Illegal brothels bloom in the Athens of crisis

Whatever the explanation, the phenomenon is rising in recession stricken Athens, according to a report presented in parliament by the Athens municipality.

The report was forwarded to the House after a request by three SYRIZA MPs, asking about illegal brothels in the city. They claimed that the problem is quite alarming, with many brothels situated in apartment blocks, without the tenants consent.

The problem gets all the more complicated when municipal officials seal many illegally operating brothels and the following day they are open again, as if nothing happened. The Athens municipality is responsible for issuing licenses and imposing penalties, but the police is the one patrolling the area and establishing which brothels are operating legally and which aren't.

Therein lies the confusion. The police forward illegal brothel cases to the District Attorney who rules on sanctions and forwards the cases back to the Athens City Hall so that administrative sanctions can be imposed. During all this procedure, many brothels slip through the cracks, or simply reopen their sealed establishments.

Since September 2011, all brothel sealings and repeat sealings are posted on the Athens municipality website for everyone to see. According to the data presented in parliament, in 2013, city employees have sealed 20 establishments and re-sealed 167. The research shows that seals have been broken in almost all sealed brothels and there are certain ones where the seal has been broken over ten times.

The City Hall is asking for all this data to be included in the Interior ministry's preparation of a new bill, to amend the existing one about in effect since 1999. The municipality can't stress the importance of an amendment enough, not just for the regulation of the brothels themselves, but also for obvious public health reasons.