Commission scraps World Cup anti-prostitution plan
HELENA SPONGENBERG
14.03.2006 @ 09:48 CET
The European Commission has scrapped a visa-toughening plan aimed at preventing forced prostitution during the World Cup in Germany later this year.
Justice commissioner Franco Frattini on Monday (13 March) said he would not propose visa reintroduction for any country and said he apologised if his views had been "misunderstood," reports Reuters news agency.
Around one million foreigners will visit Germany for the month-long World Cup and many are expected to head for the red-light districts (Photo: EUobserver.com)
Female members of the European Parliament had criticised the plan for only being directed towards women and not towards the men buying sex, according to Danish DR online news.
Last week Mr Frattini suggested that visa requirements should be re-introduced for all non-EU citizens travelling to Germany for this summer's football world cup, especially from Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The move came as a response to outcries from NGOs and politicians about an expected boom of forced prostitution during the sports event.
Estimations of the total number of women and girls that may be brought to Germany for sexual purposes vary from 40,000 to 100,000.
Mr Frattini will now suggest special hotlines in many languages for women forced into prostitution.
Prostitution is legal in Germany in certain city zones, but with thousands of football fans attending the world cup, German cities face up to a 30 percent increase in the sex trade during the event, NGOs have reported.
In Berlin, within walking distance from the main football arena, a "super brothel" with 70 rooms for 600 daily customers has been built, and in Dortmund and Cologne so-called "performance boxes" - mobile units equipped with snacks and condom vending machines, toilets, alarms and emergency exits - have been installed.
More than 20 campaigns will be launched this year across Germany to boost awareness of forced prostitution.