In Sweden, a public campaign has been launched to boycott the FIFA World Cup in Germany, which starts on June 9, spearheaded by human rights and feminist organizations. The trigger for the attack on the Germans was the call by Swedish ombudsman Claes Borgström to the national football team to boycott the championship, since its holding would be an “apotheosis of prostitution propaganda.” Borgström’s main argument is the construction in Germany of a growing number of “express brothels” made of prefabricated structures to serve millions of fans and the expansion of already existing brothels.
Sweden is the only country in the European Union where the purchase of sexual services is prosecuted by law, but all of Stockholm’s efforts to extend this ban to the rest of a united Europe have so far ended in nothing. European liberals, led by Germany and the Netherlands, stood in Sweden’s way. The upcoming World Cup proved a convenient occasion for Stockholm to remind about the existing problem.
“Prostitution is linked to trafficking (human trafficking), which by the UN definition is a crime against humanity. The World Cup in Germany will lead to its increase, and it is Sweden’s duty to show the whole planet that this is unacceptable to us,” Claes Borgström justified his call to boycott. “Football is a mighty force, and if our sports movement joins the protest campaign, there is no better way to change the situation.”
Within a couple of weeks, the World Cup boycott campaign, which was joined by the kingdom’s human rights and women’s organizations, gained such strength that the German embassy in Sweden was forced to organize a series of meetings with politicians and public representatives, during which it was promised to take measures to curb trafficking. However, for the Swedes these assurances were not enough. At a meeting of EU justice ministers in Luxembourg, the head of Sweden’s justice department, Thomas Bodström, himself a former professional footballer, urged colleagues to strike at German prostitution during the championship. This statement, reinforced by the promised boycott, was heard. “Just a few months ago, I was the only one who proposed discussing this problem. Now everything has changed,” the Swedish minister commented on the outcome of the meeting.
In Luxembourg, at Stockholm’s initiative, a declaration was adopted on the need to strengthen the fight against human trafficking during major international events. According to Thomas Bodström, the declaration for the first time recognizes the link between prostitution and trafficking, which opens up the possibility for the next step: introducing a ban on the purchase of paid love throughout the EU, as has already been done in Sweden.
The EU did not limit itself to a single statement. Several dozen Swedish police officers specializing in the fight against prostitution and trafficking will go to Germany for the World Cup. They will teach their German colleagues how to distinguish free priestesses of love from unfortunate victims of the slave trade who will be brought to Germany from all over the world. Under the Swedes’ leadership, regular raids will be conducted during the championship in red-light districts and brothels. The fruits of paid love, which thousands of fans dream of tasting, will prove bitter thanks to the Swedish “injection.”
Alexei Smirnov.
Novye Izvestia