Six years of crippling financial crisis have sent Greek students to the streets. However, not for anti-austerity protests but for sex. They allegedly “sell it very cheap,” for the price of “a cheese pie or a sandwich,” thus “offering the lowest prices of the industry across the Continent.”
“Some women just do it for a cheese pie or a sandwich they need to eat because they are hungry,” Gregory Lazos , professor of sociology at Panteion University in Athens told The Times and spoke about the results of a study he conducted .
Lazos conducted the study among 400 women working on the streets. The study has lasted 3 years. Many of these women were students.
They sell sex for a piece of bread – so to say – “in order to eat or cover basic needs and extra expenses as they have no money,” The Times and Lazos on The Times claim.
“80% of prostitutes in Greece are Greek women aged 17 to 20”.
The price for sex has dramatically decreased from €50 euro for 60 minutes down to “€2 for half an hour.“
“From the 18,500 prostitutes who work mainly in the streets throughout the country, since most brothels operated without a license, the majority now are desperate Greeks.”
As KTG has only partial access to The Times due to the pay wall and picked up some additional information from Greek media that translated the article, it is not very clear when exactly the study has been conducted, its methodology and other scientific tools indicating “age”, “region” and other data. Neither did KTG manage to find out the percentage of students among the 400 case of women street workers.A percentage expected to be high enough to justify the article’s title.
Gregory Lazos claimed further that before the economic crisis “there was not prostitution tendency among Greek women.” He stressed that “the phenomenon seems to grow at a steady and consistent pace.” Before the crisis the majority of prostitutes were women from Eastern Europe.
So, The Times and Gregoryy Lazos lived happily ever after, and the Greek women that used to be little Saints but now sell it and do it on the streets have finally something to eat. Not even a souvlaki, though. It costs €2.00 – €2.20 and has 23% Value Added Tax for having salt and spices on it. A small cheese pie can be bought for €1 – €1.20. So there is one euro left to cover basic needs and extra expenses…
No some Greeks wonder, why all the Greek films of the 50’s the 60′ and the early 70’s were featuring Greek women as prostitutes with the most famous one being Ilia (Melina Merkouri) in Never on Sunday. And some Greeks of the usual mean Greek category reckon all the fine young ladies in the noble bars and restaurants of certain high-class suburbs of Athens before the crisis… Ops! They were “escorts”. – And because they were so many, the brothels emptied and did not renew their licenses – Just kidding!
PS At least in the sex sector Greece seems have developed into a super competitive country 😛 I wonder, how IMF’s Lagarde would comment on this and if she would support the sector’s booming withe both her thumbs up.
How sad this story.
I’m wondering whether the prime-minister of Portugal, just empowered yesterday and satisfying the Tsipras condition of being “progressive”, have the courage of visiting our brother country Greece without the consent of Merkel, Lagarde, Dijsselbloem, Moskovici or any one else of all this mafia. It would be nice.
I’m always deeply fascinated when we take pity on prostitutes — who have to (shock) ply their trade for financial reasons.
First off, prostitution is always and everywhere done for financial reasons. Nobody does it for fun.
Secondly, poverty is poverty and affects men and women equally. Actually, it typically affects men worse than women. Women who can become prostitutes (because they are attractive and young) are usually some of the more lucky ones. Women and men who cannot often have no fallback occupation — and that is what prostitution is: It is the occupation of last resort.
But we do not write articles about the older women who cannot sell their bodies. We do not write stories about the desperate men living on the street in boxes.
We write stories about the precious beautiful girls because that is what we value as a society.
Why?
Eggs. That’s why. It’s really all about ova.
We as a society value fertile women. In what must be the most anti-feminist stance in the history of female reporting, we value pretty girls more highly than … ‘other’ people.
Think about that for a minute.
And think about how fortunate this subset of the Greek economy is that *isn’t* starving.
You’re going to resist that I know. Because the reality is, most people care very little for men and women over 40.
And that’s the problem ultimately.
Eggs?! I never did like eggs… I think you mean sexual interest, which is not so well correlated with eggs, LOL. I do agree with your general comment, though — that there is an obsession with the evils of prostitution, and little attention paid to the greater evils of homelessness and starvation. I am inclined to place the responsibility for this stupidity on religions, rather than on eggs.
I am sorry but this “times” article is a load of “horseshit”…
It is sad that this reporter hasn’t thought of anything else to report on than the increase of Greek women offering sex for cheese pies … It is ridiculous…
Thankfully Greeks have taken this as a laughing stock which has become a viral on twitter…
Prostitution and women trafficking is an issue here but not more than in any other country in Europe.
Anyway … I feel a bit hungry and I only have a cheese pie but then again …
I have the perfect WIN-WIN solution!
Encourage the Russians who are boycotting Turkey to holiday in Greece.
3 million go there yearly and this would generate excellent tourism income.
Also, why doesn’t Greece start growing more of it’s own food?
Surely, the fertile climate is perfect for permaculture?
Vertical farming in the cities! If there were community farms, they would stimulate local markets and generate food, fuel and jobs. Please explain if this isn’t a practical solution.