A prostitute or just a girl?

A prostitute is not necessarily a vulgar, uneducated drug addict with a dark past and no future. She is often an average looking and nicely dressed, friendly girl with dreams, ambitions and hobbies. But she must change her image when she is going to work. Ola, is a foreign girl who never expected herself to work in the Western sex industry.

A 22 year old girl from the south of Poland, after finishing High School, wanted to study psychology but she couldn't afford to go to university. Ola would have to travel thirty miles everyday or rent a flat in Cracow – it was too expensive. And there was more and more pressure from her family to contribute some income. "I have a great loving family but my parents are not rich and they never have been. My mum is with my sisters at home and my father doesn't earn a lot."

Ola is drinking her tea slowly, in the restaurant in Edinburgh city centre. In a place full of strangers, she doesn't want anybody to know what she is doing for a living and even her family is not aware of it. "People don't have any respect for prostitutes. They think we are after easy money. But for us this is a profession like any other or even a harder job than most."

She has been working in one of the Edinburgh saunas for six months. Ola says that after coming to Scotland she was looking for a job behind a bar but everywhere required experience and good English. "I ran out of money after three weeks. A girl in the hostel asked me if I wanted to meet her friend who offered me this job. Work in the sauna was my only opportunity."

Mary Blackford, Parliamentary Assistant to MSP Margo MacDonald, confirms: "If Eastern Europeans come here and there is a problem, they cannot find a job and run out of money, there is a danger they may find themselves working in the sex industry".

Ruth Morgan Thomas, an ex-prostitute and Scot-PEP coordinator says: "Out of all sex workers in the UK 37% are immigrants and of that 52% are from Eastern Europe and the Balkans." These figures did increase after new members joined the EU but not as dramatically as everybody expected. Scot-PEP is a charity organization which supports sex workers in Edinburgh. Volunteers help girls who work on the streets as well as indoors.

But, according to Morgan Thomas more Eastern European sex workers will arrive in Scotland when Romania and Bulgaria join the EU next year. She says: "Foreign sex workers in Edinburgh are much more likely to work in saunas, massage parlours and private flats than on the streets."

At present, Edinburgh City Council licence about 20 premises for sauna and massage. Sauna owners find girls without any problem. Girls come and ask for work themselves, sometimes girls who work for us recommend a friend. "Usually an advertisement in a German or Eastern European newspaper is enough, says Norman, owner of a sauna in Edinburgh city centre.

He adds: "The business has been changing in the last couple of years and more girls are choosing to work in private flats and putting themselves at greater risk of offence".

Morgan Thomas said: "Saunas are safer for the women, they can work together and it reduces public nuisance. Research has shown that 48% of women who work indoors have experienced crime from a client compared to the 82% of street working women who have reported it."

Ola says that 'the street' is the last place she would want to work. "The customers that come to the sauna are often regular visitors, we even become friends and we feel safe. Also girls from Scot-PEP come and visit us so we know we are not left alone."

The council works with the police to stop and prevent street prostitution. Katie Emslie, Media Officer for Edinburgh City Council says: "We seek Antisocial Behaviour Orders, and we use a mobile CCTV van to deter customers and to encourage the prostitutes to leave residential areas."

The Head of the Diversity unit of Lothian and Borders Police, Chief Inspector George Denholm says: "There are some cases of street prostitution in Edinburgh but not on the scale of many other large cities in Scotland."

A Scot-Pep coordinator says: "There are approximately 10 women working on the streets in Edinburgh each night to compare to around 120 in Glasgow. And 95% of them are heavy drugs users." Prostitutes cannot be imprisoned but fines have been introduced and it becomes a cycle for women who have to pay up to £500.

In this business girls are coming and going, it is not a job for life, not for Ola. "One day I would like to have my own family and a normal home, just like the one I had when I was a child but with more money to spend. Then everything would be much different and a lot easier."

Moscow in my eyes

The capital of the biggest country in the world and home for over 10 million people - this is Moscow, mysterious and beautiful place.

Each year more and more tourists are coming to see for themselves what Moscow has to offer. This is a city of contrasts. It can amaze during the day and get pretty dangerous during the night.

