punishment. Turkmenistan Prostitution in Turkmenistan is illegal but common. Prostitution has increased within the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Poverty is one of the reasons women have turned to prostitution, sometimes under pressure from family members. Prostitutes frequent bars, casinos and nightclubs; some are addicted to heroin. In Daşoguz, a major truck stop, many 'night butterflies' service the truck drivers in the overnight truck parks. Uzbekistan Prostitution in Uzbekistan is illegal but common, especially in Samarkand, Fergana, and the capital, Tashkent. Prostitution has increased within the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union. UNAIDS estimate there are 22,000 sex workers in the country. Many of the women have turned to prostitution in Uzbekistan because of poverty. Law enforcement is inconsistent. Some police officers will harass prostitutes and extort "protection money" from them. Sometimes prostitutes work with police as informants to avoid being arrested. East Asia China Officially, prostitution is illegal in mainland China, but in practice is widespread. Shortly after taking power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party embarked upon a series of campaigns that purportedly eradicated prostitution from mainland China by the early 1960s. Since the loosening of government controls over society in the early 1980s, prostitution in mainland China not only has become more visible, but can now be found throughout both urban and rural areas. In spite of government efforts, prostitution has now developed to the extent that it comprises an industry, one that involves a great number of people and produces a considerable economic output. Prostitution has also become associated with a number of problems, including organized crime, government corruption and sexually transmitted diseases. For example, a Communist Party official who was a top provincial campaigner against corruption was removed from his post after he was caught in a hotel room with a prostitute. Hong Kong Prostitution in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organised prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment, causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitation. The most visible public venues for sex workers in Hong Kong, especially for tourists, are massage parlours and the so-called "Japanese style night clubs". However, most of the commercial sex worker industry consists of women working in small, usually one-room apartments, usually referred to as "one-woman brothels", the equivalent of the "walk-up brothel" in the United Kingdom. They