Outcry over Russian virgins ‘advertised’ for sex ends with apology from Spanish human trafficking NGO, Moscow’s embassy reports

A Spanish anti-prostitution charity has apologized for casting fictional Russian teenagers as prostitutes in a marketing campaign designed to shock passersby about the prospect of paying for sex, the country’s diplomats have said.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Moscow’s diplomatic mission in Madrid said that the organization, Nueva Vida, “has apologized to our Russian compatriots for the unacceptable PR campaign.”

As a result of the “joint efforts” of the embassy, Russian cultural associations and community groups, “the director of the non-profit organization, Garcia Selorio, sent a letter to the embassy in which he apologized and announced that the provocative banners would be taken down.”

The ads featured a mocked-up billboard offering a range of illicit specials, such as “Russian virgins and cocaine.” Other listings include “Katia, 17 years old,” and “Sophia, 20 years old,” for €50 each ($58). The public were told that, for an extra fee, they can smoke marijuana, snort illegal drugs and even dispense with the use of a condom.

The organization that placed the ads, Asociación NUEVA VIDA, said they came as part of efforts to “abolish prostitution.” The materials had reportedly been designed by a group of university students to make the point that “without men consuming women’s bodies, there would be no women being sexually exploited.”

“Our compatriots living in Spain are outraged by the PR stunt from the NGO, sharing online the placement of provocative banners on the street, mentioning Russian girls as part of the campaign to bring attention to the problem of prostitution in the country,” the embassy said when the incident came to light earlier this week.

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