EWL press coverage

European Women’s Lobby calls on MEPs to take stand against prostitution

The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) has today called on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to take a stand against prostitution at sporting events in 2012 in Europe.

The organisation estimates that thousands of young girls and women are at risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation on the sidelines of the Olympic Games in London and the UEFA Euro 2012 football championship in Poland and Ukraine.
So it has invited 19 MEPs who support their campaign to gather for a group photo with the EWL red card ‘Be a sport. Keep it fair… Say NO to prostitution’ and watch an awareness-raising video clip called ‘Sport, sex and fun’ on 30 May.

The EWL says that the number of human trafficking victims in Greece increased by 95 per cent during the 2004 Olympic Games.

Ahead of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, predictions were for more than 40,000 women and children to be trafficked into the country to meet the prostitution demands of millions of football fans.

During the 2011 World Cup, South African authorities noted a ‘huge’ increase in the sex trade, with the number of women and girls involved in prostitution, as well as the number of brothels, doubling.

The EWL believes that, to create a world free from prostitution, we need to:

Raise awareness, open spaces for debates and questions, allow people to discuss, exchange, learn more about what prostitution really is
Support women survivors of prostitution and make their voices heard
Involve men who are not ‘prostitute-users’ and use peer pressure to encourage positive attitudes towards equality and respect for women’s rights.

The event will be held on 30 May at 13.00 in the European Parliament. For more information, contact the EWL.

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