The secularization of Turkish society allowed prostitution to achieve legal status during the early 20th century.
The regulatory agencies also issue identity cards to sex workers that give them rights to some free medical care and other social services.
[2] However, many local governments now have a policy of not issuing new registrations, and in some cities, such as Ankara and Bursa, brothels have been demolished by court order.
[3] Investigation indicated that larger numbers of Muslim women were illegally or secretly engaging in prostitution, compare to their non-Muslim counterparts.
Many women who resorted to prostitution did so due to being single mothers, homelessness, poverty, and to afford childcare services.
[3] Under the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), the granting of licenses have slowed and legal brothels demolished or moved from city centers, according to Foreign Policy, this leaves women at greater risk of arrest, violence and harassment.
[12] The police are allowed to check the authenticity of registered prostitutes to determine whether they have been examined properly and to ensure they see the health authorities if they do not.
[19] Although laws and policies regarding prostitution in Turkey aim to benefit public health, they fail to take into account the rights of sex workers.
Despite strict regulations on health checks, the men who pay for sex are not subjected to any medical examination for STDs.
[3] Although the state-run brothels were initially created to regulate the spread of venereal diseases, they now pose a threat to infringing the rights of sex workers.
[20] However, the Turkish Passport Law “forbids individuals from entering the country solely for the purpose of prostitution” and it is illegal for unregistered workers and foreigners to perform any type of sex work.
Foreign women usually leave their countries in hopes of finding domestic labor to support themselves and their families; however, as a result of the stigmatization they face when arriving in Turkey, they resort to prostitution.
[23] During the late 1980s and 1990s, as the HIV/AIDS crisis was at its peak, media coverage in Turkey portrayed many migrant sex workers as the reason why HIV/AIDS spread across national borders.
[23] This type of media caused a greater panic in Turkish citizens and the government, eventually leading to police raids of migrant workers' homes, mandatory STD tests, and deportation.
[25] Transgender sex workers are the most vulnerable and susceptible to violence and harassment as they are forced to work outside legal institutions.
According to the 2011 report by the Human Resource Development Foundation, there are about 4,000 transgender sex workers in Istanbul and a total of 8,000 to 10,000 trans-women in all major cities in Turkey.
However, women who are trans and sex workers, are subjected to the most physical and sexual violence from both clients and police officers.
Turkey is a top destination for victims of human trafficking in relation to the sex trade, according to a report produced by the UNDOC.
[29] In 2003 it was estimated that 100,000 women have been sold by family or ex spouses (because of imagined or real transgressions of traditions) into sex work.
[30] There have been reports according to Walk Free that Yazidi women who were enslaved by ISIS are still held captive in the Mid east, including in Turkey.
[30] Walk Free reported that Syrian children, including boys in the border area were at risk of exploitation.