> Ayatollah [[Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi]] said "It is vital that we set up these decency houses, given the urgency of the situation",<ref name=Sistani2002/> but [[Women's rights movement in Iran|feminists in Iran]] spoke out and demonstrated against the plan. One member of the Women's Social and Cultural Council said that ''efaf'' was a "euphemism for the official establishment of houses of corruption, the normalization of illegitimate relations, and the destruction of the family."<ref name=Sistani2002/> The plan was rejected by Iran's Social Council in July 2002 after it was strongly opposed by religious and feminist organizations.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2156975.stm |title=Iran 'brothel' plan rejected |last=Muir |first=Jim |date=July 28, 2002 |work=BBC News World Edition |accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}

*{{cite book |first1=Andrew |last1=Burke |first2=Mark |last2=Elliot |title=Iran |page=59 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gEca_4iSNCUC&pg=PA59 |publisher=Lonely Planet |year=2008 |isbn=1741042933 |quote=''Sigheh'' (the Islamic practice of temporary marriage) is seen by many as a sort of legalised prostitution.}}
==See also==
*{{cite book |last=Moaveni |first=Azadeh |title=Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vmZRifeizdkC&pg=PT71 |year=2006 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=1586483781 |page=71 |quote=In Shiite Islam, when a man wants to sleep with a woman without marrying her, he can opt for ''sigheh'', a temporary marriage. Though sordid and unromantic, temporary marriage is convenient: the duration can be as short as fifteen minutes, and the vows can be exchanged in about fifteen seconds. The institution serves clerics, seeking a theological loophole through which to philander, and prostitutes, who need such a pretext to operate in an Islamic society.&nbsp;... It is a form of prostitution, which enables a patriarchal culture to cement the imbalanced gender relations in the guise of empowering women with a temporary and flimsy legal status that rarely works to their benefit.}}
*[[Nikah mut'ah]] Temporary marriage in Shia Islam
*{{cite book |last=Alavi |first=Nasrin |title=We Are Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OUtoJovyjMIC&pg=PA156 |year=2005 |publisher=Soft Skull Press |isbn=1933368055 |page=156 |quote=The growing problem of prostitution in Iran has been a subject of mounting concern.&nbsp;... Under Iran's Islamic Shia system, it is possible to take out a temporary marriage license, known as a ''Sigheh'', for even a few hours. A ''Sigheh'' is used to cover liaisons between men and women who want to have sex but who, for one reson or another, are not ready for full marriage.}}
*[[Chastity House]] Houses where Nikah mut'ah takes place in Iran
*{{cite book |last=Andreeva |first=Elena |title=Russia and Iran in the great game: travelogues and Orientalism |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=V96ShRFDDwgC&pg=PA162 |series=Routledge studies in Middle Eastern history |volume=8 |year=2007 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=0415771536 |pages=162–163 |quote=Most of the travelers describe the Shi'i institution of temporary marriage (''sigheh'') as 'legalized profligacy' and hardly distinguish between temporary marriage and prostitution.}}
*[[Transsexuality in Iran]]
*{{cite book |last1=Fielder |first1=Christine |last2=King |first2=Chris |title=Sexual Paradox: Complementarity, Reproductive Conflict and Human Emergence |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=9YInrVSoa9cC&pg=PA272 |year=2006 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=141165532X |page=272 |quote=The enjoyment marriage is nothing but a legal cover for prostitution. How can anyone in the world claim that a marriage for 10 minutes is a legal act?}}
*[[LGBT rights in Iran]]
*{{cite book |last=Paidar |first=Parvin |title=Women and the political process in twentieth-century Iran |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=2CP61Ke2cTQC&pg=PA278 |series=Cambridge Middle East Studies |volume=1 |year=1997 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=052159572X |pages=278–281 |quote=Prostitutes detained in rehabilitation centers were encouraged to become ''sigheh'' to revolutionary guards and many did so willingly or unwillingly. In prisons too, virgin women prisoneers were forced into ''sigheh'' with their jailors before being executed, since according to religious beliefs they would otherwise go to heaven.&nbsp;... ''Sigheh contract'' may be presided over by a clergyman and be registered and documented as well. But none of these requirements were legally enforced. The contract was often set and sealed by the partners without the presence of witnesses and with no legal documentation.}}
*{{cite journal |last=Labi |first=Nadya |date=March-April 2010 |title=Married for a Minute |journal=Mother Jones |publisher=Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress |quote=Yet the Iranian mullahs' efforts to rehabilitate sigheh have met a stubborn core of resistance—particularly from feminists, who decry the practice as a kind of 'Islamic prostitution'. |url=http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/temporary-marriage-iran-islam}}
{{refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.persian.asia/videos/iranian-documentary-prostitution-in-iran Prostitution in Iran Documentary ]
*[http://www.persian.asia/videos/iranian-documentary-prostitution-in-iran Prostitution in Iran Documentary]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2156975.stm Iran 'brothel' plan rejected]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/822312.stm "Drugs and prostitution 'soar' in Iran" BBC News]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/822312.stm Drugs and prostitution 'soar' in Iran]
*[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HK21Ak01.html "Jihadis and whores" ''Asia Times'']
*[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HK21Ak01.html Jihadis and whores]
*[http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=48190 "The silent screams of women and girls", ''Jerusalem Post'']
*[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,550156,00.html Prostitute Scandal Rattles Tehran Government]
*[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467739732&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull The silent screams of women and girls]