Wonderful pravolsavic churches, Red Square and Kremlin are contrasting with new built offices and huge billboards with perfumes, watches and other western products. Although the text on the advertisements must be written in Cyrillic alphabet, the western influences in Moscow are more and more visible.

One on the places to visit is astonishing metro which was opened in 1935. Moscow metro is known to be the fastest and the cheapest in the world. It is also a paradise for pickpockets! Handbags and pockets squashed in the train are very easy target. During the rush hours there are over 6 million people underground and trains are arriving even every thirty seconds. Everyone is running somewhere, the tempo is unbelievable!

Absolvent of the Moscow State University, Artem Rusakovich said: „Especially at night, in the metro or on the streets of Moscow, you should not stop. You should keep going reasonable quick and avoid eye contact with suspiciously looking strangers or police. Maybe it sounds drastically but they are just waiting for lost, non-Russian speaking tourists.”

He said: „If you get in trouble and the police is involved then it is very likely that you are guilty simply because the other person can explain that he or she is not.”

Moscow consists of two different worlds, the world of very rich and very poor people. They are passing each other on the streets but have hardly anything in common. Rich people love their Bentleys, Porsche and other expensive, often black cars with black windows. They drive very aggressively. Noise from tires on the streets of Moscow has no end. On the pavements girls like Paris Hilton, wearing expensive jewellery, with little dogs on their hands, are passing by homeless and hungry people.

On the first sight it may seem that in Moscow majority of people is fairly wealthy this is just wrong impression. In fact luxurious shops Salvatore Ferragmo, Estee Lauder, Christian Dior and Ferrari are only for a small number of people.

One of the things that strokes new arrivals to the city is manifestation of power. Governmental cars are going through the city with no end and no respect for any road rules. They drive very fast with blue sirens on the roof and the escort of police.

Since Vladimir Putin became president, Russians, in general, have become wealthier and Moscow is going through economic boom. The improvement of the economic situation in the country with endless pro-Kremlin propaganda makes Russians to be in favour of Putin’s regime.

A teacher, Nina Trufanova said: „I know he used to be a KGB agent. Everyone knows that. But, Russia is a huge country and needs a strong and consistent person in charge. And Putin is good at what he is doing. He is also taking care of our interests abroad. We are strong country, respected in the world. The situation in Russia is not ideal but it is better than it used to be.”

Not without a reason Russia is often called a police state. There are 5 policemen on every 95 people in the country. In Moscow itself the rate may be even higher. This is a world’s record! So when being in Moscow to meet a policeman is not difficult and often this is when trouble starts. However, Russians are used to it and they do not really care.

The police are asking for documents almost everyone on the street it is necessary to have passport and valid visa at all times. Mostly they are focusing on illegal immigrants from republics which used to be part of the USSR. There are about one and a half million illegal immigrants in Moscow itself. Russians hate them, police is hassling all the time, call them terrorists but also hey are a source of income for a vast number of corrupted police. They know where illegal immigrants work and often show up there on the day workers get their wages for obvious reasons.

One of places to go in Moscow is a former KGB building in Lubianka. Although it is impossible to get inside, the building itself is an attraction for tourists. Nowadays, it is headquarter of the Federal Security Service (FSB). Before, in the years of KGB there was one officer for every 428 citizens. In Putin’s Russia there is one officer for every 297 people...

Sometimes you can gat an impression that tourists in Moscow are not particularly welcomed. People on the streets are unlikely to help lost foreigners. They turn round, almost run away from you. If you do not speak Russian, buying a train ticket may be a real problem. Often a lady at the cash desk will hit the window with a note saying „break time” or say that simply there are no tickets left.

Gdansk - see it for yourself!

Three hundred feet shuffle slowly forward, pushing an assortment of bags across the airport floor. The plane to Gdansk is going to be full – there are 150 people here taking the dare, seeing for themselves. This is the new destination of choice – made popular by a £100 round ticket from Glasgow or Edinburgh.

The historic city of Gdansk may be known for the Lenin shipyards and the birthplace of Solidarity movement, but soon it will be put on the football map of Europe. As a part of a winning bid by Poland and Ukraine, Gdansk is set to play a major role in Euro 2012. Group matches and quarter final are planned for a new 40,000 seater stadium, to be named the Baltic Arena.

