United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Mrs Mary Robinson urged Lebanon today to launch an inquiry into the trafficking of women into the country for sex work.
"There is a trafficking problem through and into Lebanon," Mrs Robinson told a news conference in Beirut.
"There is quite a serious problem of women, some of whom believe they are coming for domestic work," being exploited, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on the final leg of a regional tour that has already taken her to Egypt and Bahrain.
Mrs Robinson said she had raised the issue with Lebanese leaders, who had denied there was a problem. But she said officials had shown a willingness to launch an inquiry into women diverted into sexual exploitation.
Scores of women, mostly of eastern European origin, work as prostitutes in the supernightclubs and cabarets of Beirut and Maameltein, a seaside strip just north of the capital infamous for its seedy nightlife.
There has been a surge in the number of women trafficked for sex since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 devastated many east European economies. But there are no reliable figures showing the extent of the problem in Lebanon.
Mrs Robinson admitted the issue was difficult to quantify as many women were too afraid to speak out.