Iranian Pimps and Police, A Complicated Relationship

Years ago when I was in jail, I was taken to the clinic at Evin Prison after I became sick. There I came across an inmate who had been brought in from the special ward designated for criminals who had served in the clergy. About 60 years old and overweight, his crime had been trafficking women to Dubai. He would lure Iranian girls with empty promises, and hand them over to traffickers who would take away their passports and force them to become sex workers.

Even if the women agreed to sell their bodies initially and on a temporary basis, their pimps would intimidate them, and scare them by telling them that they would be executed if they returned to Iran. When clients paid for sex, the pimps would take the majority of the money, allowing the women to keep only a very small amount.

The clergyman I met received a short prison sentence, and this was the subject of much discussion throughout the cells of Evin Prison — especially in the special ward reserved for clerics — and among inmates at the prison’s clinic. His sentence was disproportionate and not in line with Iranian law, which actually stipulates severe punishments for an individual found guilty of sex trafficking. According to Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code, people found guilty of committing crimes that threaten national security or who establish “places of immorality or prostitution,” among other crimes, can be sentenced to death.

This is just one example of numerous individuals who, in recent years, have victimized and exploited young Iranian women to fill their own pockets.

Last week, a group of Iranian sex workers in Dubai wrote to IranWire seeking legal advice. They said they wanted to return to Iran but were worried about what punishments they might expect if they did return. One question they posed was: “The police and the Revolutionary Guards are in league with the pimps and human traffickers and take bribes. And a few times, when some of us were arrested, we had to give free service to the [paramilitary] Basijis in exchange for our freedom. Who can help us?”

Of course, human trafficking for prostitution — organized pimping and sexual slavery — is not limited to Iranian women. In fact, it has turned into one of the biggest problems in societies everywhere, and it actually threatens global order and security.

According to research published by the US-based journal Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology, “human trafficking is the fastest growing area of organized crime and the third largest income revenue for organized crime after narcotics and arms sales.” Some estimates say traffickers make around $7 billion annually from the sex trade, and the average income pimps make from just one sex worker is about $40,000.

“House of Islamic Guidance”

Iranian women, like women in many other countries, are vulnerable to this threat. One example was the 2002 high-profile arrest of the members of a gang that smuggled Iranian women to Arab countries. Another example was the 2001 scandal known as the “House of the Islamic Guidance” in Karaj, near Tehran. The house was a charity institution that belonged to the Noor (“Light”) Foundation and was supposed to take care of girls — seven years of age and up — who had nobody else to look after them. In reality, the people managing the house were using the girls in the sex trade. One of the girls escaped and contacted the media, and the office of the then-president, Mohammad Khatami. One of the accused was Mohammad Montazeri Moghadam, President of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj.

In 2011 a big trafficking gang, known as the “Kurdish Aunt” gang, was discovered in the holy city of Qom. “Kurdish Aunt” referred to a divorced woman of 50 who had moved to Qom from Kurdistan and set up a gang that was active both inside and outside Iran. The authorities arrested 60 members of the gang.

According to Article 242 of the Islamic Penal Code, “pimping is bringing together two or more individuals for the purpose of adultery or sodomy.” But the physical aspect of pimping is not embodied in any one verb. “Bringing together” might take place physically, or over the phone or the internet by giving out the address of a woman to a man or vice versa. Some women are lured by offers of free tours and are then sexually abused. In fact, pimps have been using every means at their disposal to expand their activities. In Tehran, for example, you can find them near hair salons, video clubs, foreign embassies, schools and parks, trying to lure girls and young women.

From 75 Lashes to Death Penalty

According to Article 243 of the Islamic Penal Code, a pimp, whether it’s a man or a woman, may be punished by 75 lashes, and if the crime is repeated the defendant not only receives the lashes but is exiled for one year as well. And according to Article 639 of the Penal Code, “anyone who establishes or directs a place of immorality or prostitution” or “anyone who facilitates or encourages people to immorality or prostitution” not only receives the above punishment but will be sentenced to between one and 10 years in prison as well.

