Campaign launched to stop forced prostitution at World Cup
Soccer players, sports associations and fans are being urged to take part and blow the whistle on the exploitation of women - including girls as young as 14.
Major international sports events like the Olympics and the soccer spectacle attract mobile brothels and pimps that take advantage of the huge numbers of men attending.
The European Parliament is demanding action to tackle the growing problem of sexual exploitation of women on the fringes of sports events. All parties in the parliament are joining forces for the Red Card to Forced Prostitution campaign.
During a seminar today, political parties will call on all those connected with major events, including FIFA, UEFA and the International Olympic Committee, to take action.
Up to 800,000 people globally fall victim to sex traffickers every year. About 80% are female, with almost half of those minors.
According to international studies, the average starting age for girls sold into prostitution is 14 years.
In the EU, the figures are over 100,000 a year, many of them children.
Sex trafficking is now more profitable for criminal gangs than drugs or weapons, according to the UN.
Lissy Groener, women’s rights’ spokeswoman of the European Parliament’s 200-strong Socialist Group, described it as one of the most serious abuses of human rights in the world.
“Organised criminals are now preparing to exploit the World Cup. Thousands of poor women will be lured to Germany by false promises of work, only to be forced into prostitution and a life of misery.
“We need Europe-wide action and the involvement not just of the police and politicians but also of the fans themselves. I urge fans attending the World Cup to be alert to this scandal and to report any suspicions of trafficking that they might have,” she said.
Ms Groener also wants member states to make a statement against trafficking by allowing victims to stay in their countries and by launching an education campaign - targeting football fans - about the problem of forced prostitution.
The German National Council of Women have started a similar campaign called Final Whistle - Stop Forced Prostitution.
The parliament’s Socialist Group is backing a petition by the Party of European Socialists calling on European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to act.
The petition can be signed at www.pes.org
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