Jewel on her wedding day
Every year, thousands of women are brought to European cities to work in the sex industry. One of them, a young Nigerian, managed to break out of this cycle thanks to two chance encounters. The story of how girls from poor countries are lured into the sex industry in Europe is told in a publication by BBC.
The story of how girls from poor countries are lured into the sex industry in Europe is told in a publication by BBC.
“The first thing I saw was light. Where I come from, it’s always dark because there’s no electricity. But here everything was shimmering with lights, and it was wonderful!” recalls Jewel (name changed) of her first encounter with Denmark. “I thanked God for being in this country and eagerly wanted to start working.” Back home, she was told she would be caring for the elderly.
The International Organization for Migration believes that up to 80% of Nigerian women traveling to Europe for work are actually recruited for prostitution. Of course, Jewel had heard of cases of deception, but those women had taken a difficult and dangerous route by bus to Libya and by boat across the Mediterranean, while she was offered a flight from Lagos to Copenhagen, which reassured her. “Everything was so solidly organized that I had no suspicions,” she says.
In Copenhagen, she was met by a fellow countrywoman who the next day took her to Vesterbro, the local red-light district. “I was looking around for some clinic,” Jewel recalls. Her companion kept telling her to look closely at the area, and then stunned her with the terrible truth. “This is where you will work!” she said. I turned around, thinking she was pointing to a suitable building. Then she calmly explained that “here” meant on the street we were walking, and the “work” would involve hunting for clients. “I felt like the world around me was falling apart.”
That same evening, a chance encounter occurred that later proved crucial – with Michelle Mildwater from the NGO HopeNow, which helps people like Jewel in Denmark. She noticed the frightened-looking young woman, about twenty years old, and gave her a business card with a phone number.
The “madam” told Jewel not to trust “that Englishwoman on a bicycle” and quickly found her first client. “The man gave her 4,000 kroner ($620) to take me to his home, and my madam turned around and left,” Jewel continues her story. “He drove me in his car for so long that it seemed we would never arrive. I didn’t know the language and didn’t understand what he was saying. We communicated using Google Translate. I was scared.”
Several months passed like this. “I’m not good at this,” says Jewel. “I always stood aside with a timid look, but they still found me. Regular clients know when a new girl appears, and they are always drawn to something new.”
According to the latest EU data, in 2017-2018, over 14,000 women were trafficked across borders, mainly for prostitution, about half from outside the EU. Nigeria is in the top five supplier countries. This is the tip of the iceberg, as only detected cases are included in the statistics. The European Commission estimates the profits of underground traffickers at 14 billion euros per year.
Typically, it follows the same pattern. Young women are offered decent jobs; upon arrival, they are told the job doesn’t exist and that they owe money for travel and accommodation. “This is debt bondage,” says Sine Plambech from the Danish Institute for International Studies. “In the case of women from Nigeria, the amount ranges from ten to sixty thousand euros. It must be repaid quickly, and if you don’t have a work permit, the only option left is the sex industry.”
Those who recruited Jewel told her the day before her flight from Lagos that she would have to pay 42,000 euros and made her swear she would tell no one, otherwise she and her family would have problems. To make it scarier, the conversation took place in a cemetery.
When Jewel was already in Denmark, her relatives were indeed threatened. “Some people came to us and insistently asked my grandmother to talk to me, so that I wouldn’t even think of complaining to the police or not paying the debt. Every time I called her, she cried and begged me not to put the family at risk.” Under such pressure, there was no choice.
“It was impossible to say ‘no.’ Everyone had to say ‘yes.’ For every potential client, ten to fifteen women were hunting, all wanting to earn money that evening.” Everything happened in cars in parking lots or even on the ground between cars. If a client offered to go to his home, there was more comfort but also more risk. “One man ordered me to undress and lie in the bathtub, then brought two buckets of ice and started pouring cold water on me,” Jewel recounts.
Impunity for criminals
In April of this year, releasing a new strategy to combat human trafficking, the European Commission acknowledged that ten years of previous efforts had largely been ineffective. “Impunity for offenders in the EU persists, the number of cases initiated and convictions is extremely low,” said the statement, describing human trafficking as a “low-risk, high-profit crime.”