{{Asia in topic|Prostitution in}}
{{Asia in topic|Prostitution in}}

[[Category:Prostitution by country|Iran]]
[[Category:Prostitution by country|Iran]]
[[Category:Iranian society]]
[[Category:Iranian society]]

{{Iran-stub}}


[[fa:تن‌فروشی در ایران]]
[[fa:تن‌فروشی در ایران]]

Revision as of 06:18, 8 January 2011

Prostitution in Iran involves two main categories: prostitution which is illegal nationwide, and a form of temporary marriage instituted by the Shia Islamic government, known as nikah mut‘ah or sigheh, a practice that is considered to be legalized prostitution by many Iranians and foreign observers.[1][2] Though the statistics are hidden by authorities, illegal prostitution is on the rise in Iran and was identified by Interpol as "one of the most profitable activities in Iran" in 2004.[3] Among those profiting are government officials.[3] Also, thousands of native Iranian women and girls have been taken from the country and sold into prostitution elsewhere.[3] The United States has classified Iran as a "Tier 3" country in regard to human trafficking mainly concerning prostitution; Iran makes no effort to comply with the U.S. federal statute Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA).[4]

Illegal prostitution

After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, prostitution was outlawed in all of Iran.[5] However, prostitution did not stop; nationwide, at least 300,000 prostitutes were estimated in 2002 by welfare officials,[6] and in Tehran, the number of teenage prostitutes rose by more than 600%;[3] most are runaways from poor families.[7] The average age of prostitutes in Tehran has been dropping.[7] In 2004, Donna M. Hughes reported that there were some 250 brothels operating in Tehran, and an estimated 84,000 females engaging in illegal prostitution, many of them unassociated with brothels.[3] Girls and young women running away from home increase the numbers of prostitutes, with some 90% of these ending up as prostitutes.[3] Other factors include high unemployment rates: young Iranians of both sexes 15 to 29 years old suffer from 29% unemployment while females from 15 to 20 years old see 43% unemployment.[3] In 2006,

To prosecute criminal prostitution, two men or four women must have witnessed the sexual act.[8] The crime may incur various punishments ranging from fines and jail terms to execution for repeat offenders. A typical punishment is 80 lashes with a whip, given to male or female offenders.[8] However, women rarely receive the same justice as men; they may be executed for adultery after bringing sex abuse charges against a man.[4]

Some 25,000 children in Tehran are homeless, living off the streets; most of these are female. Many city shelters for runaway children are run by corrupt officials who funnel the runaways into prostitution.[3] Among arrests made in Karaj, one clinic called the Center of Islamic Orientation was reported the center for a prostitution ring made up of eight senior officials including one former head of a Revolutionary Tribunal.[3] Another prostitution ring in Qom resulted in arrests of people from governmental agencies, including the Department of Justice.[3]

