The 1990's: A Gender Analysis

At the start of the 1990’s, Russia went through major political changes that altered the lives of citizens economically and socially. Gender ideology was transformed for women amongst Post-Soviet countries. Women indulged in the opportunity to develop a new sense of self as they pulled away from the oppression of womanhood under socialism. The migration of women centered around Moscow and abroad in search of expanding opportunity in the opening of liberal markets within Russia. As a result of Russian global expansion into Western markets, a boom in sexual exploitation developed within the Russian capital of Moscow. Through the course of this paper I will showcase how Post- Communism in Russia has resulted in the expansion of sex trade within …show more content…
In the last 30 years the sex trade has become a mass industrialized market (Poulin 2003: 38). Eastern Europe markets sex as a tourist attraction in places such as the “Red Light” districts in urbanized setting such as Moscow. The development of prostitution is attached to the rural migration towards cities. With unemployment rates in post communist Russia the increased migration to Moscow developed higher rates of women finding employment in these sexual districts. Moscow alone constitutes as the second largest city worldwide contributing roughly 175,000 persons a year to the sex market of women trafficking (Poulin 2003: 40). The fact is, the increase of sex trade is being used as a device to develop by getting increased tourism. In example of Moscow, there red light districts and the appeal of exotic sexual encounters bring the eye of tourism to these sexually explicit urban areas. With increased tourism, more funding from such organizations like the World Bank are given to expand the areas of entertainment to keep tourist rates high (Poulin 2003: 38). Sex trade has developed into a commodification that is employed by the desires and fantasies of the open …show more content…
The price of dispersed sex work in Moscow depends on the locality of the prostitution rinks. Railway stations/truck stops prostitution accommodates sexual favors for bread or ruble amounts (Adimora and Schoenbach 2005:39). Women working at a “Tochka” which is a pushed off location with 10-25 prostitutes await with their employers, have an increased price for sexual encounters due to the level of organization accommodating the discrete location(Adimora and Schoenbach 2005:40). The hierarchies of sex work in Moscow results in an increased competitive market for individuals to obtain sex services. The fact that there are varies price ranges varying by location for sex services makes it profitable informal organization for financial gain. The way it is organized as an institutionalized non formal business suggests it is an industry in itself much like a formal business would