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'War on sex terror' in Latvia
18/06/2007 19:59 - (SA)
Riga - Five years after US President George W bush declared a "war on terror", a Latvian pressure group gave the concept an unexpected twist on Monday by redirecting it towards sex tourists.
"We know about the war on terror. Now Latvia is launching a war on sex terrorism," marketing specialist Martins Kozlovskis of non- governmental organisation Reaction told reporters.
"We're not against particular tourist groups: we're against their behaviour. Many Latvian women get harassed when they walk in Old Riga, and people aren't OK with that," he said.
Since Latvia joined the EU in 2004, its tourism industry has gone through an unprecedented boom, with the number of incoming visitors jumping by 53% from 2004 to 2006.
But part of the growth has come from a surge in the number of bachelor parties visiting Riga, drawn by its relatively cheap prices and reputation for beautiful women.
"When I asked people in the UK what they knew about Riga, most answered 'cheap alcohol and beautiful girls.' They said if you want a brunette you go to Brazil, if you want a blonde you go to Latvia," said Zaneta Skarule of MTV Latvia, which supports the campaign.
Getting 'real picture'
In recent months, reports of Latvian women being harassed by foreign men have become a staple of the Latvian media.
"We all talk about the problem, but very few of us have a real picture of what is happening," admitted Niks Volmars, producer of TV current-events programme Degpunkta, which is set to begin screening a documentary series on the issue on Wednesday.
But those stories have been paralleled by anecdotes of Latvian women agreeing to sex with foreign tourists for the price of a cocktail - an image which is thought to have spread widely across western Europe, provoking further harassment.
"I'm ashamed of what they think of us in the West. I'd tell all our girls to keep their self-respect: it's much better to buy your own cocktail," Skarule said.
A deciding factor
Reaction's campaign, "Stop sex terrorism", is a response to the latter issue. The month-long programme aimed at raising Latvian women's awareness and self-respect is set to feature a TV advert, a theme song and a variety of public events, organisers said.
"Our job is to inform women, so they can decide for themselves what relationship they want with these visitors. The deciding factor shouldn't be a cocktail," said Dace Zaldate, of women's support group Papardes Zieds, one of the campaign's supporters.
"It's difficult to reach foreign tourists, because we'd have to run a campaign in a number of countries, so we should start with ourselves," Kozlovskis added.
- Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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