YOUNG Latvians are staging a revolt against an influx of so-called “sex terrorists” who, they claim, have turned their capital, Riga, into the “Bangkok of the Baltic”.

A month-long Campaign Against Sex Terrorism, organised by a group of nongovernmental organisations called Reaction, is warning Latvian women to say no to one-night stands with foreign men.

The initiative follows a boom in Latvia’s tourist industry that has seen the number of visitors jump by 53% since 2004. Riga has become particularly popular with British stag parties looking for cheap alcohol, beautiful women and casual sex.

“We’re not against particular tourist groups - we’re against their behaviour,” said Martins Kozlovskis, a marketing specialist and the brains behind the campaign. “Many Latvian women get harassed when they walk into Old Riga, and people aren’t comfortable with that.”

Kozlovskis came up with the idea after he saw that the influx of foreign stag parties was turning Riga’s club scene increasingly sleazy. “We’re aiming at the young girls who are interested in one-night stands, who are creating this image of the country,” he said.

The campaign has won the support of many young women apprehensive about going into the city centre at night, when it is not uncommon to find drunk British men stripping off.

“There’s definitely a reason to avoid the popular tourist bars,” said Ilze Graze, a 26-year-old marketing executive. “I looked in a booklet about Riga this week and every other page was full of sex ads. It’s no surprise that foreigners have an impression that local women are easy to get,” she said.

Graze said the problem was compounded by adverts in Britain and Ireland touting cheap alcohol and easy sex. “What we see is British guys getting totally drunk in the old town.”

Last week, on Kalku Street in the heart of Riga, young men and women at intervals of 50 yards distributed leaflets advertising striptease clubs and massage parlours.

Julia, 24, said she was handing them out because the pay was good. “I can’t stand the job though. It’s morally and psychologically punishing,” she said, adding that tourists were rude and frequently offered to take her back to their hotel rooms.

In one nightclub where a blonde woman in black lingerie was dancing on the bar, 18 Irishmen strolled in and sat down. Mick, 29, an excavator driver, said he had heard little about Riga other than it was cheap.

Meanwhile in the plush Skybar, on the 26th floor of the Latvia Regal hotel, attractive young women were mingling with foreign men. Sanda, 19, sat with her two friends and two Italian tourists. She said she liked the Skybar as it was “civilised”. It had become impossible, she added, for a well-dressed young woman to walk through the old town without being subjected to suggestive taunts.

Dave, 53, an aviation engineer from Seattle, said he often travelled to Latvia to meet “gorgeous” women. “Amsterdam is known as the city of vice in Europe, but Riga is catching up quick,” he said.

Mike Johnson, an American working in Latvia’s tourist industry, said money played a big part. “The local girls these days are after the credit card. They’re not taking men to bed, but to the shopping mall.”

Zanete Skarule, a popular presenter on MTV Latvia, which is backing the campaign, said social and economic factors often explained why girls opted for casual sex.

“They’re very open and ready to spend time with guys for just one cocktail. I say it’s not worth it, it’s cooler to buy yourself a drink.”

Dr Arturs Vavere, Latvia’s leading sexologist, blamed magazines. “I think the mass media have played a big role - especially women’s magazines that have popularised one-night-stands or casual relationships as something refreshing, like drinking a cocktail,” he said.

The local family planning association is also supporting the campaign. Dace Zaldate, a spokesman, said many local women, especially from the countryside, were seduced by the chat-up lines of foreign men. “It’s a cultural difference. Latvian men rarely pay women compliments or give them much attention.”

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