EU parliament kicks off plan to combat sex trafficking at Euro championships

A group of MEPs have launched a campaign aimed at showing the "red card" to human traffickers who, it is feared, plan to target this summer's European football championships.

Campaigners say there was firm evidence that prostitutes were being specifically trafficked from eastern Europe to the World Cup in Germany two years ago.

Now it is feared the influx of thousands of soccer fans to the tournament in Austria and Switzerland could again be a "magnet" for trafficked sex workers.

Speaking at a press conference in the European parliament on Wednesday, German socialist MEP Lissy Gröner called for action to address the problem, saying, "This is a form of modern day slavery and we want to increase awareness of it."

She told this website that German authorities uncovered evidence of apartments being arranged for use by prostitutes close to stadiums being used for the 2006 World Cup.

"Successful preventive action ensured that the problem was nipped in the bud but this summer's championships again raise the possibility of quick sex on the fringe of the football."

She plans to put forward an oral question on the issue at the start of today's plenary in Brussels and she says that a whole range of measures need to be taken not only to combat the problem in Austria and Switzerland this summer but in all countries.

Such measures, she said, include better data in order to establish the scale of the problem, 'counselling stations' for women involved in the sex trade and better training for people who work with prostitutes, including police, social workers and the judiciary.

Gröner also says Europol, the EU police agency, needs to be strengthened with more staff and resources and increased financial resources devoted to tackling the problem.

Other measures include implementation of the European action plan to fight trafficking and better cross border police cooperation.

Speaking at the same event, Austrian Socialist deputy Christa Prets said, "The different NGOs working in the field of forced prostitution and human trafficking in Austria and Switzerland have put the subject high on the agenda and I am happy to back their campaign."

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