Gdansk is a beautiful city in spite of, or with thanks to, its turbulent history. And there are not many places in the world where the history of our times seems more immediate. After all it was here in September 1939 that the hell of the Second World War started and the first shots fired.

But in the queue, that all seems a long way off. Nearly four out of five making their way to the check-in are Polish. They are going to see their missing friends and families.

Maria is next in the line to the check in desk. Soon Maria and her bag with gifts from Scotland will be on the plane to Gdansk. She is very excited to go home again. “Last time I went to Poland it was winter, just before Christmas. It feels like ages ago! I remember freezing wind that stroked me when I got off the plane, the temperature was far below zero.”

The plane will take off in 40 minutes. Airport staff is closing the check-in, those who were late won’t get on WZ3096 flight to Poland this morning.

The city centre of Gdansk was completely destroyed during WWII. In the Dlugi Targ (Long Market) with the beautiful coloured houses, only two were standing after the bombardments. When the war was over all of these houses were rebuilt stone by stone by those who survived.

Passengers are going slowly through the security check. Some of them still don’t know new airport restrictions and keep liquids with them, soon all the bottles are binned. In the departure lounge they learn that the flight is half an hour delayed. Somebody spotted the information on the screen and let others know, who may have not understood it.

Jane is going to Poland for the first time. She says:”My best friend Kate is Polish, I know, her real name is Kasia but we all call her Kate. I don’t really know what to expect, I have never been further east than Germany. Kate was going home for a few days and asked me to come with her, I said, why not?”

The girls are going to be very busy. Kasia planned almost every hour of their trip to impress her friend, to show her that Poland is so much different from what old stereotypes say.

Kasia’s brother will come to pick them up from the Lech Walesa Airport. Polish, traditional dinner will be on the table when they arrive to their final destination – home.

Walking along the medieval docks and city is an experience in itself. Gdansk was a major port during the late middle ages and renaissance periods, the restored city and in particular the cathedral bear testament to the city’s undoubted former wealth. The city itself is a colourful heaven of magnificent architecture and boasts a vibrant evening and nightlife.

On the plane everyone seem very happy and chatty, cabin crew speak in Polish and then translate information for passengers to English. Only a few seats stay empty when the plane is ready for the take off.

For most passengers it is a happy time of holidays, break from work or school, time to relax and see those who they had been left behind before moving to Scotland.

It is estimated that around fifty percent of workers who have entered Britain since the EU’s expansion have come from Poland. And this is not surprising as out of the 80 million people who entered the European Union last year, 40 million of them were Poles.

Majority of passengers are young, in their twenties or thirties, a few of them speak English, planning stag night celebrations. Two Scotsmen moan about coming back to work in Gdansk but they seem to look forward to seeing their Polish girlfriends.

Gdansk, called by many the Baltic’s golden oldie has a new spring in its step, and what’s more, her two brothers Sopot and Gdynia are making sure that Poland’s coastline has more than one ace up its sleeve.

According to The Times, economists calculate that by relieving labour shortages and pay pressures, the Poles have contributed to economic growth and held down inflation and interest rates. When their own economy is stronger, many of the Poles will return home. In the meantime, we should celebrate the fact that they are here.

“Take a dare, see it yourself” – this is the slogan from a new advertising campaign to encourage foreigners to visit the city of Gdansk, northern Poland. With daily budget flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow it has become easier than ever.

Since Britain opened its borders to the new EU member states, Poles have made the biggest influx of all, but also Brits more and more often decide to go to see what Poland has on offer.

Direct return flight to Gdansk from either Prestwick or Edinburgh airport cost around £100 if booked in advance, the prices vary and depend on season. And after we leave airport terminal everything becomes cheaper than in Britain.

Just over two hours later the plane gently lands in its final destination. Some of the passengers start to clap their hands and shout “Bravo”. This is to thank the pilot for safe and pleasant flight. A few passengers cannot wait to get off. They take their seatbelts off and try to reach their hand luggage even before the plane completely stops. Cabin crew ask them to sit down.

In just a few minutes all of the passengers will go in different directions. Many will see their relatives who take them home, some will get a taxi to the hotel, others will go home o get ready to work the next day.