Various attempts to reduce demand for sex services have also been unsuccessful. According to the UK government, from March 2019 to March 2020, police recorded 7,779 crimes classified as “modern slavery,” including labor and sexual exploitation, but only in 250 cases were charges brought against suspects.
In Britain, the Salvation Army provides assistance to victims of “modern slavery.” From June 2020 to June 2021, 610 foreign women who had suffered sexual exploitation contacted them.
«Red Lanterns» and «Red Van» <\/h2>
Saturday evening. Istedgade, the main street of the Vesterbro district with its bars, nightclubs and sex shops – noisy and flooded with light. Men are hanging around, many of them barely able to stand. Here are women from Nigeria and Eastern Europe with impeccable hairstyles and makeup. Nowadays, tracksuits are in fashion among them. High heels and stereotypical “sexy” attire are rare.<\/p>
Michelle Mildwater, who has been doing her work for over ten years, still walks the neighborhood, offering people like Jewel a contact phone number, advice and help. The sale and purchase of sex for money is not prohibited in Denmark, but prostitutes must have a work permit. Illegal migrants are deported from the country. If a woman proves she was a victim of trafficking, it changes nothing – after a short stay in a state center, she is sent back to her homeland.<\/p>
Since the migration status of many foreign women is questionable, they are reluctant to contact the police, which makes them vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment. This worries Michelle. “In one of the local hotels, there were several cases of violence where the victims fled covered in blood,” she says.<\/p>
On weekends, Danish non-profit organizations provide various assistance to sex workers. One of them, Reden International, has organized a café where you can rest, recover and eat during a break between clients. And on a side street, another group of volunteers is implementing an initiative that has no analogues in the world. This is the “red van” – a minivan with a bed, soft lighting and a supply of condoms and sanitary napkins. A prostitute can bring a man there instead of going with him to some potentially dangerous place.<\/p>
Until dawn, a continuous line of women heads to the van, each followed by a client as if on a leash. The volunteers keep their distance, but close enough to be called for help. The “red van” serves an average of seven couples per hour.<\/p>
Sine Plambek is one of these volunteers. “The women we deal with have a ton of problems – debts, poverty, families, children,” she says. “Most of them wouldn't be doing this if life didn't force them. There's no point in lecturing them. They will sell themselves, whether we like it or not, and at least we provide them with a safe place.” <\/p>
Happy ending, like in the movies<\/h2>
After four months on the street, in despair and hopelessness, Jewel still did not want to turn to the authorities, fearing for herself and her family in Nigeria. And suddenly her life changed magically. It sounds like a sentimental fairy tale, but the girl fell in love with a Dane, and he with her. During their first romantic dinner, Jewel confessed how she earned a living.<\/p>
“It was hard for him, but he behaved with dignity,” says Jewel about the man she soon married. Several times the fiancé paid her weekly tribute, but it was clear that this was not enough. “Do you know someone who could help?” he asked. That's when the card with Michelle Mildwater's phone number came in handy.<\/p>
The activist advised the young woman to overcome her fear and stop paying the “madam”. So she did. There were no troubles for her relatives – either the blackmailers were bluffing, or, fortunately, they turned out to be petty criminals rather than members of a serious international gang. Jewel applied for a residence permit and is now waiting for a decision. She hopes for a favorable outcome because she has mastered the language and given birth to a child from a Danish citizen.<\/p>
She and Michelle are great friends. At Jewel's wedding, she was a bridesmaid. “It was one of the best moments of my life – I was led to the altar, and it was Michelle,” says Jewel. She dreams of entering business school, and also of helping volunteers.<\/p>
On the eve of the lockdown, Michelle Mildwater, who was once an actress, persuaded Jewel to write and stage an amateur monologue play about the fate of a woman who went through what she did. Jewel titled her work “To get out of this, you have to go through it.” “For me, it became therapy. I was incredibly touched by the audience's reaction. When the play was on, it felt like my soul was separating from my body. Because all this is not fiction – it's real life,” says Jewel.<\/p>