BACKSTAGE OF THE STREETS OF TEHRAN
Takht Tavous Street of Tehran takes on a different face in
the evening after eight o’clock. You can see hundreds of cars racing with one
another on the street in a hurry to approach the pavement… Those who come to
this street of Tehran for the first time might think that there is something
handed out for free. However, when you look at it carefully, you can easily
recognize that all this haste is “a race to get a woman”.
It is a pity that one of the sides of the race comprises
of Iranian prostitutes and transvestites, most of whom are very young, selling
their bodies in return for money… The trade of women in the region surrounded by
Sohravardy, Motahhari, Fathi Shaghaghy and Fatami Square is uninterruptedly
continuing… This horrible scene brings to mind various questions: “How come the
Iranian authorities, saying that they give utmost importance to moral values and
punish the perverted ones with heavy sentences and apply pressure on women
living a normal life, ignore such markets which number quite high throughout the
country?..”
Hamed, who is one of the customers of the above-mentioned
market, claims that this type of trade is organized by the Basij forces. Hamed
says that ‘he spends two nights a week on this street and those prostitutes he
had talk with had told him that “they give half of their revenues to the members
of Basij and Nirouye Antazami”. Those individuals going in and out of this
region can understand that the police and Basij are involved in this trade and
that they keep the market under control. As a matter of fact, this is
demonstrated by the fact that prostitutes in a country like Iran can easily
wander on the streets until late at night… Moreover, those applying force on
prostitutes and transvestites are captured by the Nirouye Antazami and Basij
forces and then taken to the headquarters. Meanwhile, it is, of course, possible
to escape by giving bribes to the “Basij, the vice squad”…
The fact that the government, police and the judicial
system in Iran do not make any effort to keep the prostitution problem under
control indicates that certain sectors within the state also have a share in
this trade. The mentioned sectors do not want others to pocket the revenues
obtained through such activities.
It is an undeniable fact that there is a big prostitution
network in Iran. In fact, reports regarding the sale of Iranian young girls in
the Arab markets, covered by newspapers from time to time, confirm these
allegations. When we look at the developments occurred in recent years, we see
that “members of IRGC, Basij and Nirouye Antazami” are where there is money and
profit… Interestingly, this sector, instead of dealing with the integrity and
security of the country, considers this share permissible…