From 1979 to 1997, prostitution was not discussed publicly by the Iranian government.[7] Under President Mohammad Khatami, in office from 1997 to 2005, Iran initiated a slightly more transparent stance.[7] Nonetheless, a BBC journalist was deported in 2002 for taking photographs of prostitutes and was told, "This is not a true reflection of life in our Islamic republic. We don't have prostitutes."[3]

In 2008, General Reza Zarei, the Tehran police chief, was arrested in a brothel with six prostitutes that he instructed to stand naked in a line and pray.[9] His arrest caused embarrassment for the government because he was known on television for his stern sermons on morality, and because he was in charge of vice in Tehran—he was expected to arrest prostitutes, not pay them for services.[9] In prison, Zarei reportedly attempted suicide.[10] The prosecutor in the case remarked that Zarei exploited his office to profit materially from prostitution.[9]

Sex slavery

Thousands of native Iranian women and girls have been taken from the country and sold into prostitution elsewhere, including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, United Kingdom, France, Turkey,[3] Iraq and Germany.[4] Near the Iran–Pakistan barrier in the province of Khorasan, poor families have sold their girls and young women aged 12 to 20 to Pakistani men who marry them and then sell them to brothels.[3][4] Similarly, poor Iranian families in Sistan and Baluchestan Province have sold their girls and young women into sex slavery in Afghanistan.[3] Afghan boys, women and girls are also subjected to forced prostitution in Iran.[11]

In 2007, the United States State Department placed Iran as a "Tier 2" in its annual Trafficking in Persons reports, stating that "it does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so".[12] In 2010, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton downgraded Iran to "Tier 3", noting that the country makes no significant effort to solve trafficking problems, mainly in relation to prostitution and forced labor.[4] The report noted that young Iranian males were being forced into prostitution in brothels in southern Iran, and that there was widespread prostitution forced on females.[4]

Temporary marriage

Main article: Nikah mut‘ah

In Shia Islam, temporary marriages are allowed for a variety of reasons, but the most prevalent is nikah mut‘ah or sigheh, a temporary marriage primarily used to trade money for sex.[13] A Sigheh marriage can be as short as a few minutes or as long as 99 years.[14] Sigheh is forbidden by the majority of Sunni Islam who make up 85% of Muslims worldwide, but in Iran it is allowed. In Shiaism, it is permissible for women to make a living practicing temporary marriage. Sigheh is considered by many Iranians to be a form of legalized prostitution,[1][15][16][14] especially middle- and upper class Iranians who see in it the "degradation of women".[17] Foreign observers have long equated sigheh with prostitution; In 1892, George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, was shocked at the many pilgrims practicing sigheh in Mashhad.[1] He described it as "a gigantic system of prostitution, under the sanction of the [Shia Islam] Church".[1]

Holy cities such as Mashhad[1] and Qom have more runaways and others working as prostitutes, using sigheh to make a living.[10] Tourists and scholars are their main clientele.[10]

In November 1990, President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani advocated sigheh in a sermon given at the University of Tehran, considered a public forum for political ideas.[1] He said that sexual desire was given by God and had to be fulfilled, and he proposed a legal solution so that young Iranians and war widows would not be "promiscuous like the Westerners".[1] Thousands of demonstrators protested against the proposal, saying that women would not be helped by the practice; that sigheh was "little more than legalized prostitution".[1]

