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Europe
WND : 40,000 women 'sex trafficked' for World Cup
2006-05-26
In response to reports that 40,000 young women will be brought to Germany from Central and Eastern Europe to "sexually service" men attending the World Cup soccer championship next month, a Catholic group warns that many are desperately poor and will be "sex trafficked" against their will.

Most of the women are told "they are going to be models, waitresses or some other harmless occupation," says the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). "Many will be brutally assaulted by intoxicated fans."

C-FAM comments: "Whatever their circumstances, each and every one of these young women is someone's daughter, a child of God and deserves our protection! They do not deserve to be exploited and sentenced to a life of misery to satisfy the sexual appetites of soccer fans." What "makes this crime particularly appalling," adds C-FAM, "is the open support it is receiving from the German government. The same government that likes to lecture America on morality!"

The Catholic group is far from alone in its condemnation of the mass prostitution campaign. Before German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to the White House earlier this Month, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J., said: "It is an outrage that the German government is currently facilitating prostitution and we believe women who will be exploited will be treated as commodities."

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Brunhilde Raiser, director of the National Council of German Womens' Organizations, said: "Forced prostitution has yet to become a public issue of concern as a severe violation of human and women's rights. Our goal is to bring it as far up the political agenda as possible."

Even Sweden's "equality ombudsman," Claes Borgström, has reportedly called for a boycott of the World Cup by the Swedish team to highlight the problem.

Because the German red light districts are too small to accommodate the soccer fans, the country's sex industry has built a massive prostitution complex, including a "mega-brothel" in Berlin, next to the main World Cup venue, that can accommodate 650 male clients. Wooden "sex huts" or "performance boxes" have been built in fenced-in areas the size of a football field, with condoms, showers and parking and a special focus on protecting the customers' anonymity.

Some sources estimate that as many as 30 percent of the soccer fans will visit prostitutes at least once.
Posted by:anonymous5089

#21  Maybe this is an attempt to get that sagging birth rate on the up tick.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-05-26 21:20  

#20  Since the German Govt and Society tolerate prostitution, i.e. so-called "victimless crime(s), is this the German equivalent of the "illegals" issue?
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-05-26 20:24  

#19  why not just strap em in stirrups and hose em off periodically? Jeebus
Posted by: Frank G   2006-05-26 16:46  

#18   ... the country's sex industry has built a massive prostitution complex, including a "mega-brothel" in Berlin, next to the main World Cup venue, that can accommodate 650 male clients. Wooden "sex huts" or "performance boxes" have been built in fenced-in areas the size of a football field ... (emphasis mine)

"Fenced-in" to keep the reporters out and the chattel property in. Sex lagers. Will the German government be kind enough to erect "Arbeit Macht Frei" signs over the gates?
Posted by: mrp   2006-05-26 15:47  

#17  Where the hell is the United Nations on this issue?

What?

Oh.

Never mind.
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-05-26 14:42  

#16  Jules, loved the snark, we could sell air time.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-05-26 12:45  

#15  Second, the German polizei will have zero tolerance to any unauthorized mischief they get wind of.

The Germans have the world's most honest vice cops.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-05-26 12:16  

#14  I'll bet some boxes will be better than others. Wouldn't surprise me at all to find that some of the politicians moralizing on this issue end up being sponsored in the corporate suites.
Posted by: DoDo   2006-05-26 12:02  

#13  Zeig Heil Heir McCollough!!!
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-05-26 11:53  

#12  "Vy, some uff dose frauliens are de best vriends I haff!"
Posted by: mojo   2006-05-26 11:32  

#11  Most of this is hype. That is, there is a difference between someone who is "forced" into prostitution, and those who *say* they are forced into prostitution.

While the latter always insist that what they are doing is involuntary, it is always predicated on "ifs".

That is, for example, "If somebody would just give me all the stuff I want, then I wouldn't be *forced* to be a prostitute."

Many "voluntary" prostitutes have a very similar psychology. A combination of very low self-esteem (for which a lot of finger rings and bracelets is a dead giveaway), and a severe addiction to "attention" from others.

This latter is how a pimp keeps control over their prostitutes: dancing with them one minute, slapping them around the next. The form of attention doesn't matter, positive or negative, just that the pimp gives them attention. It can be as addictive as a drug to them.

Things are further muddied because organized crime is involved in both voluntary and involuntary prostitution.

For a large public event like the World Cup, the imported prostitutes would be almost entirely voluntary. First of all, a different country, where legal prostitution has existing rules and a bureaucracy aware of its operations.

Second, the German polizei will have zero tolerance to any unauthorized mischief they get wind of. A human trafficker will be operting in the open mouth of a lion, and they know this; but a legal prostitution operation is fine and dandy--low risk, high reward.

Involuntary prostitutes have to be kept on a tight leash, in a controlled situation, and with a clientele motivated not to spill the beans, like UN personnel. That is why they are kept locally and under strict supervision at all times.

That is why the vast majority of involuntary prostitutes are kept in Moslem countries.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-05-26 11:28  

#10  "...the real issue is taking people against their will and selling them as a commodity into slavery..."

Good point. I had to get snarky in #6, but this is the real issue.
Posted by: Jules   2006-05-26 11:15  

#9  I'm sure Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International will get right on it. Right after they investigate this non air conditioned room in GITMO used to house feral animals.....

The disgusting thing is that the German Government appears allows this. After all they allow this huge whorehouse complex to be build (was it with tax dollars?).

Its as bad as the 'Comfort Women' of Imperial Japan during WWII.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2006-05-26 10:57  

#8  In December, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill that strengthens the nation's current human trafficking law ....... and requested maps to the "mega-brothel" in Berlin.
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-05-26 10:52  

#7  Not just the Germans here. It's the whole human trade networks that need to be taken down. This really is not about prostitution. As far as I'm concerned, if a woman wants to do that it's her call. The Russian, Korean, and Chinese Mafias that buy, sell and enslave women and children are where the anger should be directed. This is where the church seems to miss the real point. It's not about the sex and prostitution, the real issue is taking people against their will and selling them as a commodity into slavery. These scum that exploit the weak deserve a slow painful death.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-05-26 10:27  

#6  A perfect opportunity to hide a few video cameras in the "performance" areas and show streaming videos of the "customers" faces on a dedicated website while masking out the prostitutes' faces. Broadcast the videos for all to see-including inquiring wives. That'll liven up the debate.

I love the entreprenneurial spirit. :)
Posted by: Jules   2006-05-26 10:22  

#5  Or they do and were forced into it.

The eastern European mafia - especially the Russian mafia - have been trafficking girls as young as 13 for prostitution in the west. Often the parents are desperate for money and close their eyes to what they probably know is happening. The girls have no choice.

My contempt for the Germans on this issue is beyond putting into words.
Posted by: lotp   2006-05-26 09:24  

#4  Something about the using the phrase "performance boxes" when discussing prostitution caused my brain to lock up.

This would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that many of these women have no idea what they are in for.
Posted by: GORT   2006-05-26 09:15  

#3  Which flags will be flying?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2006-05-26 09:00  

#2  But you see, Germany is so SOPHISTICATED and MORAL.

Pfeh.
Posted by: lotp   2006-05-26 08:47  

#1  Wooden "sex huts" or "performance boxes" have been built in fenced-in areas the size of a football field, with condoms, showers and parking and a special focus on protecting the customers' anonymity.

Wow. That's class!
Posted by: tu3031   2006-05-26 08:32  

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