An escort website encouraged men to pay to have sex with Ukrainian women fleeing Vladimir Putin’s invasion and live out their “war-inspired fantasies”.
A European anti-trafficking expert warned on Thursday that the sex trade here is reacting to the refugee crisis with a surge in demand for men trying to ‘identify and have sex with’ evacuated women .
Valiant Richey, a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, cited the website as an example of the increased demand.
“We are already seeing the [sex work] market response” to the refugee crisis, the expert said.
“For example, one of Ireland’s largest escort websites offered men the opportunity to live out their ‘war-inspired fantasies’ with Ukrainian women.”
Mr Richey said the same website had reported a 250% increase in advertising services for Ukrainian women since the start of the war.
The vast majority of people fleeing Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24 are women. Under the country’s martial law, men between the ages of 18 and 60 were required to stay and fight.
The existence of the website was revealed at a National Council of Women of Ireland digital event on Thursday, at which Richey said there had been a ‘significant spike’ in the use of search terms online “related to buying sex from Ukrainian women”.
“In other words, one of the first measurable reactions in Europe to the crisis was men’s attempts to identify and have sex with women and girls fleeing conflict,” Mr. Richey.
He said the influx of evacuees from Ukraine, coupled with the increased demand for men seeking Ukrainian sex workers, has opened the door for sex traffickers to exploit the crisis.
“Meeting the demand today is the best anti-trafficking tool we have, to prevent the current humanitarian crisis from becoming a trafficking crisis.”
Mr Richey was joined by several other speakers at the event, which called on the government to protect women and children fleeing war.
The co-ordinator of Beyond Exploitation (Irish civil society’s campaign for equality and freedom from sexual exploitation), Mia de Faoite, said doing the same would be a top priority for the government as the war continues.
“It’s a matter of urgency, women and girls are already disappearing into the hands of traffickers, many women have already been raped by soldiers or sexually exploited by buyers,” she said.
Comments are closed.