Women have been migrating across the world in increasing numbers and the sex industry remains one option for work in host countries. This paper looks at the case of migrant sex workers from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in Turkey, documenting sex workers' experiences in Istanbul. The underground nature of the sex industry, combined with restrictions on illegal/undocumented immigration in host countries, creates working and living conditions for women that facilitate health risks, violence, harassment, police bribery, detention and arbitrary deportation. There is much controversy over whether sex work is “forced” or “voluntary”. This paper proposes that policy debates regarding sex work should focus not so much on whether women “choose” to enter the profession but should instead support the practical measures to improve their lives - in particular improving migrant women's living and working conditions by addressing restrictive and abusive immigration policies and by decriminalizing undocumented sex work.

Leyla Gülçür and Pinar Ilkkaracan
Women's Studies International Forum
Vol.25, No.4, 2002, pp.411-421