End

The Scottish fashion industry

Scots are among the biggest names in the world fashion industry, Scottish fabrics such as traditional tartan, tweeds, knitwear and contemporary designs are in constant demand by international designers and retail houses. But majority of well-known designers work away from home and the textile industry employs less people than ever.

The designer behind legendary fashion house Escada is a Scot, Brian Rennie, from Dundee. Scottish designer Graeme Black is creative director of Salvatore Ferregamo in Milan, and four-time winner of the New Generation Award, Jonathan Saunders works in London.

Graeme Black, after graduating in fashion at Edinburgh University moved to London and then Milan. He says: “Designers may move from Scotland to London, Paris, New York, Milan or even Tokyo but they are eventually successful thanks to what they have learned here in Scotland. When you look at the designs coming from Scotland – the cut, the shape, the form, the materials used – you can tell they have been inspired by Scotland.”

He said: “Scotland really has the best textiles industry in the world. When I was working at Armani, we would regularly look to the Scottish textile companies for their high quality Linton Tweed.”

Malcolm Birkinshaw, the lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art and designer, said: “The Scottish fashion industry is at a desperate time. More knitwear mills are cutting jobs; there are no manufacturers that can produce the level required for designers to sell internationally. And the support for Scottish designers to take their work to trade shows virtually is non-existent.”

Malcolm Birkinshaw says: “The Scottish Textile Network only offers part-founding for trade shows, which still leaves designers with a mighty bill. For designers like myself, who are trying to sell internationally there is no support.”

He says that a true fashion festival should be a week of promotion for Scotland-based designers. This could create jobs for former students of our colleges, which in turn would create manufacturing to revitalise the Scottish fashion industry.

But Edinburgh’s new fashion festival has been shelved after just one year because of major funding problems. Last year's event was launched without a major sponsor in place and almost £500,000 of public funding was spent to get it off the ground. But this year, the city council has refused to bail out the festival, which attracted world-renowned designers, Matthew Williamson and Jonathan Saunders.

Ian Broadfoot, City Centre Manager, Edinburgh City Centre Management Company says: “The decision has reluctantly been taken not to hold the event in 2007.” To establish the Festival on the city’s event calendar require substantial private sector investment, which has not been forthcoming to date.

Organizers had hoped to expand the event after attracting sell-out crowds and backing from top designers including Vivienne Westwood to the first festival. Also city centre clothes stores hailed the first event a huge success after they saw sales soar during the four-days it ran. But they have been forced to pull the plug on this year's event after failing to attract enough private-sector backing.

Malcolm Birkinshaw says:” With news of a Glasgow initiative to found six Glasgow-based or trained designers to show at London Fashion Week, it seems obvious how wrong Edinburgh has got it.”

But despite the Edinburgh Fashion Festival being cancelled, The Scottish Fashion Awards event again will attract numerous fashion lovers and creators. The organizers say that the SFA was established to celebrate our home-grown talent and encourage more of the same. Malcolm Birkinshaw, says: “The fashion Awards are great for Scotland, as it simply highlight some of the biggest names in fashion today are Scots.”

He says: “There are many talented Scottish designers like Malandleigh, Beca Lipscombe, Claire Ferguson, Cameron Taylor, or Chistopher and Totty Rocks, who are delighted to take part in such an event.” In September last year, Totty Rocks was nominated alongside Jonathan Saunders, John Rae (Gucci) and Graeme Black (Ferragamo) as Scottish Designer of the year at the Scottish Style Awards in The Tramway, Glasgow.

Lyndsey Miller, one of the founders of Totty Rocks label, said: “To take part in that event was a pure pleasure, to be named the Scottish Designer of the Year, was a great surprise.”

Holly Campbell and Lynsey Miller, graduated from Edinburgh Collage of Art six years ago and, after serving stints in London design studios, decided to go back home and opened their own shop. This is how Totty Rock label was founded. They say their style is fresh, young, and energetic a mix of print and tailoring.

Lynsey says: “Inspiration to us is a constant process. We are inspired by people, culture, and anything around us. We draw ideas from exciting vintage and second hand garments. We always try to be original, combine fine fabrics and wools. It is all about energetic look for every season.”

