A young woman from Latin America applies to a modeling agency in Spain. Flight, accommodation—everything is paid for. But when she arrives, her papers are taken away and she is forced into sex work, first in Spain, then in Germany. The reason given: she had to repay the travel expenses. Only the police can free her, during an undercover operation.
Sebastian Eichler from the Mainz Criminal Investigation Department conducts his investigations as follows: He responds to online ads as a fake client, then reveals himself as a police officer during the appointed meetings. “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” says Eichler, “to take action against the perpetrators, we need the women’s statements.”
But often, the women remain silent out of fear. Because the perpetrators not only pressure the women, but also threaten to harm family members back home.
Human rights organizations and law enforcement agencies are monitoring this phenomenon. They suspect that the narcos — Colombian drug cartels—have now entered the business. In Spain, Carmen Gonzalez of the Policia Nacional reports initial successes. Her special unit has managed to dismantle a network.
Manuela Schon and her team from the Women’s Affairs Department of the City of Wiesbaden note that more and more women are being offered for sex in private apartments and hotels. For them, a ban on the purchase of sex based on the Swedish model would be the solution. There, clients are severely punished, while the women remain unpunished. France also follows this abolitionist model. Yet human trafficking occurs there as well.
In Vienna, the UN Special Representative on Organized Crime has convened the first international congress for victims of human trafficking. Over 30 survivors recount their stories and identify the root causes: poverty, displacement, and gender inequality.