World Cup & Human Trafficking
‘ENJOY THE GAME. CELEBRATE THE WIN. DON’T BE A LOSER.’
SALVATION ARMY LAUNCHES HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FOR FANS TRAVELLING TO WORLD CUP
The Salvation Army is launching a campaign ahead of June’s World Cup to make travelling fans aware of the issue of human trafficking. It is estimated that up to 40,000 women could be brought into Germany to work as prostitutes during the World Cup, in order to accommodate the huge influx of demand experts anticipate will be generated by male fans attending the games. Thousands of these women are expected to be illegally trafficked.
Prostitution is legal in designated areas of Germany and as such 400,000 women are already involved in prostitution in the country. However, officials estimate that 3 million fans will buy sex while at the World Cup this year, and to accommodate these numbers 40,000 extra prostitutes are expected to be brought into Germany during this time. Members of the EU Parliament have gone on record to state that thousands of them will be there against their will.
The Salvation Army is keen to make football fans travelling to Germany aware that while prostitution may be legal in many parts of Germany, sex with a trafficked woman is rape.* UK citizens can be prosecuted for illegal sex acts such as sex with a trafficked woman in this country as well as abroad.
Salvation Army volunteers from 6 countries across the world are travelling to Germany to target their countrymen at the World Cup. 40 volunteers from the UK alone will be in Germany, and part of their assignment will be to distribute hard-hitting leaflets which are designed to challenge and inform male fans of the issue of human trafficking. The leaflets, which are headed up with the slogans ‘
You chose her. She definitely didn’t choose you’ and ‘Offensive action? Does it offend you?’, contain facts about trafficking as well as 24-hour helpline numbers for anyone who suspects a woman is trafficked and needs advice.In the run-up to the World Cup, volunteers will also be present at the two England friendly matches at Old Trafford on 30 May and 3 June. The volunteers will be handing out leaflets to adult male fans and attempting to raise awareness and gain support for this key issue while still on home soil.
‘The Salvation Army wants to make people travelling to Germany this summer aware that if they choose to go to a brothel, they may be choosing to pay for sex with a trafficked woman. Sex with a trafficked woman is rape and is an illegal and immoral activity,’ commented Duncan Parker of The Salvation Army.
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‘Every year over 2 million people are trafficked across international borders for the purposes of exploitation, whether that be in the form of commercial sex, domestic service or manual labour. Many trafficked victims are stolen from their homes, many are sold by their families, and many are lured away from their homes by the prospect of a well-paid job or a better life in another country. All of these people are being exploited against their will.’
Human trafficking is the third largest illegal industry in the world after the drugs and arms trade, with more than 2 million people trafficked every year. As a global organisation, The Salvation Army is committed to raising awareness of this modern slave trade and to supporting and preventing victims. The Salvation Army runs programmes across the world to support the victims of trafficking and to educate communities in order to prevent people falling into the trap of this illegal trade.
* Rape is having sex with someone without their consent. Someone can only freely consent to sex if they agree by choice and have the freedom and capacity to make that choice.