In certain cases, when a group is deemed a threat to national security, the court can condemn the defendants to death. According to Article 286 of the Penal Code, “anyone who, on a vast scale, commits crimes...against the country’s [national security], spreads lies, disrupts economic order, commits sabotage or arson, spreads poisonous, dangerous and pathological substances or establishes places of immorality or prostitution...or facilitates immorality or prostitution on a vast scale...will be sentenced to death.”

A law passed in 1988 punishes individuals who arrange illegal border crossings and this law can be used against human traffickers as well. The law states that if the act of the individual is “injurious to security” but does not rise to the level of “corruption on earth,” which is punishable by death, then punishment will be from between two and 10 years in prison.

But in spite of all the available punishments for people who establish places of prostitution and pimping —  which start at 75 lashes but can end up in a death sentence — the prostitution business is thriving. It seems that the bailiffs of the justice system have closed their eyes to these crimes. Some, including the Iranian women who had written from Dubai, say that some members of the police, the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij Organization are in league with pimps and traffickers and that is why they do not deal with them as the law demands. Even when these criminals are arrested, they often receive light sentences.

The Intentional Neglect

Owners and bosses of houses of prostitution, the pimps and even the clients have noticed this intentional neglect. I remember talking to a field reporter who was very active in this area. He told me that once he had gone to a brothel to gather material for his reporting and had found out that the place even had a bankcard reader. He witnessed a dispute between a client and the pimps. The pimps threatened to call 110, the emergency number in Iran, to solve the problem. In other words, they wanted the police to come and settle the dispute. This story is one of many that shows that the judiciary bailiffs, be it the police, the Revolutionary Guards or the Basijis, ignore these crimes and close their eyes to the activities of the pimps.

This tolerance shown toward pimps can also be viewed in the broader context of Iran’s security policies. It has been shown time and time again that when the Iranian security establishment cannot handle a social issue such as smuggling and drug trafficking, it tries to take it over and control it. It is this same security macro-policy that we see at work in the case of prostitution. The result is that the brothels and the pimps are covered and protected by the country’s security establishment. This way, they are identified and controlled and, as the need arises, their activities are limited or expanded.

When a prostitution ring is stopped it is because either the people involved have run afoul of the security establishment or there are other security considerations. Sometimes security agencies themselves establish houses of prostitution. In any case, these houses conduct their activities under the supervision of security forces. As a side benefit, security agencies also pocket the profits. With such a control, they can gauge the public interest and easily limit or expand the activities as security considerations demand.

...And “Chastity Houses”!

Sometimes the role of security agencies in this area is not a secret — unlike their role in establishing houses of prostitution, which is never revealed. An example is the so-called “chastity houses,” which are part of the overall security policies.

In a “chastity house”, couples can register for a temporary marriage, or concubinage, and receive a legal license. The duration of concubinage can be as short as a few hours or even a few minutes. But what makes these houses more like prostitution houses is that the religious requirements for concubinage are generally ignored. To ensure that the woman is not pregnant, a concubine is required to wait for two periods of menstruation after separating from a man before she can become another man’s concubine, or 45 days if she has reached menopause. But the chastity houses usually disregard this requirement because, otherwise, it would eat into their profits.

When I talked to an administrator of one of these centers in Qom, he told me that the houses of chastity are lax in enforcing this requirement. But, he said, it is not so much the fault of women involved because they are advised that, if they are not pregnant, keeping track of their periods is not really necessary. So as soon as it becomes certain that the woman is not pregnant, the managers of the house change the date on the previous concubinage papers and allow the woman to enter into a new concubinage.

The fact that these houses are active legally and extensively is another example of the desire of the higher echelons of the government to control the issue. Sometimes the activities of these rings are exposed or the security agencies lose control of them. In such cases, the security forces enter onto the scene to control the damage — as in the case of the clergyman that I met in prison, or the case of the Guidance House in Karaj.