Efaf houses

Early in 2002, officials of the Social Department of the Interior Ministry suggested legalizing prostitution so that sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV could be controlled.[3] For example, 24% of Iranian men seeking treatment for gonorrhea report being infected from a temporary marriage.[18] The proposed solution was to organize government brothels called efaf ("chastity house", "decency house" or "morality house") within which temporary marriages could be consummated.[3][6][19][20] The buildings would only be open to unmarried women citizens, and male citizens who were unmarried or whose wives were incapacitated by mental or physical illness. Both sexes were to receive a health check and were to be required to register their temporary marriage. The couple would then go to selected hotels or guest houses for sex.[6] Ayatollah Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi said "It is vital that we set up these decency houses, given the urgency of the situation",[6] but feminists in Iran spoke out and demonstrated against the plan. One member of the Women's Social and Cultural Council said that efaf was a "euphemism for the official establishment of houses of corruption, the normalization of illegitimate relations, and the destruction of the family."[6] The plan was rejected by Iran's Social Council in July 2002 after it was strongly opposed by religious and feminist organizations.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Sciolino, Elaine (2001). Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran. Simon and Schuster. pp. 127–129. ISBN 0743217799. In his two-volume 1892 opus on Iran, Persia and the Persian Question, Lord Curzon described his shock at the widespread practice of sigheh among pilgrims in Mashad, where, he said, 'a gigantic system of prostitution, under the sanction of the Church, prevails.' ... Most Iranians I know regard the practice as little more than legalized prostitution, for sigheh is a public advertisement that a woman is not a virgin.
  2. ^ Haeri, Shahla (1989). Law of desire: temporary marriage in Shi'i Iran. Contemporary issues in the Middle East. Syracuse University Press. p. 157. ISBN 0815624832. He challenged the views of a certain Russian writer (whose name he could not remember) who has alleged that mut'a is legalized prostitution. The Ayatollah Shari'atmadari maintained this to be an erroneous understanding, typical of what foreigners think of mut'a.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Hughes, Donna M. (January 27, 2004). "Sex Slave Jihad" (PDF). FrontPageMagazine.com.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Trafficking in Persons Report 2010". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State. June 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2011. The law permits temporary marriage for a fixed term (sigheh), after which the marriage is terminated. Some persons abuse this legal process to coerce women into prostitution; there are reports of Iranian women subjected to forced prostitution through fixed-term marriages to men from Pakistan and Gulf states. Law enforcement data is unknown; there were reports of some prosecutions for traffickers who forced Iranian girls into prostitution in the Gulf. Investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking offenders were not priorities in the country. It was extremely difficult for women forcibly held in commercial sexual exploitation to obtain justice; first, because the testimony of two women is equal to that of one man, and second, because women who are victims of sexual abuse are vulnerable to being executed for adultery, defined as sexual relations outside of marriage. Official complicity may be a problem; human traffickers were reported to have very close links to some authorities and security agencies.
  5. ^ "Iranian Minister Calls for Temporary Marriages to Fulfill Sexual Desires". Fox News. Associated Press. June 3, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e Sistani, Mitra (August 4, 2002). "Efaf House: Religiously Licensed Prostitution in Iran". Cologne: Iran Press Service. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d "Women in Iran: Shorn of dignity and equality". The Economist. Ghazvin and Tehran: The Economist Newspaper Limited. October 16, 2003.
  8. ^ a b Singer, Daliah (October 24, 2006). "Documentary discusses social problems in Iran: Film, "Epitaph," speaker Ana Sami address prostitution". DUClarion.com. University of Denver. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c "Prostitute Scandal Rattles Tehran Government". Spiegel Online International. April 28, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  10. ^ a b c Lapidos, Juliet (April 23, 2008). "How To Spot a Persian Prostitute: Streetwalkers in chadors". Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  11. ^ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2010). "Trafficking in Persons Report 2010". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 6 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Trafficking in Persons Report". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. U.S. Department of State. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  13. ^ Brooks, Geraldine (2010). Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women. Random House. p. 56. ISBN 0307434451. Sigheh, agreed between a man and a woman and sanctioned by a cleric, can last as little as a few minutes or as long as ninety-nine years. Usually the man pays the woman an agreed sum of money in exchange for a temporary marriage. The usual motive is sex...
