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Children in Viipuri attest to sex trips by Finns
- By Marjo Ollikainen in Viipuri/Vyborg
Photo: Juha Metso / HS
- The “New Thailand” for Finnish men extends from Sortavala in Russian Karelia down to Viipuri and St. Petersburg. These areas are choice destinations for Finnish males in the mood for sex with a minor. The authorities in Viipuri (Vyborg to the Russians) deny the existence of child prostitution, but the street children, the prostitutes, and the Finnish volunteers in the city tell a different story.
Sergei, 10, doesn't know why his parents drove him out of the house. |
- Finnish men pay FIM 150 (c. EUR 25.00) an hour, or FIM 200 a night to have sex with young girls of 13 or 14. Any place will do. Stairways or cars will suffice if a more convenient location is not available. Finnish men may ask other children where they can find young girls, and even pay a small fee for the information.
Supply and
demand
- There are about 200 street children in Viipuri, and they have anything but an easy life. For example, 13-year old Andrei and 14-year-old Vova are on the street because of their parents' alcoholism. Sleeping in a stairway that reeks of urine is preferable to going home. Many of these children are driven to prostitution because of drug addiction, because they are hungry, or just because they want a warm place to spend the night. The predominant reason behind the child sex problem is quite simply poverty.
- Sergei Semenkov, a doctor living in Finland, nevertheless issues the reminder that there would be no supply unless there was demand. The clientele of the Viipuri child prostitutes is 98% Finnish. Semenkov is involved in an EU project to prevent the commercial exploitation of minors, and travels to Viipuri regularly.
- He says that there are pimps for child prostitutes on the market square, and that the kids in shelters and children's homes speak of buyers. He has heard of a father selling his 8-year-old to a tourist. Semenkov claims that there are even child brothels in St Petersburg.
- Male tourists buy sex from both boys and girls, and Semenkov says that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as paedophile tourism is concerned. He believes that the amount of child prostitutes is largely underestimated. Child-sex tourism is an important issue for Finland, as it concerns Finnish tourists who might bring their preferences to this side of the border.
No legal immunity for Finns,
but no reports, either
- Russia's economic situation and the opening of the frontiers caused the increase in paedophile tourism, according to Marita Vannemaa, the executive manager of the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters. She is currently involved in the establishing of a crisis centre for women and children in Viipuri. The Federation also has a child protection training project in Tallinn. Vannemaa says that child prostitution has also been a problem in the Baltic States, but that the higher standard of living has brought about an improvement in that region.
- A Finn buying sex in Russia from someone under the age of 18 can be prosecuted according to Finnish law. Vannemaa is therefore more than slightly surprised that there have been no reports to the police on the abuse of minors.
Just trash?
- Olga, a 24-year old prostitute, says that Finns often prefer her 15-year-old colleagues. She has been selling herself since she was 17 to help support her family. She has two younger brothers and a younger sister who is now studying, and they all live with their mother. They have no father and money is scarce. A policeman who knows the family calls Olga trash, while praising her studious sister.
- The police know about the child prostitution, but do nothing to stop it. According to Olga, if they see a Finnish man with a minor they might stop him and give him a fine. They then pocket the money and look the other way.
- One police officer even goes as far as to argue that there is no problem with child sex. He says that truck drivers might possibly buy sex from a minor, but with the new bypass, the drivers and the problem will move on, for instance to St Petersburg.
Passing the buck and
looking the other way
- In any case, the police say that they are not responsible for the children and they shift the problem on to the school authorities and social welfare. Things are not a lot better in Finland, either; the National R & D Centre for Welfare and Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have both expressed concern about paedophile tourism and the street children in Russia, and have been branded as making a lot of fuss about nothing. The Ministry itself has no authority to act as the police. Child-sex holidays fall between several administrative sectors. The Ministry of Trade and Industry says that tourism affects them only when it takes place in Finland, thereby wiping their hands of the problem across the border.
- The police in Viipuri do want the children off the street, however. They say that they have orphanages, boarding schools, and sponsors, but that there is no psychological help for the children. The police there argue that the authorities could be asked why they don't do more. Children need more than clothes and food. They need warmth and a place to sleep - safely - at night.
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Finland and Russia to
co-operate in helping the street children
- Finland's Minister of the Interior Kari Häkämies and the Minister of Health and Social Services Eva Biaudet came to an agreement with the Russians in Viipuri last Friday to work together to solve the problem of street children and paedophile tourism. Häkämies says that the issue will be brought up again at the Baltic Sea States meeting of police chiefs in Stockholm on 17 April, when the practical co-operation can begin.
- Häkämies says that one of the goals of the meeting was to make it clear to Finnish men that buying sex from a minor is a crime also in Russia and is punishable according to Finnish law.
- Biaudet says that the speedy visas for trips to Viipuri might be revoked, as the side-effects have been shown to be disagreeable. The problem with this, however, is that these visas have resulted in an increase in tourism in Viipuri, which has resulted in an increase in revenue for the locals.
- The Russian officials who attended the meeting did not seem to think that there was a problem with child-sex tourism. They were more keen on discussing the street children, drugs, and glue sniffing.
- On several occasions Biaudet asked the Deputy Chief of Social Affairs in Viipuri, Aleksander Kostenko, how to punish the Finnish men who buy sex from children, but he did not appear to understand the question.
- Häkämies left Viipuri on the day after the meeting, but Biaudet stayed to visit the Viipuri child shelters and to observe the situation with the street children.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 29.1.2000 |
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