Before setting up Totty Rocks, Holly designed her own name collections, sold in Corniche (Edinburgh), and was a freelance designer for fashion and knitwear labels in London, such as N.Peal, Shirin Cashmere, Lachlan Munro and Panepinto in Milan. Lynsey worked for Haxton Boutique in London, designing and was a stylist working on shoots for i-D, the Guardian and others. Holy says: “Working in London and Milan was really great experience, the experience I wanted to bring home.”

They believe that the Edinburgh College of Art is one of the best schools for designers in the country. Holly said: “The teachers were working artists themselves. Their drawing skills were exceptional and with the studios overlooking the castle we couldn’t dream of better place to be as aspiring designers.” She says: “There is so mush inspiration in Scotland. If you are looking for vintage clothing there is no better place than Glasgow, not even London.”

Totty Rocks successfully join fashion and good cause. Holy says: “We are trying to support local charity initiatives.” Totty Rocks show their clothes on the Mission in Action annual dinners to help rise money for children from orphanage in Nakuru, Kenya.

Holy says: “We can see our future here in Scotland, but there is a lot that needs to be done to promote and support the Scottish Fashion and Textiles industry, this is the only way to encourage young designers to stay in Scotland.”

James Sugden, chairman of STMA, says: “There are nearly 450 companies in the Scottish textiles industry employing around 18,000 people and with a combined turnover of £1.084m.” But only 26% of companies sell internationally, textile exports are estimated at £390m.”

Sugden, says: “The textiles industry in Scotland has moved a long way from the 1970s and 1980s. Investment in technology means that a mill is now a quiet, high tech environment, while an emphasis on design has meant that Scottish companies are working in specific niche and luxury markets and supplying some of the world's leading couture houses as well as developing already well known Scottish brands.

Developed by the industry, in partnership with both trade unions and Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Textiles team, the strategy outlines a clear route for the textiles sector to increase the contribution it makes to the Scottish economy, by raising the proportion of bigger companies operating in the sector, investing more in research and development and building globally recognised brands.

Deadly Russia

A year ago she was found dead in her block apartment in Moscow. It may be chilling coincidence that she was killed on Vladimir Putin’s birthday. Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, paid the highest price for reporting the truth.

On October the 7^th last year, 48-year old, Politkovskaya drove to a local supermarket. Her pregnant daughter had planned to meet her there but was delayed. As a surveillance camera later showed, Anna was not alone. A young woman and a tall, slender man have been following her.

Politkovskaya made her name reporting for Russia’s liberal newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. On the day of her murder, Politkovskaya had planned to file a lengthy story on torture practices believed to be used by Chechen authorities, editor of Navaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov said.

Anna drove home and parked her silver Vaz 2110 just outside the entrance of her apartment block. The entrance security system was in order. She carried two bags of groceries up to her apartment, on the seventh floor, in the building’s elevator and dropped them at the door. Then she went down to get the rest of the shopping. When the elevator opened on the ground floor she met her killer.

He shot her four times, the last shot was a control shot from inches away, in the head. A pistol was left by her side – the obvious hallmark of a contract killing. The gun found was a 9mm Marakov, known as the weapon of choice for Russian hitmen.

After her murder, President Putin claimed that Politkovskaya’s influence on political life in the country was “extremely insignificant” and that the consequences of her murder were in fact more serious for him than the “damage inflicted by her articles”. This is how he described a journalist who was recognized and honored with numerous international awards for her work, courage and commitment.

Anna often said that with a KGB officer as president, the least you could do was to smile sometimes, to show the difference between him and you.

A year later

Political opponents of the Kremlin can end up in jail, such as the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, only Iraq has claimed more journalists' lives than Russia in the past decade. Though, nobody is suggesting that Mr Putin had anything to do with the deaths.

Former Russian spy and author of a book critical of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Alexander Litvinenko, had publicly accused Putin of her murder. He was poisoned a few months later.

At the end of August, this year, the Kremlin proudly announced that it was close to solving Politkovskaya’s murder. Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said that 10 suspects had been arrested, mostly Chechens, but also three former police officers and an employee of the domestic intelligence agency, the FSB. The case, Chaika told reporters, was as good as solved.

