Whilst a strong supporter of the Olympics and the opportunities it will offer the vibrant capital that is my home, I am deeply concerned that unless decisive action is taken quickly the games may spark a rise in prostitution.
London's Olympic Stadium
Fortunately, it now seems that the Metropolitan Police are beginning to share these concerns. A report they published this week warned that an increase in prostitution and trafficking linked to the Games would put women at risk.
Over a million construction workers are set to work on the site over the next three years, when added together with spectators and athletes cxould a fuel a sex trade time bomb.
Kerb Crawling
During the Athens Games, sex trafficking almost doubled and there were reports of sex attacks in the athletes’ village at Sydney in 2000.
The BBC reported yesterday that a small increase in the number of trafficked women working in the five Olympic host boroughs has already been noted.
Previously when I have approached the police and the councils concerned on these issues they have backed away from making any link between sex crimes and sporting events, even when I used figures showing dramatic increases in trafficking in w0men around the Germany World Cup, which I also used to call for greater protections for women in last years Euro 2008 on Women’s Hour last year.
Given that the Met are now responsive on this topic I will look to work with them on reducing the risk to London women, caused by a potential surge in teh sex trade around the Olympics, over the next three years.
Good to see that people still know what they are talking about. So much BS around these days!
I would love to know where you get the figure of one million people working on the Olympic site. While you obviously hope that the Labour government will wish to leave some lasting legacy in E15 it is more likely to be the ‘Black Hole of Stratford’ if your statistics are any where close to accuracy.
Typical Labour spin; typical Labour hype! No wonder nobody trust any figures that Labour produces these days.
Try 10,000 as a more accurate figure…..but who cares about the truth from our MEPs . They live in a fantasy world and are susidised to the hilt to escape reality
A million construction workers? Are you sure?
Mary, you really don’t let up, do you?
There wasn’t any evidence of a rise in trafficking in at the Athens Olympics in 2004, or at the Hamburg World Cup in 2006.
Before which there were the FIFA 1998 Paris World Cup, during which there was no evidence of an increase in trafficking, and the 2004 UEFA World Championships in Portugal, during which there wasn’t any evidence of an increase in trafficking either.
Read pages 11-13 here:
http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/projects/documents/World_Cup_2006_CT_Draft_Report.pdf
Mary I agree with you that it is a genuine concern. The Met normally liaises with a group called EAVES Poppy Project [Denise Marshall is the CEO]. They have done some brilliant work on raising awareness on the illegal trafficking of women into the sex industry.
I believe EAVES are on the case already??
Yes Fevzi, EAVES Poppy Project is already on the case. I liaise with closely with them and completely agree with you that they have done some very good work
I’ve no reason to believe Poppy/Eaves doesn’t do very good work for trafficking victims, though an independent assessment would be a great thing. What I have a problem with is their very active participation in moral crusades, the results of which are highly likely to result in women’s deaths.
It would be interesting, for example, to know how many referrals to Poppy – one of the stats the Government is forever quoting to back up its notion of the extent of human trafficking for sexual exploitation (HTfSE) – are actually verified as being HTfSE victims.
The stat is likely to be quoted more widely now as the wheels have come off the Government’s estimate that there are 4,000 HTfSE victims in the UK:
http://stephenpaterson.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/exposed-the-home-office-dodgy-dossier-on-sex-slaves/