200 Dollars for an Hour: Russian and Belarusian Prostitutes Recruited in Yerevan

According to the investigation of a criminal case launched under part 3 of Article 262 of the RA Criminal Code, it has been established that several individuals have formed a stable criminal group with the intent to facilitate prostitution by foreign female sex workers. The members of this group primarily recruited Russian and Belarusian citizens online and offered them opportunities to engage in prostitution in various countries, including Armenia, promising to continuously provide clientele and ensure accommodation and necessary conditions in the specific country. In return, they required the women to transfer half of the earnings to the group.

The organized group also included individuals renting apartments, as well as the owner and employees of an organization operating in Yerevan, who took on the responsibility of providing accommodation for the sex workers arriving in Armenia for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.

The members of the organized criminal group communicated with women from other countries through communication platforms, and after reaching an agreement, they requested and received erotic photographs from them to create individual pages for the provision of escort services on a specific website.

Subsequently, several members of the group organized the arrival of the sex workers to various apartments located in the Center district of Yerevan for engagement in prostitution, providing them for rent in exchange for payment.

Clients contacted the members of the organized group through the mentioned website. The members negotiated the terms of sexual services regarding the time and payment with the clients and only after clarifying these details did they provide the clients with the addresses of the apartments where the sex workers were located. The sex workers welcomed clients at these addresses, charging 200 USD for one hour of prostitution, later transferring half of the received money to the members of the criminal group.

Several individuals have been charged in connection with the organized group for facilitating prostitution.

The study of the case materials indicates that access to the mentioned website continues to be a contributing factor to these crimes, as individuals continue to use the site.

In light of the necessity to eliminate conditions contributing to prostitution, the RA Prosecutor General's Office has sent petitions to the CEOs of three Armenian mobile communications companies—"MTS Armenia" Ltd., "UCOM" Ltd., and "Team Telecom Armenia" Ltd.—to take effective measures to block subscribers' access to the website pursuing escort purposes and to report the measures taken and the results to the RA Prosecutor General's Office.