Most Iranian prostitutes suffer from psychiatric disorders

Shahrzadnews:Though the Greater Tehran Police Force claims that there are only about a hundred prostitutes in the city, Iranian health professionals say there are several thousand in the country as a whole, and that the number is increasing rapidly.

Iranian Health Organisation experts warn that 70% of these suffer from severe mental disorders and are in urgent need of counselling and other forms of treatment. A director said that 90% of the women are divorced and have at some time been the victims of domestic violence or child abuse.

According to the Fararo news website many Iranian women are under immense financial pressure, and resort to prostitution to support their families. It said the home affairs ministry is considering opening a special centre in Jajrood, a suburb of Tehran, which would make professional health services available to them. It added that health officials have told them that government bodies have “biased and unrealistic attitudes to prostitution and misunderstand its roots. Inadequate and misleading rehabilitation programs do nothing to relieve the women’s financial burdens, and they soon end up back on the streets.”