Forced prostitution in the border region: refugee routes

Human rights - Forced prostitution in the border region: refugee routes

Young women who are forced into prostitution in private homes or nightclubs and minors who become victims of sexual assault in the German-Czech border region: Such cases are sad everyday occurrences for the Plauen-based aid organization Karo - and have been for years. However, the social workers are increasingly observing that human traffickers are using refugee routes for their own purposes. "Vulnerable people can easily be smuggled in via these routes," said Managing Director Cathrin Schauer-Kelpin to the German Press Agency.

The association has been fighting against forced prostitution, human trafficking and sexual exploitation for almost 30 years. This Sunday, the "International Day against Violence against Sex Workers" was intended to draw attention to the suffering of the victims.

Specific figures on how many people are affected on the refugee routes are difficult to determine, explained Schauer-Kelpin. There is also the question of whether they are not only brought into the country via these routes, but are first contacted on the route. And then disappear. Very few of those affected by human trafficking for sexual exploitation would ever dare to file a complaint. "So who is supposed to register it? Most fall through the cracks." The low official figures are by no means representative.

At the moment, all that remains are the observations of the association's eight social workers, who carry out street outreaches, visit homes and offer opportunities to get out. "We distribute emergency numbers, hygiene products and arrange medical examinations," explains Schauer-Kelpin. The helpers have a particularly bad feeling about women and children from war and crisis zones. "Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have noticed a massive increase in Ukrainian women in the club scene in the Czech Republic."

It was also observed that young girls were specifically approached at the borders or club owners bluntly advertised that they would take in refugee women and children. Nationwide investigations and court cases in recent years have shown that women were repeatedly brought to Germany via the refugee routes, according to the head of the association. "Only to then disappear into prostitution."

When women from Asia are affected, it often takes place in very secluded, closed structures. "We only find out about it when they tell us about it in our shelter." The association has been running a shelter for several years, where 20 women and 16 children from eight nations were accommodated last year. There is also a shelter in the Czech Republic. "Wars and natural disasters repeatedly lead to women and children being sexually exploited. Because there are perpetrators who exploit this need."

With 346 cases of "sexual exploitation" in 2022, the federal report on human trafficking and exploitation showed an 18.9% increase in investigations. Forced prostitution accounted for a large proportion (199 cases). 476 victims were identified. More than 95 percent of these were female and predominantly European. The vast majority of them were not legally registered in Germany.

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, young people from Eastern Europe who come from poor families are more likely to become victims, as there are no travel restrictions for them. The 488 suspects identified mainly used the "loverboy method". In this method, the perpetrator places his mostly young female victim in an emotionally dependent relationship under the pretense of a love affair.

According to the Saxon State Office of Criminal Investigation, 33 cases of human trafficking were registered last year - roughly the same number as in previous years. However, in addition to forced prostitution, these crimes also included forced labor or labor exploitation. "Evidence of sexual violence on the escape routes or false promises by traffickers are not recorded in the data collections," it says. However, six cases of suspected "human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation" have been recorded by Saxon police stations so far in 2023.

Last year, the Karo association carried out 73 street work missions in the Czech border regions. They made 712 contacts with people in prostitution, 160 of whom were minors, according to the annual report. On the German side, 41 missions took place in which the employees registered victims from 27 nationalities.

Karo e.V. Federal report on human trafficking and exploitation 2022