Greece has voted for change. The Syriza party - whose campaign line was “Hope Is on Its Way” – has emerged triumphant from the country’s general election.

The average Greek wage has fallen to just €600 (£450) a month and half of all young people are unemployed. So it’s not surprising that the people of Greece are voting for a party which seems to represent progress.

But there’s another side to Greece’s mass unemployment; one which has been little reported on.

According to the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), the rate of prostitution in the country has soared by 150 per cent during the economic crisis, meaning that women who would otherwise have sought other types of employment, are turning to sex work in order support themselves and their families.

There are currently an estimated 20,000 prostitutes in Greece (according to EKKE) of which fewer than 1,000 are legally registered.

Because although street prostitution is illegal in Greece, sex work is technically not. (Although it’s not considered a profession and workers don’t have any kind of protection from labour laws).

There are brothels (or ‘studios’) where women can register to work legally. Studio-based prostitution is considered safer and is regulated, with on-site security and regular sexual health screening.

The studios are traditionally run by older women, sometimes former prostitutes themselves. Each is granted a licence, issued by the state.

The Greek authorities decided to implement a law in 1999 which stipulates that all brothels must have such a permit. Women working as prostitutes must register and carry a medical card, which is updated every two weeks.

There’s a list of other stipulations that must be met before a woman is allowed to work in one of these studios. She must be over 18; have the right to live and work in Greece; be free from STI’s or other infectious illnesses; not suffer from mental illness or drug addiction; and not have been convicted of homicide, pimping, child porn, trafficking, robbery or blackmail.

Oh, and she must be unmarried, too.

The reason for this stipulation is difficult to fathom. But regardless of its intention, the law isn’t stopping married women from working as prostitutes. It’s simply preventing them from operating in regulated environments and forcing them on to the streets, something which is both illegal and dangerous.

And with the number of women sex workers in the country rising rapidly, so the situation of its streets is worsening.

Because many of the Greek women now turning to prostitution don’t bear even a passing resemblance to the drug-addled stereotype of the ‘hooker’.