[crich70]

Actually I've heard that just the opposite is true. There are more crimes both sexual and plain murder because people don't know their neighbors as much anymore when they move to the big cities. It's then that the molesters and serial killers can have a field day. If 50 different people live in an apt. complex for example and you don't know all of them who is to say that someone who shouldn't be there won't get in the building and strike at random? They seem to look for types (whether to molest or kill) from what I've heard rather than individual people. Chikatilo for example murdered both adults and kids. Either runaways or kids and adults who for one reason or another crossed his path by chance. He didn't stick with just blonde haired little boys as victims for example. When you don't know the person next to you that's when the serial offender has the best chance of doing what he wants. I mean look how long it took to catch Chikatilo for example. He could travel and people didn't know him, and since many people traveled for work or otherwise he didn't stand out.

Originally Posted by penartur

The link contains several excerpts from articles by different organizations.
There is a reference to some "The Ministry of Interior" in

Although it is called "The Ministry of Internal Affairs", i cannot find that number on our Ministry of Internal Affairs website. Actually, it references on another ECPAT article from 2003, " ECPAT International & the Ukrainian Institute of Social Research. Analysis of the Situation and Institutions in the Field of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and Counter-CSEC Activities in Russia. November 2003.", to the page 51 concening "The Ministry of Interior" estimates, and to the page 66 concerning "experts" estimates. Oddly enough, but it seems that the referenced article is not available anywhere.

First of all, it is quite odd, how someone who is trying to say about current condition, references to the article from 2005, which references to the article from 2003, which references to god know what.

Then, even if Ministry of Internal Affairs actually made such a estimate, it means that prostitution (or what did they meant) is about 1/2000 rate between children. 50000 children in moscow is about 1/40, note the difference! While the former might be, just might be, true, latter is completely ridiculous.

Not the West in general, but just US.
By the way, i've just thought of one possible reason which greatly makes sense imho. Majority of the people in Russia are living in a "apartment houses" (i hope i picked a right word) and hardly know their neighbours. Rest are living in a villages, they are someone like peasants, and not only child molestations, but even adultery is extremely discouraged there.
In USA, from the other side, many people are living in their own houses in suburbs (am i right?) Social connections between neighbours are heavy and numerous, so there could be many "family friends" of the neighbours, and one of those friend could happen not to be such a friend. Also, the maniac could relatively easy trace their potential victim to the victim's house and then e.g. break in through the window. In the city, however, the maniac will only be able to trace a victim to an "apartment house", and then he won't even know in which flat the victim lives, not to say that breaking in through the window on a 27th floor is a bit difficult.
That's purely my guesswork; but the majority of the cases in USA i've heard about are happening in a suburbs...

I'm suggesting, that, although there are smart HIV patients and dumb MSU students, generally HIV patients (again, that's purely my guess work) don't know how to make safe sex = not so bright, and generally MSU students are smart enough (or else they wouldn't reach MSU), so, the probability of randomly picked MSU student to be a HIV patient is significantly lower than it is for randomly picked person on a street.