  14. ^ a b Saben, Roxana (2010). "Glossary". Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran. HarperCollins. p. 314. ISBN 0061965286. sigheh. Temporary marriage; a Shiite practice that allows couples to marry for a period of their choice, from a few minutes to ninety-nine years, by reciting a verse from the Koran. Sigheh is frowned upon by many Iranians who see it as a front for prostitution or as a way for men and women to legitimize extramarital relationships, but it has also become a practical method of dealing with the Islamic regime's crackdown on couples who are dating.
  15. ^ Slavin, Barbara (2009). Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation. Macmillan. p. 142. ISBN 0312384912. Such a large population of students, primarily male, has made Qom a city known for more than spiritual contemplation. The courtyard of the gold-domed Fatemeh shrine is a well-known place for arranging sigheh, or temporary marriage, a practice condoned in Shiite Islam that sometimes resembles legalized prostitution.
  16. ^ Maslin, Jamie (2009). Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 55–56. ISBN 1602397910. ...many Iranians see it simply as legalized and sanctioned prostitution.
  17. ^ Bird, Christiane (2002). Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran. Simon and Schuster. pp. 168–170. ISBN 0671027565. Though for the most part a marginalized activity, sigheh has been a hotly debated subject in Iran since 1990, when then-President Hashemi Rafsanjani made a speech in which he urged war widows and young people who had not yet earned enough money for marriage to engage in sigheh. Most middle- and upper-class Iranians took vehement issue with the president's comments, equating temporary marriages with legalized prostitution and the degradation of women.
  18. ^ Abu-Raddad, Laith J.; Akala, Francisca Ayodeji; Semini, Iris (2010). Characterizing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa. Gabriele Riedner, David Wilson. World Bank. pp. 71–72. ISBN 0821381377. Twenty-four percent of male gonorrhea patients reported acquiring the infection from temporary wives.
  19. ^ "Human Rights Report: Iran". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. U.S. Department of State. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  20. ^ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2010). "Trafficking in Persons Report 2010". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 11 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Muir, Jim (July 28, 2002). "Iran 'brothel' plan rejected". BBC News World Edition. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  • Burke, Andrew; Elliot, Mark (2008). Iran. Lonely Planet. p. 59. ISBN 1741042933. Sigheh (the Islamic practice of temporary marriage) is seen by many as a sort of legalised prostitution.
  • Moaveni, Azadeh (2006). Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran. PublicAffairs. p. 71. ISBN 1586483781. In Shiite Islam, when a man wants to sleep with a woman without marrying her, he can opt for sigheh, a temporary marriage. Though sordid and unromantic, temporary marriage is convenient: the duration can be as short as fifteen minutes, and the vows can be exchanged in about fifteen seconds. The institution serves clerics, seeking a theological loophole through which to philander, and prostitutes, who need such a pretext to operate in an Islamic society. ... It is a form of prostitution, which enables a patriarchal culture to cement the imbalanced gender relations in the guise of empowering women with a temporary and flimsy legal status that rarely works to their benefit.
  • Alavi, Nasrin (2005). We Are Iran. Soft Skull Press. p. 156. ISBN 1933368055. The growing problem of prostitution in Iran has been a subject of mounting concern. ... Under Iran's Islamic Shia system, it is possible to take out a temporary marriage license, known as a Sigheh, for even a few hours. A Sigheh is used to cover liaisons between men and women who want to have sex but who, for one reson or another, are not ready for full marriage.
  • Andreeva, Elena (2007). Russia and Iran in the great game: travelogues and Orientalism. Routledge studies in Middle Eastern history. Vol. 8. Psychology Press. pp. 162–163. ISBN 0415771536. Most of the travelers describe the Shi'i institution of temporary marriage (sigheh) as 'legalized profligacy' and hardly distinguish between temporary marriage and prostitution.
  • Fielder, Christine; King, Chris (2006). Sexual Paradox: Complementarity, Reproductive Conflict and Human Emergence. Lulu.com. p. 272. ISBN 141165532X. The enjoyment marriage is nothing but a legal cover for prostitution. How can anyone in the world claim that a marriage for 10 minutes is a legal act?
  • Paidar, Parvin (1997). Women and the political process in twentieth-century Iran. Cambridge Middle East Studies. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. pp. 278–281. ISBN 052159572X. Prostitutes detained in rehabilitation centers were encouraged to become sigheh to revolutionary guards and many did so willingly or unwillingly. In prisons too, virgin women prisoneers were forced into sigheh with their jailors before being executed, since according to religious beliefs they would otherwise go to heaven. ... Sigheh contract may be presided over by a clergyman and be registered and documented as well. But none of these requirements were legally enforced. The contract was often set and sealed by the partners without the presence of witnesses and with no legal documentation.
  • Labi, Nadya (March–April 2010). "Married for a Minute". Mother Jones. Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress. Yet the Iranian mullahs' efforts to rehabilitate sigheh have met a stubborn core of resistance—particularly from feminists, who decry the practice as a kind of 'Islamic prostitution'.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)

External links

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