CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Following recent news that Russia may reinvigorate Soviet law by jailing gays, a new report finds that young recruits in the Russian army are being forced into prostitution.
The Gazeta newspaper reported that soldiers from an army base in St. Petersburg are routinely being pimped by senior officials, who then force them to turn over the earnings. Clients allegedly include a former general of FSB, Russia's intelligence agency.
Anonymous soldiers told Gazeta that they were violently tortured and beaten by senior officers as a means to force them into prostitution. Last year a 19-year-old recruit was reportedly beaten so badly that his genitals and legs had to be amputated.
The Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, a rights group speaking on behalf of soldiers, said that clients arrived at the base late at night to avoid recognition. Soldiers were forced into cars and often would be gone all night.
"The officers would beat us on the arms and legs. We were sent out to the park to earn money," one solider told the newspaper. "I was tortured with electric shocks."
The officers allegedly pasted a client list to successors, suggesting that the practice was long-held tradition. Soldiers were paid about $50 on average for each client, most of which went back to the officers.
Defense minister Sergei Ivanov, rumored as a potential successor to President Vladimir Putin, has pledged an investigation. (Hassan Mirza, Gay.com/U.K.)
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Nancy Pelosi endorses Kamala Harris for president
July 22 2024 4:07 PM
Charli XCX declares Kamala Harris IS brat & our next President's campaign agrees
July 22 2024 3:08 PM
Pete Buttigieg roasts JD Vance and his gay tech bro billionaire
July 22 2024 1:42 PM
The AIDs pandemic can be ended by 2030, but governments must act: report
July 22 2024 1:01 PM
Conservatives' first attack on Kamala Harris: Pronouns and accessibility?
July 22 2024 12:45 PM
Advancing equality during Disability Pride Month
July 22 2024 11:30 AM