olena
<font color=green>Emerald Angel<br><font color=mag
- Joined
- May 12, 2001
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Loosely veiled and wearing heavy makeup, young women line the main streets in northern Tehran, looking out for prosperous customers in new cars.
Such scenes, taking place with ever greater frequency, have become a big headache for Iran's Islamic rulers who have long tried to eradicate "social corruption" and realize their dream of a puritanical society.
Based on official figures, about 300,000 women are engaged in the sex trade in Iran and the numbers is steadily rising. Newspapers routinely report of a crackdown on "corrupt networks" preying upon naive runaway girls from small towns.
Until several years ago, Iran's ruling Shi'ite Muslim clergy either denied adamantly that they faced a prostitution problem or blamed it on the "bad influences" of Western culture, transmitted by videos and satellite television.
But with the practice spreading to even small towns closed to outside influences, many are waking up to the reality and looking for solutions other than sheer force.
The latest idea is the so-called "chastity houses," regarded by some religious leaders as a more acceptable version of brothels, to both shelter poor street women and satisfy the sexual needs of men who cannot afford to get married.
The idea has been widely publicized in the Iranian media but, with prostitution long held as a "cardinal sin," few dare to openly endorse it and most officials have dissociated themselves from it.
At least one senior cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Mousavi Bojnurdi, has come out strongly in defense of the plan, provoking an uproar among feminist and conservative groups.
"We face a real challenge with all these women on the streets. Our society is in an emergency situation, so the formation of the chastity houses can be an immediate solution to the problem," the ayatollah told a newspaper. "This plan is both realistic and conforms to the Sharia (Islamic) law."
Under the scheme, couples would register for a temporary, Islamicly correct marriage and receive a license as well as free contraceptives and health advice.
The license would legitimize their relationship and make them immune from harassment by the modesty police, who prowl the streets looking to arrest young couples who are out together but are not related.
Many women are outraged by the idea.
"Chastity houses would be an insult and disrespect to women," said Shahrbanou Amani, a woman parliamentarian.
The Cultural Council for Women, an Islamist feminist group, said such houses would be a "deceitful and thinly disguised" name for prostitution.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the secular government of the shah, the clergy closed all Iran's brothels and turned the main one in Tehran into a park.
But the practice went underground and spread because of rising poverty and what many see as the breakdown of society's moral fabric. Critics say social restrictions after the Islamic Revolution have helped to encourage relations out of wedlock.
Last year, a cleric was arrested for smuggling unsuspecting young women to Gulf Arab states to work as prostitutes. A serial murderer was hanged recently for killing more than a dozen prostitutes in the holy city of Mashhad.
OPTING FOR TEMPORARY MARRIAGE
The idea of "chastity houses" is similar to "Sigheh," or temporary marriage, practiced among some Shi'ites as an alternative, though it is not common in Iran.
In Sigheh, couples exchange vows for a limited period. The man pays a small sum to the woman but is not bound by any other obligations.
The cost of a traditional wedding in such a status-conscious society as Iran, as well as that involved in setting up a home, deters many men from tying the knot. Officials say the average age for marriage has jumped to about 30 from the early 20s just two decades ago.
This has created a dilemma for the Islamic state, which has on occasion resorted to using force to discourage premarital sex. Unmarried boys and girls caught together are often lashed if they are proved to have had sex.
To encourage marriage, state-run charities routinely arrange and finance mass weddings and government banks offer low-interest loans to help young couples start married life.
Such scenes, taking place with ever greater frequency, have become a big headache for Iran's Islamic rulers who have long tried to eradicate "social corruption" and realize their dream of a puritanical society.
Based on official figures, about 300,000 women are engaged in the sex trade in Iran and the numbers is steadily rising. Newspapers routinely report of a crackdown on "corrupt networks" preying upon naive runaway girls from small towns.
Until several years ago, Iran's ruling Shi'ite Muslim clergy either denied adamantly that they faced a prostitution problem or blamed it on the "bad influences" of Western culture, transmitted by videos and satellite television.
But with the practice spreading to even small towns closed to outside influences, many are waking up to the reality and looking for solutions other than sheer force.
The latest idea is the so-called "chastity houses," regarded by some religious leaders as a more acceptable version of brothels, to both shelter poor street women and satisfy the sexual needs of men who cannot afford to get married.
The idea has been widely publicized in the Iranian media but, with prostitution long held as a "cardinal sin," few dare to openly endorse it and most officials have dissociated themselves from it.
At least one senior cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Mousavi Bojnurdi, has come out strongly in defense of the plan, provoking an uproar among feminist and conservative groups.
"We face a real challenge with all these women on the streets. Our society is in an emergency situation, so the formation of the chastity houses can be an immediate solution to the problem," the ayatollah told a newspaper. "This plan is both realistic and conforms to the Sharia (Islamic) law."
Under the scheme, couples would register for a temporary, Islamicly correct marriage and receive a license as well as free contraceptives and health advice.
The license would legitimize their relationship and make them immune from harassment by the modesty police, who prowl the streets looking to arrest young couples who are out together but are not related.
Many women are outraged by the idea.
"Chastity houses would be an insult and disrespect to women," said Shahrbanou Amani, a woman parliamentarian.
The Cultural Council for Women, an Islamist feminist group, said such houses would be a "deceitful and thinly disguised" name for prostitution.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the secular government of the shah, the clergy closed all Iran's brothels and turned the main one in Tehran into a park.
But the practice went underground and spread because of rising poverty and what many see as the breakdown of society's moral fabric. Critics say social restrictions after the Islamic Revolution have helped to encourage relations out of wedlock.
Last year, a cleric was arrested for smuggling unsuspecting young women to Gulf Arab states to work as prostitutes. A serial murderer was hanged recently for killing more than a dozen prostitutes in the holy city of Mashhad.
OPTING FOR TEMPORARY MARRIAGE
The idea of "chastity houses" is similar to "Sigheh," or temporary marriage, practiced among some Shi'ites as an alternative, though it is not common in Iran.
In Sigheh, couples exchange vows for a limited period. The man pays a small sum to the woman but is not bound by any other obligations.
The cost of a traditional wedding in such a status-conscious society as Iran, as well as that involved in setting up a home, deters many men from tying the knot. Officials say the average age for marriage has jumped to about 30 from the early 20s just two decades ago.
This has created a dilemma for the Islamic state, which has on occasion resorted to using force to discourage premarital sex. Unmarried boys and girls caught together are often lashed if they are proved to have had sex.
To encourage marriage, state-run charities routinely arrange and finance mass weddings and government banks offer low-interest loans to help young couples start married life.
