My mother forwarded this e-mail...

[elisi]

At the risk of sounding like ginmar I feel I need to post this. (I know it comes from a Christian organisation. Please don't let that put you off - it's about womens' human rights!)


Women to be Trafficked as Sex Slaves to the World Cup in Germany

ETA: Edited thanks to mefnord. I'm kinda rushed, so please also see her comments!

Your help urgently needed to stop this outrage....


Dear Colleague,

I urgently need you to read this email regarding an alarming development in Germany and then FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW who will help us prevent this unfolding tragedy.

From June 9 - July 9, 2006, just a few weeks from now, 12 German cities will host the world soccer championship World Cup Games.

Approximately 3 million soccer fans - mostly men - will attend. With official support from the German government [I'm very glad that this isn't true!], up to 40,000 young women will be "imported" from Central and Eastern Europe into Germany to "sexually service" the men. [this figure is in all likelyhood exaggerated. Still, it's a bad thing.]

These women come from desperately poor circumstances. According to reports, most will not speak German. Most are being "sex trafficked" against their wills. They are told that they are going to be models, waitresses, or some other harmless occupation. Many will be brutally assaulted by intoxicated fans.

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.

This is a massive assault on women and should be opposed by every Christian and every person who believes in human dignity!


• Prostitution is legal in Germany. But their legal red light districts will be too small for the thousands of sport/sex tourists attending the World Cup games. The German sex industry has erected a massive prostitution complex for the "booming business" expected during the games. [Dunno about that one. Probably exaggerated. ]

• The Germans [that is - some pimps who are probably German] have already built a mega brothel in Berlin, right next to the main World Cup venue to accommodate 650 male clients. Wooden "sex huts" called "performance boxes" that look like toilets have been built in fenced-in areas the size of a football field, with condoms, showers and parking for the buyers and a special focus on protecting their "anonymity." [The boxes are to stop the girls working on the streets, so not all bad... still, they shouldn't have to work in that business at all.]

• It is estimated that as many as 30% of the soccer fans will visit prostitutes "at least once. Sexual activity on such a massive scale is highly likely to spread STD's. Some of the infected fans will come back to the U.S. -- and we could have another major flare up of HIV/AIDS as well as other STD's.

C-FAM, speaking for millions of Christians around the world is conducting this urgent, massive, self perpetuating email campaign to international public support against this outrage.

PLEASE - ADD YOUR NAME AND VITAL INFORMATION TO THE ATTACHED PETITION AND RETURN IT TO ME HERE AT C-FAM. We are urgently collecting names of concerned individuals all over the world to be delivered to


• The German Mission to the United Nations,
• The German Embassy in the United States,
• The German Mission to the European Parliament,
• Our pro-family friends in the German Parliament.
• We will also send them to the governing body of the World Cup Games.

PLEASE do it now - the World Cup games will begin just a few weeks from today.

THEN PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL AND ATTACHED PETITION TO EVERY CARING CHRISTIAN AND PERSON OF CONSCIENCE YOU KNOW!

If everyone I'm writing to today responds as energetically as they can we can conceivably deliver a final petition to the German government containing MILLIONS OF NAMES from around the world.

And that's the kind of massive effort it will take to prevent this crime against 40,000 young women subjected to the horrors of prostitution.

PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS EMAIL. DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THINKING SOMEONE ELSE WILL "TAKE CARE OF THIS PROBLEM." Your voice does make a difference and is urgently needed today.

Thank you! God bless you for your help. Please remember this vital mission in your prayers.

Austin Ruse
President, C-FAM

P.S. To learn the latest about our urgent campaign to stop state-sponsored prostitution during the World Cup games please visit our website at http://www.c-fam.org/stopwcpro.htm

PPS Go to http://www.c-fam.org/stopwcpro.htm to sign the petition NOW! And send this message to as many of your friends and family as possible. We want to swamp them with names of objectors to this awful and ghastly crime. Act now.

Comments

[mefnord.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it is true that women will be "imported" from other countries and even more sadly, it is alos very likely that they will be lied to.

Officially, women organizations doubt the number of 40,000, but even one forced woman would be one too much.

I have to admit though that as a German I do find the way this letter is formulated slightly offending.

"With official support from the German government" - this is simply not true. POliticians have even discussed the possibility to make way for legal persecutions of the "customers", but the idea has been rejected, because women organizations didn't think it would be effective. Instead, they launched campaigs to educate the men. I don't know if I quite agree with that approach, but at least, the situation has been recognized as bad and wrong. There is no official support...

It's not "the Germans" who built a mega-brothel, it's some pimps, who are probably German, but might very well be not.

Making prostitution legal has at least served to enable the women to form unions. But that's another discussion.

