Sweden: Majority of Prostitution Busts in March Involved Exploited Ukrainian Women

A Swedish police operation conducted in March bust 38 men seeking to purchase sex from prostitutes and found that 30 of them had bought sexual favours from exploited Ukrainian women.

Swedish police conducted “Operation Cod” in March and arrested a total of 38 men by the end of the month who were accused of purchasing sex from prostitutes and found that 30 of them had bought sex from Ukrainian women, some of whom have recently fled the ongoing conflict with Russia.

“It’s startling. It can be clear from the ads that the women have recently come from Ukraine, but these men do not care,” police inspector Simon Häggström told broadcaster SVT.

“More or less all the women we spoke to say that it is the war that has led to prostitution. You have no choice but to sell your body to help your families who are in Ukraine or who are on the run,” Häggström added.

According to SVT, many of the women have been lured by sex traffickers through the internet and are promised accommodation and cash in exchange for becoming prostitutes.

“The traffickers attract [women] with package solutions where they pay for travel and accommodation. Then there are so-called operators who act as intermediaries between the women and the sex buyers. Everything is very organized,” inspector Häggström said.

Shortly after the surge of millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine into the European Union, many warned of the possibility that the refugees, who are mostly women and children, could be exploited by sex traffickers and other traffickers.

Shirin Tinnesand, refugee and migration coordinator at the NGO Wadi, spoke out about the issue last month saying refugees “are at risk of being exposed to human trafficking, prostitution, organ donation. Only imagination sets the limits.”

“It is a fact that people smugglers pretend to be volunteers who go to places where it is chaotic and where there is no clear organization and the more people who come, the more inconspicuous it becomes and with it easier for smugglers and criminal organizations to operate,” Tinnesand said, noting that footage has emerged of people acting suspiciously with refugees at train stations in Poland and elsewhere.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.