Germany's World Cup Brothels: 40,000 Women and Children at Risk of Exploitation Through Trafficking
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Human Trafficking: Data and Documents Trafficking at the University of Nebraska 2006 Germany's World Cup Brothels: 40,000 Women and Children at Risk of Exploitation Through Trafficking U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/humtraffdata Part of the Inequality and Stratification Commons U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, "Germany's World Cup Brothels: 40,000 Women and Children at Risk of Exploitation Through Trafficking" (2006). 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GERMANY’S WORLD CUP BROTHELS: 40,000 WOMEN AND CHILDREN AT RISK OF EXPLOITATION THROUGH TRAFFICKING HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 4, 2006 Serial No. 109–178 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 27–330PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:27 Jul 25, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\AGI\050406\27330.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, HOWARD L. BERMAN, California Vice Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ELTON GALLEGLY, California Samoa ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio EDWARD R. ROYCE, California BRAD SHERMAN, California PETER T. KING, New York ROBERT WEXLER, Florida STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts RON PAUL, Texas GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York DARRELL ISSA, California BARBARA LEE, California JEFF FLAKE, Arizona JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon MARK GREEN, Wisconsin SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada JERRY WELLER, Illinois GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California MIKE PENCE, Indiana ADAM B. SCHIFF, California THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan DIANE E. WATSON, California KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida ADAM SMITH, Washington JOE WILSON, South Carolina BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California CONNIE MACK, Florida RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas TED POE, Texas THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey JEFF FLAKE, Arizona GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MARK GREEN, Wisconsin BARBARA LEE, California JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas DIANE E. WATSON, California JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon Vice Chairman MARY M. NOONAN, Subcommittee Staff Director GREG SIMPKINS, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member NOELLE LUSANE, Democratic Professional Staff Member SHERI A. RICKERT, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member and Counsel LINDSEY M. PLUMLEY, Staff Associate (II) VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:27 Jul 25, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\050406\27330.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Mr. Michael Horowitz, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute ..................................... 6 Ms. Ashley Garrett, Program Manager for Trafficking in Persons in North America and the Caribbean, International Organization for Migration ......... 12 Ms. Jennifer Roemhildt, Executive Director, Lost Coin, Athens, Greece ........... 16 Ms. Katherine Chon, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Polaris Project .. 21 Ms. Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Advocacy Director for Europe and Eurasia, Amnesty International ......................................................................................... 30 Juliette Engel, M.D., Director, MiraMed Institute, Moscow, Russia .................. 37 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations: Prepared statement ................ 4 Mr. Michael Horowitz: Prepared statement .......................................................... 10 Ms. Ashley Garrett: Prepared statement ............................................................... 14 Ms. Jennifer Roemhildt: Prepared statement ....................................................... 19 Ms. Katherine Chon: Prepared statement ............................................................. 25 Ms. Maureen Greenwood-Basken: Prepared statement ....................................... 34 Juliette Engel, M.D.: Prepared statement ............................................................. 38 APPENDIX Material Submitted for the Hearing Record .......................................................... 63 (III) VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:27 Jul 25, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\050406\27330.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:27 Jul 25, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\050406\27330.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL GERMANY’S WORLD CUP BROTHELS: 40,000 WOMEN AND CHILDREN AT RISK OF EX- PLOITATION THROUGH TRAFFICKING THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2006 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:05 p.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SMITH. The Subcommittee will come to order. And let me begin by first apologizing for being late, and there will be a brief break in this hearing. There is a motion to recommit that should be voted on in about 5 or 10 minutes, and then we will be done, so we have clear sailing from then on. Good afternoon, everyone. In 1 month, as we know, athletes and fans will be gathering for one of the premier worldwide sporting events of our day, the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Today the Sub- committee will hear testimony on reports that the World Cup will sadly be an impetus for exploitation of women. For most soccer fans like myself, this quadrennial spectacle is a showcase of world- class athleticism and teamwork, but looming in its shadow is the very real potential that the World Cup matches will be a catalyst and magnet for sex trafficking into Germany. The World Cup, as we know, opens on June 9th, and over the course of 1 month at 12 venues throughout Germany, national soc- cer teams from around the world will be playing. Many of the fans will join in the festivities. For the last year, the German Government has been preparing for this sports bonanza, coordinating security efforts with all neigh- boring countries, and attending to a myriad of details associated with such major international events. There is no doubt that human traffickers have also been working overtime to exploit this opportunity to improve their illicit revenues through the expected rise in demand, especially in the so-called sex industry. Today we join our counterparts in the European Union who have expressed their worries and concerns that there will be an explo- sion of prostitution and trafficking during the time of the World Cup. The European Parliament rightfully recognized, in their reso- lution passed on March 15th, that major sporting events result in (1) VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:27 Jul 25, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\050406\27330.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL 2 a ‘‘temporary and spectacular increase in the demand for sexual services.’’ A number of actions are outlined that should be under- taken by Germany and their European neighbors, as well as by the sports associations involved, to warn potential victims and assist those who are trafficked, to roundly condemn trafficking, as they put it, in human beings and forced prostitution, and will inform and educate the general public and potential clients in an effort to curb the demand. I point out that during the February meeting in Vienna, as head of the United States delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assem- bly and as special representative on human trafficking for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I vigorously raised concerns about the trafficking prevention efforts