Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Romanian sex workers most prevalent in EU

Sex workers from new EU states have become ever more visible across the union following the last two rounds of enlargement and a parallel crackdown on non-EU irregular migrants.

The findings, put forward in a recent report by Amsterdam-based Tampep - the European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers - show that individuals from Romania (12%) and Bulgaria (7%) currently make up over a fifth of all prostitutes in the EU.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • The two waves of enlargement have changed the demographics of the sector (Photo: European Commission)

Sex workers from Poland (4%), Hungary (4%) and Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic (on 3% each) are also a growing part of the sector.

The figures stand in contrast to 2006 when Russia and Ukraine topped the league table.

Prostitutes from Nigeria, Brazil, Belarus and Thailand continue to feature prominently in the survey then as now, however.

"The most significant factor [behind the changes] seems to be the enlargement of the EU, as people from the new EU countries no longer require visas to be able to travel within its borders, while stricter conditions for getting visas apply to non-EU citizens," the Tampep report says.

"The extremely high level of migration flow from central and eastern Europe, almost 70 percent, is testament to the great economic and social inequalities that prompt this movement."

Focusing in on some of the figures, the Tampep survey found that impoverished ethnic minorities often do the most dangerous kind of work: In Romania, more than half of all street prostitutes are Roma. In the Baltic states, the same is true of ethnic Russians.

The Tampep report shows striking differences in the EU sex industry across the east/west divide.

In most western countries, such as Denmark (65%), Finland (69%), Germany (65%), Greece (73%), Italy (90%), Spain (90%), Austria (78%), Belgium (60%), France (61%) and the Netherlands (60%), the vast majority of prostitutes are migrants.

But in former Communist countries the reverse is true, with, for example 98 percent of sex workers in Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, 90 percent in Lithuania and 66 percent in Poland being of national origin.

In some western countries, the change in demographic in the years following EU enlargement is startling.

Denmark went from 50 percent migrant workers to 65 percent in the past few years. Italy went from 80 percent to 90 percent and Spain jumped from 70 percent to 90 percent.

Finnish PM: Russia preparing for 'long conflict with West'

Finland, which shares a border with Russia, has cautioned about the danger of a Russian attack in coming years. Russia is not "invincible" but "self-satisfaction is no longer an option," Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said.

EU Commission proposes opening Bosnia accession talks

Eight years on, the EU Commission is to recommend on Tuesday that member states open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country took "impressive steps" to meet the bloc's standards, Ursula von der Leyen said.

Opinion

How the EU can raise its game in the Middle East

Could the EU repair its reputation and credibility by taking action on Gaza? EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have worked hard to repair the damage, but have faced political headwinds due to internal divisions.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us