Every day, a steady stream of women cross the border from Uzbekistan to Kyrgystan. Demure and well-covered, few would guess that they are prostitutes in search of better conditions.
They look like very religious girls," said rights activist Azimjan Askarov who has witnessed the traffic many times. They wear tight jeans and sweaters, their working clothes.
The rise of prostitution in Uzbekistan has coincided with a severe economic crisis. Once they have joined the sex trade, Uzbek women are then attracted by the higher earnings and a more stable currency over the border in Kyrgyzstan.
For a night's work in Andijan, a large Uzbek regional centre, an Uzbek prostitute can earn to sums, between 1. Over the border in the Kyrgyz city of Osh, she could earn to soms, or 21 to 32 dollars, for the same amount of work.
Money is not the only attraction. Girls have long been selling their bodies in both countries according to year-old prostitute Nazira from the Uzbek town of Khanabad.
