Desperate Iranian Sex Workers in Dubai Want to Return Home, Part 2

A group of Iranian sex workers in Dubai have been in touch with IranWire, asking for legal advice about how feasible it would be for them to return to Iran.

Some of the women who contacted us began their work in Iran, while others did not join the sex trade until they got to Dubai. In some cases, it was their families that forced them into this work. 

The women report that life it extremely difficult for them in Dubai, where they are subjected to intimidation and violence by some of their clients, human traffickers and pimps. They now wish to return home, or if not, to somewhere safe. “Unfortunately difficulties of life forced us to go down this road, but the more we stay in this line of work the more our minds and our lives are distraught,” the email read. 

But how feasible is it for them to return home? 

Legal experts say that, under the laws of the Islamic Republic, they can return without being punished or that they will face minimum punishment. In fact, the traffickers and pimps face much harsher punishments if they return, including up to 75 lashes or even execution.

In the second of two articles, IranWire asked the lawyer Mohammad Olyaeifard to answer questions posed in the recent correspondence from sex workers. Read the first article here. 

 

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?

It goes beyond bribery. I believe that the police, the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij are partners with these individuals. It has security implications and quite possibly some of the places where prostitution and corruption happen are established by security agencies themselves. In general, when the Iranian security establishment cannot deal with something, it tries to take control of it. It cannot fight prostitution so it takes it over to control it both commercially and security-wise, the same as it does in drug trafficking and merchandise smuggling.

Article 172 of the Iranian Constitution states: “Military courts will be established by law to investigate crimes committed in connection with military or security duties by members of the Army, the Gendarmerie, the police, and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. But they will be tried in public courts for common crimes or crimes committed while serving the Department of Justice in an executive capacity.” And according to Article 597 of the Penal Code for Armed Forces, the military justice system is responsible for handling complaints in this area. You must go to this organization if you want to complain about their negligence or failure to perform their duties in regard to pimps, houses of prostitution and human traffickers.

But if your complaint relates to things like torture, insults, assault or demanding sexual services then you can go to the Ministry of Justice because these cases fall under the category of general crimes. If you file a complaint with the armed forces’ judiciary then you have the right to a lawyer.

The armed forces’ judiciary holds court in provincial capitals and some cities have military tribunals. You can go to them, depending on where you live, and complain. But civil courts are present in all cities. Considering the likely influence of the police, the Revolutionary Guards or intelligence agents with military and civil courts, I suggest that you get a certified lawyer. If you cannot afford a lawyer then you can ask the provincial bar associations for a pro bono lawyer. The bar association will review the situation and, depending on their conclusions, will provide you with a pro bono lawyer. Such a lawyer does not charge the client for any service that he or she performs. Tehran’s Bar Association is located at No. 3, Zagros Avenue, Argentina Square, Tehran.

 

If we complain, won’t they call us whores and harass us?

What they call you is completely unrelated to the complaint. Even if there is evidence that a plaintiff is a sex worker, they must still investigate the complaint.

What if we become concubines and get paid for it? Would that solve the problem?

Considering the laws of the Islamic Republic, you would have no problems. The law accepts concubinage as “temporary marriage.” Even if it is not registered there is no problem if both sides announce it. A concubine is the Islamic version of a sex worker. The difference is that a concubine must wait for two periods of menstruation after separation before she can become another man’s concubine, or 45 days if she has reached menopause.

Some girls have been forced into becoming sex workers by their husbands, their boyfriends or even their parents. Can they complain against them?

Sure they can. This is considered coercion, seduction and forced prostitution.

Let me tell you a story. I had a caller who wanted to visit me accompanied by his wife. When he came, he was a man of 60 and the girl who was with him could not have been more than 13. At first I thought it was his daughter but it turned out that she was the wife. They wanted to lodge a complaint against her brother for harassment. The girl said that her brother beat her, shaved her head and threw her out. The husband kept repeating that I must get justice for his wife and that he would pay whatever fees I charged them. I said that first I wanted to talk to the brother.

