MEASURES OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE UKRAINIAN SSR TO COMBAT PROSTITUTION IN THE LATE 1960S

Abstract

Introduction. The history of prostitution dates back to very ancient times, and its legal regulation dates back more than 4 thousand years and covers all ancient and modern cultures, as evidenced by written sources. The article examines the main problems associated with the development of prostitution in the late 1960s and the measures taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR to combat prostitution.

Summary of the main results of the study. In its fight against prostitution, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, first of all, paid special attention to the connection between prostitution and various types of crime, demanding that the possibilities of agent work be used more widely to expose dens of prostitution. Attention was also paid to the wider involvement of prostitutes in socially useful work. The growth in the number of venereal diseases and their connection with prostitution were also the subject of analysis by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which demanded the development of additional measures to counteract this phenomenon. Ministry leadership stated that local police authorities did not always ensure the timely detection and prosecution of persons who involved minors in prostitution. The reasons that contributed to the moral depravity of individual citizens, especially young people, were not sufficiently analyzed. As before, traditionally for Soviet times, certain hopes in the fight against prostitution were placed on the use of conversations and lectures on sex education in hostels and educational institutions. In the summer period, it was required to widely implement raids to detain women involved in prostitution and homosexuals in parks, gardens, green areas and other places of mass recreation of the population.

Conclusion. All world historical experience shows that it is impossible to destroy prostitution. As long as, firstly, sexuality exists, and secondly, commodity-money relations, prostitution will not disappear. Especially since, in particular, in our country, the lowest paid industries are those where women’s labor is performed (textile and food industries, education, healthcare). On the eve of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, there was quite active discussion about the legalization of prostitution, even draft laws were prepared, but the war postponed everything to the future and, obviously, we are waiting for a new discussion of this problem.