Russians Weigh Legal Prostitution

Prostitution, so taboo in the Soviet Union that it was said not to exist, may soon be legal in one Russian region.

A bill legalizing and regulating prostitution is working its way through the Legislature of the Saratov region, about 420 miles southeast of Moscow. It already has the support of the regional governor, the Interfax news agency reported Saturday.

Gov. Dmitri Ayatskov said legalized prostitution could help control the growing problems of AIDS and syphilis in Saratov and also would bring much-needed tax dollars into the treasury.

Illegal prostitution is flourishing in Saratov, as it is almost everywhere in Russia, and Ayatskov said syphilis rates have quadrupled in the last three years. If prostitution is legalized, he told Interfax, “ladies of the night will have to undergo regular medical checks.”

Although prostitution has not been legalized anywhere in Russia, it isn’t specifically outlawed in most of the country--a holdover from Soviet days, when there were no laws against prostitution because it was considered a capitalist problem.-- Associated Press