Chaika said plotters abroad had controlled a Chechen gang boss and several serving or former security officers in Moscow suspected of murdering Politkovskaya. He blamed conspirators interested in undermining President Vladimir Putin's authority and destabilising Russia.

Anna Politkovskaya’s son, Ilya Politkovsky, told Reuter news agency that Mr Chaika's announcement was politically motivated. A prominent journalists' organisation in Moscow - the Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations - has called the official version a fabrication. Also former associates of Politkovskaya were skeptical about Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika's murder plot theory.

And, within days many of the 10 arrested suspects had been released and the investigation had been severely compromised. The prosecutor’s office had failed to present a solid case against two men. Alexei Berkin, a bodyguard, and Oleg Alimov, a police officer, were freed the next day.

Sergey Khadjikurbanov, a police major with the Interior Ministry's organised crime unit, presented an astonishing alibi: he claimed that he was in prison on the day of the Politkovskaya murder. And another suspect, Pavel Ryagusov, a lieutenant colonel with the FSB, appeared to have been only marginally involved in the Politkovskaya murder. He was also released.

A petite woman brave beyond believe

“Anna published over 500 articles in the Novaya Gazeta. Almost each of them could have been the reason of her murder” – claims the Editorial Board of the Novaya Gazeta.

Politkovskaya was writing form the wrecked villages and shattered towns of Chechnya, talking to soldiers’ mothers, trying to find their sons’ corpses in military morgues. Anna constantly reported on “filtration camps”, where kidnapped Chechens, often teenagers, suffered torture, mutilation, rape and death.

She had been in Chechnya over 40 times. On one occasion she said: “I simply reported what I saw. I feel that it’s my professional duty - if you hide information, you have failed in your duty.” In the other interview she said: “Actions of authorities are supported by a huge propaganda machine. This machine has been able to create a picture of the enemy, this enemy living down south.”

She had no other life apart from her profession. Politkovskaya’s husband, Alexander, left unable to cope. She had been trough a lot but always came back for more. She had been locked in a hole in the ground by Russian troops and threatened with rape. On her way to Rostov, after the Beslan school siege in 2004 she was poisoned by FSB and nearly died.

Politkovskaya had acted as a negotiator in the Dubrovka theatre siege in Moscow in 2002, when 129 people died after the special services released gas into the building. A year earlier, she had been forced to flee to Vienna after receiving serious death threats.

During a conference on the freedom of press organized by Reporters Without Borders in December 2005, Politkovskaya said: “People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think. In fact, one can ever get killed for giving me information. I am not the only one in danger. I have examples that can prove it.”

She had piles of post and hundreds of phone calls, people were offering information, more often asked for help. They believed she could make a difference. She always tried, she said, to do what she could.

Deadly Russia

Over the past 15 years, Russia has become the third-deadliest country in the world for journalists, after conflict-ridden Iraq and Algeria, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. It is estimated that 47 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992. More than half of them lost their lives after Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. The majority of the murders have never been solved.

In the essay titled “Am I Afraid” Politkovskaya wrote: “People often tell me that I am a pessimist that I don’t believe in the strength of the Russian people, that I am obsessive in my opposition to Putin and see nothing beyond that.” And she concluded with words: “If anybody thinks that they can comfort from the ‘optimistic’ forecast, let them do so. It is certainly the easier way but it is the death sentence for our grandchildren.”

Shot, stabbed or poisoned, the journalists have two things in common: no one has been convicted, or in most cases even arrested, after their deaths. The Kommersant reporter, Ivan Safronov, is the most recent journalist to die in suspicious circumstances.

Despite falling four floors from a window in his Moscow apartment block, he did not die immediately. Witnesses say he tried to get to his feet after hitting the ground, but then collapsed for the final time.

The police say the death of the well-respected journalist, who worked for the daily Kommersant newspaper, has all the hallmarks of suicide - though they are willing to consider the possibility that he was "driven" to kill himself. But his friends insist he was not the sort to take his own life. Why should he?

In September The prosecutor’s office of Moscow Central Administrative District closed the criminal investigation because of 'an absence of foul play'.

END