Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'
7th June 2012, 09:32
Found this article quite interesting. Highlights several issues surrounding prostitution and the government's attitude towards it, in connection with the games. Also the infuriating hype / media hysteria surrounding the games in general ('Did you know, because of the games, crime is gonna go up by 12 squillion percent and house prices are gonna fall and blah blah')
Major sporting events such as World Cups and Olympic Games are often preceded by warnings about a rise in prostitution and sex trafficking as a result of the impending influx of spectators. But will prostitution in London really increase because of the 2012 Olympics?
It seems like every time a World Cup or an Olympics appears on the horizon, so do warnings from the international press, government ministers and police.
They all express fears that thousands of women will be trafficked to the host nation to satisfy the sexual desires of the crowds.
The same messages have long been issued for the London 2012 Olympic Games. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8150364.stm)
In January 2010 Tessa Jowell, then Minister for the Olympics in the previous government, told MPs: (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2010-01-26b.312016.h) "Major sporting events can be a magnet for the global sex and trafficking industry; this is wholly unacceptable. I am determined that traffickers will not exploit London 2012."
But are such warnings accurate?
The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens seems to be the first major international sporting event to have invoked widespread warnings about a rise in prostitutes and sex workers. It is often reported to have seen its sex trafficking almost doubling. (http://www.thefuturegroup.org/id50.html)
However, a report by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) (http://www.gaatw.org/publications/WhatstheCostofaRumour.11.15.2011.pdf) shows the number of cases in Athens during the whole of 2004 was 181, up from 93 in 2003 - a far cry from the many thousands of women said to be threatened by trafficking in these situations.
None of these 181 cases were linked to the Games by Greek authorities.
Prior to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, similar warnings were issued by media and various officials, but according to an EU report from January 2007, (http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/07/st05/st05006-re01.en07.pdf) the German government only found five cases of trafficking cases linked to the tournament.
The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, held in Vancouver, Canada were also subject to similar speculation - but according to a study conducted afterwards by University of British Columbia researchers, (http://sti.bmj.com/content/88/4/301.abstract) mass trafficking didn't happen there, either.
The study says that "despite sensationalised media coverage" prior to the Games, there was "no evidence in this study to support concerns of an influx of sex workers or reports of trafficking of women or girls".
But more than two years later, Tessa Jowell, who once told the Commons about her determination to combat sex trafficking at London 2012, now admits that "current intelligence would suggest that we are unlikely to see large scale trafficking into London as a result of the Games".
"There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that international sporting events might create demand for paid sex due to the influx of tourists, site workers, contractors, the media and indeed the athletes themselves - although this is contested."
Another group representing sex workers, x:talk, is calling for a moratorium on arrests, the detention and deportation of sex workers (http://www.moratorium2012.org/) until the end of the Olympics.
A spokeswoman also says police raids on brothels, particularly in east London, are driving sex workers further away from their support network of co-workers and health services, prompting the call for a pause on arrests.
"Ultimately, arresting these women and raiding their places of work just makes them more vulnerable," she says.
(Read full article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18174387 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18174387))
Major sporting events such as World Cups and Olympic Games are often preceded by warnings about a rise in prostitution and sex trafficking as a result of the impending influx of spectators. But will prostitution in London really increase because of the 2012 Olympics?
It seems like every time a World Cup or an Olympics appears on the horizon, so do warnings from the international press, government ministers and police.
They all express fears that thousands of women will be trafficked to the host nation to satisfy the sexual desires of the crowds.
The same messages have long been issued for the London 2012 Olympic Games. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8150364.stm)
In January 2010 Tessa Jowell, then Minister for the Olympics in the previous government, told MPs: (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2010-01-26b.312016.h) "Major sporting events can be a magnet for the global sex and trafficking industry; this is wholly unacceptable. I am determined that traffickers will not exploit London 2012."
But are such warnings accurate?
The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens seems to be the first major international sporting event to have invoked widespread warnings about a rise in prostitutes and sex workers. It is often reported to have seen its sex trafficking almost doubling. (http://www.thefuturegroup.org/id50.html)
However, a report by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) (http://www.gaatw.org/publications/WhatstheCostofaRumour.11.15.2011.pdf) shows the number of cases in Athens during the whole of 2004 was 181, up from 93 in 2003 - a far cry from the many thousands of women said to be threatened by trafficking in these situations.
None of these 181 cases were linked to the Games by Greek authorities.
Prior to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, similar warnings were issued by media and various officials, but according to an EU report from January 2007, (http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/07/st05/st05006-re01.en07.pdf) the German government only found five cases of trafficking cases linked to the tournament.
The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, held in Vancouver, Canada were also subject to similar speculation - but according to a study conducted afterwards by University of British Columbia researchers, (http://sti.bmj.com/content/88/4/301.abstract) mass trafficking didn't happen there, either.
The study says that "despite sensationalised media coverage" prior to the Games, there was "no evidence in this study to support concerns of an influx of sex workers or reports of trafficking of women or girls".
But more than two years later, Tessa Jowell, who once told the Commons about her determination to combat sex trafficking at London 2012, now admits that "current intelligence would suggest that we are unlikely to see large scale trafficking into London as a result of the Games".
"There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that international sporting events might create demand for paid sex due to the influx of tourists, site workers, contractors, the media and indeed the athletes themselves - although this is contested."
Another group representing sex workers, x:talk, is calling for a moratorium on arrests, the detention and deportation of sex workers (http://www.moratorium2012.org/) until the end of the Olympics.
A spokeswoman also says police raids on brothels, particularly in east London, are driving sex workers further away from their support network of co-workers and health services, prompting the call for a pause on arrests.
"Ultimately, arresting these women and raiding their places of work just makes them more vulnerable," she says.
(Read full article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18174387 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18174387))