The brother came to my office and he was crying his heart out. He said that this 60-year-old man had seduced his sister, who had psychological problems and had ran away from home a few times. What is more, they were not even married, and the brother said that the man was using her to make money. The girl even lacked a “certificate of competence,” which is needed for any transaction by a girl of her age. The man was actually scheming to get her this certificate so that he could lodge a complaint against the brother. I never saw them again after that first meeting.

Another case is the story that a client of mine told me. He said that he came to know a married couple in the lobby of a hotel on Kish Island [a resort island in the Persian Gulf]. After having a few dinners together the man told my client, “Now that you are alone you can come to our room. I will have drinks ready for you and you can sleep with my wife.”

In such cases, women can complain to the court.

Some of our clients are really mean to us. They beat us, harm us and do not pay. Isn’t being a client a crime? What is their punishment? How can we complain against them?

The client is considered an adulterer, too. As it happens, the judge might be harsher on them. The judge might accept the repentance of a sex worker but will not let the client off the hook. And if the client is married the question of stoning to death might come into play — a punishment that, of course, is seriously objectionable from a human rights point of view.

One can also complain of assault and battery but not as a part of sexual relations. Assault and battery are general crimes with their own punishment and blood money. Even if the sexual context is brought up, it is separated from adultery and is punished separately. The problem is that if the assault is brought up in the context of sex, then [the fact of] being a sex worker also becomes known.

To file a complaint against assault one must go to the public prosecutor’s office with a certificate issued by an authorized doctor to prove the claim.

Is there a foundation in Dubai or Iran to support us?

Unfortunately there is no organization in Iran that specifically offers that. But the offices of the Vice President for Welfare and Women’s Affairs can help. Of course you can also write letters to certain authorities and ask for help.

If you have problems with Dubai police or the pimps do not let you go, you can ask the Iranian embassy for help. In Iran, if a woman goes to the Welfare Organization, her profession and identity are not revealed. The office of the Vice President for Welfare and Women’s Affairs can help them. They advise them, but do not send their cases to the judiciary. They may even provide further support. If the girls are sick or do not have guardians, they might help them financially.

I know for a fact that during the four years of President Rouhani’s first term, Shahindokht Molavardi [then Vice President for Women’s Affairs] helped a lot in this regard. I hope that this will continue.

Sometimes an individual brings a woman to Dubai and loans her money but keeps her passport, saying that he will return it when she repays her loan. The woman might want to go to Iran for her father’s funeral or a wedding but she cannot. Isn’t this a crime? What can she do?

It certainly is a crime. If this has happened in Dubai then the Dubai police can handle the case. If that individual has taken the passport and has gone to Iran, then she can pursue the matter through Iranian police. And if they are a gang, she can go to both the Dubai police and the Iranian embassy. If the Dubai police do nothing then she can write to the Iranian embassy and ask the embassy to ask the Dubai police to pursue the matter. No doubt, there are places in Dubai where complaints against the police can be lodged. But if that does not work, she can pursue the matter through the Iranian embassy.

***

The sex workers who contacted IranWire asked other questions as well, including:

- What is the punishment for club owners who work with pimps?

- Concubinage is not accepted in Dubai. They only accept bribes. What is the punishment?

- Sometimes they do not accept bribes, and then imprison sex workers and deport them to Iran.

In his reply, Mohammad Olyaeifard stated that all these questions are subject to Dubai laws, not Iranian ones. But he assures Iranian sex workers that they are not doomed. “Scaring you about arrest for adultery and execution in Iran is baseless,” he says, referring to the women’s worries about threats from pimps. “The pimps want to exploit you by scaring you. If you feel despondent and want to return to Iran, go to the Iranian embassy, get a new passport and return to your country. It is the pimps who face harsh punishments and must be scared, not you.”