I agree with the idea and the intention of the letter and know that drastic formulations help to raise the consciousness on such an issue, but they might have profited from saying things differently - more objectively.

Weird, normally I'm all for bashing the Germans (and me)- I think it irked me because "we" tried and try to do something to prevent girls from being raped for money... and do not stand back and just let it happen.

[elisi]

Thank you! I tried to look up independent new sources and couldn't find any specific ones. And I'm glad to hear that the news isn't as bad as the letter makes out. I'll go edit.

I absolutely don't want to offend anyone - so I'm very grateful for your reply.

[mefnord.livejournal.com]

I researched some more and I think the German government support that the letter speaks of might be a system that has been adopted from the Netherlands and has been around in Germany for a while now: they raise little huts or garages so that the girls won't have to work right on the street. These huts are patrolled by the police, some doctors and social workers. They have panic buttons if the girls need help, and they're heated.

Some cities that host games think about raising more of those huts. But it's nothing that has been introduced solely for the Championship.

[elisi]

These things are always insanely complex. *sigh* I've edited the post, are you OK with it now? Sadly I have small children that need looking after and must run!

[mefnord.livejournal.com]

I know! Nothing is just black and white anymore! *hates being a grown-up*

Thanks for editing, sweetheart - I wasn't offended that you posted it, just a little with the tone of the letter itself.


*huggles*

[elisi]

I know! Nothing is just black and white anymore! *hates being a grown-up*
Me too. But oddly having just spent days arguing with people over (amongst other things) the last 2 seasons of Buffy, I yet again feel compelled to love my little fantasy show, that dared tackle big horrible grown-up problems.

I wasn't offended that you posted it, just a little with the tone of the letter itself.
Oh I know, but I don't like to put out 'factS' that are not true! I'm very glad that the news wasn't as dire as I was led to believe!

[pluckyantihero.livejournal.com]

Signed it.
(points to your icon) Yeah, basically.

[elisi]

Why can't people just be satified with reading PWP? *sigh*

(My icon is from 'Black Books' which I don't suppose you know?)

[pluckyantihero.livejournal.com]

Or just satisfied with being, you know, NOT perverted and pathetic and disgusting. Oy.
And yeah, don't know what Black Books is. (shrug)

[elisi]

I concur.

And Black Book sis one of the funniest sitcoms in the world EVER! Find it if you can, I swear you'll not be disappointed!

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

I was takling with colleagues about that today in the restaurant!

A few free prostitutes from our Western countries are happy they're such an event because it means many clients and money, but the new networks of prostitution exploiting women form Eastern and Central Europe are a horror that recalls Third World countries. The Football World Cup didn't make those networks, but this event gives us the opportunity to see them better and to figth them.

But what is EU doing?

[elisi]

The world is such a horrible place. It makes me sad. And hopefully the EU will do *something*...

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Very interesting; what a sad situation. I've read that a lot of girls from eastern europe & Asia get sucked into this type of thing by trusting the wrong person. And say what you will about legalized prostitution it's highly unlikely that the profits from the "business" are going to them-- probably largely straight to the pimps that exploit them. Tragic.

[elisi]

Tragic is indeed the right word. For every Inara there are thousands of exploited victims. *sigh*

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Whilst totally against the way girls are being trafficked, I reached a point whilst reading that where I'm afraid that I laughed, and thought 'It's a Buffy "it's all about ME" moment!' it was here -

It is estimated that as many as 30% of the soccer fans will visit prostitutes "at least once. Sexual activity on such a massive scale is highly likely to spread STD's. Some of the infected fans will come back to the U.S. -- and we could have another major flare up of HIV/AIDS as well as other STD's.

It seems as if the statement is actually -'Prostitution is bad because it might affect us' - rather than 'People traffiking is evil and abhorent' which is how I feel.

But I think your post is very timely, reminding us about the evils of the people trade.

[elisi]

Ah yes, I did sigh at that bit, but I couldn't be bothered to edit anymore. Also maybe self preservation will help some people stay away?

Reading this also yet again reminded me how incredibly fortunate I am - and hopefuly will stop me complaining about the mess. It's a nasty world out there.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

On the past season of The Amazing Race, one of the legs was in Thailand. And while the contestants were proclaiming how beautiful the country is, all I could focus on was the sex trade in that country. It is well known that many of the girls in the brothels in Bangkok have either been sold by their families because they are so poor or have been kidnapped or tricked into prostitution just as was described here. I just could not enjoy that leg of the race knowing what kind of country Thailand is. And I think much less of Germany for allowing an influx of prostitutes into their country when they're well aware that many of them may be being forced. It's disgusting.

[elisi]

It's shameful what people can get away with, when others pretend not to notice. *sigh*