more. by choice being discarded because given their way toward transmitted the choice. men in the question how much and i work. did have. a good look at the. sex slaves in the heart of europe whose lives count for nothing. he put a gun to my head and said i'm going to. get it myself and smashed it. all throw you away he said and no one will remember you you never existed. they wanted to escape poverty instead they fell prey to sex traffickers. i resisted and cried and told him i didn't want to do that then came the threats and

the brutality he said he'd tell everything to my family to. sold into slavery treason as a commodity very sell sex for less than a pack of cigarettes and some women in our district a soap or they charge just for your ads for sex and. germany is seen by many as europe's brothel we meet a woman who's looking to change that. usually . very good is

a lifeline to them sasha and ellie escaped out of sex slavery thanks to her help they're both from bulgaria they grew up in impoverished conditions in the countryside and each fell in love with a man who promised them a life in wealthy germany it was only when sasha arrived here that she realized she'd have to do sex work. just put us in a bus obviously i refused the most of that he threatened to kill me and said no one would know where i was so he held me captive for 2 or 3 days and then he put me to work so good most of the guys are good i'm convinced now that he had actually planned it all a lot. of law but when you're in love you just blind to everything else and you don't realize it but it sure does of search. the boyfriend model is a common method used by sex traffickers once they've got control over the woman they beat her into submission. if you have been i had to serve at least 15 or

20 clients a day the dog is 40 so you can reckon around 50 euros per client. but at the end of the month i was only given 2 or $300.00 euros he took everything else to his table everything. in his emotion. 20 clients a day 20 men that she was forced to have sex with every day and unimaginable trauma . not to before but of the enrollment but also soon as the man comes into the room you switch your brain off to trust in the sense that you're not there when it happens in those 15 to 20 minutes just like that you're not there in that place. that's like a protection for your mind. also slows us to. sasha has a one year old child and early supporter younger siblings. back in bulgaria boys

now have cleaning jobs money is tight but at least they're no longer in sex work and they say without yulia they would never have escaped. to meet. is an advice and support center for women in sex work in the city of mannheim it runs on public funds and private donations usually a vegas set it up herself 7 years ago at the time she face stiff opposition because sex workers in germany don't have lobby groups to represent their interests to begin the 1st there were very few people who saw any point in our many things in how many couldn't understand why sex workers would need help i think people are more willing to part with their money when it's children or animals in distress off i'm only gives out food assists women in dealing with you authorities arranges emergency accommodation and helps those who want to exit the sex trade. sandra

comes here nearly every day she loves to cook today she's preparing a dish from her homeland jamaica here if she feels accepted. so i didn't s. the time since the 1st day i walked in here and i'm rife with plastic bags and had nowhere to go to me and ever since then it's been like a miracle honestly. wish they take you in here and treat you like you're nothing other than the person actually large image bit of this. thing out on the street she says men only see one thing in her whole car sandra herself was born out of rape she was conceived when her own grandfather abused her mother later he raped sandra too. when a person is raped their soul is raped too it came to a gap that i struggled with myself for a long time whether i was good enough to be loved or whether i was only here for

this one thing because i get to know people but then they lose me then so it always feels like prostitution again. and so constitute. wolfgang haida is a gynecologist from the neighboring city of heidelberg he works for me once a week on a voluntary basis sandra only does sex work occasionally now when she's especially short of money she asks wolfgang hider to give her a routine check up most of them school clothes everything's fine that's quite unusual. game haida says many of the sex workers he sees suffers from gleaning pain and infections and then there are the emotional wounds. these are phones and these women are very wounded they're carrying a huge burden even if they appear normal and greet you cheerfully there's a part of them that's deeply sad they suffer lifelong nightmares it's like

something's broken inside is they're no longer willing to commit to a relationship if they don't trust anyone and certainly not men it's a destruction of the female soul and he believes it's not just the sex traffickers who want to blame but also those who pay for the woman services. as a friend of mine was and i think you have to approach the clients so that they realize what they're doing that if they go to these places they think about the emotional wrecks they leave behind these women aren't machines it's not just a bit of fun you're inflicting damage and it's not voluntary they're basically allowing themselves to be raised for money good for good bye to. the mannheim district of necker stock vest is home 223000 people from 160 nations

many of them would prefer to leave there are hardly any jobs many apartments are rundown and overpriced sex work is actually banned in this district but it still goes on. to live big a spends a lot of time out in the neighborhood seeking to win the women's trust but it's not easy. to see how they have certain preconceptions from their home countries like that you have to bribe the police that the police won't help you they're also not familiar with social work so it's very difficult it can sometimes take months or even years for a woman to develop trust in us and really believe i can trust and that they will help me he could for a pound a head. sitter

check here runs a cafe in the neighborhood trust us who we are and do the work she does he's known this area for 40 years when his daughter was born he moved his home elsewhere he says a year ago someone was murdered right outside his cafe and the sex workers continued despite the ban for this district. well that most folks think it's all just a bit more private now that you're in the past it was official now they do it illegally that's the only difference is all that business as usual it's all still possible when they're out on the street or in hotels or private apartments no problem in this. much to coronavirus can damage has made a difference a few streets further on man homes red light district feels like a ghost town. all

the brothels have been forced to close some owners are taking the opportunity to renovate there also if you are clients available for the women held in slavery so many pimps have trafficked them back to their home countries. such as romania here prices are lower than in germany but the sex trade has been less impacted by the pandemic sex work is illegal here but many police officers just look the other way or even earn from the training themselves romania is one of the most corrupt countries in europe. but here too there are people and organizations committed to helping the women our us for example gives out face masks temple and send condoms.

they may rely has come to stock up she's afraid of getting covert 19 she says many clients still insist on having unprotected sex is the 2 she tells us she's been doing this job for 10 years every day and every evening. i just can't find a job anywhere i've tried to find employment but it's useless you know right to come to an interview they say we're calling you to morrow we'll get back to you mike but they never do but then i'm still on the street. i have nothing to live on otherwise i have to pay rent and other necessities food clothes there's no way out for me i have no other income you want me to get. no alternative to sex work damn popescu from hard ass says poverty amongst women is a much bigger problem here in romania than in western europe and if the women get

sent back here there's no one to help them because sex work is still it's a boo in romania he says. but i think about all the european union needs to take action to support the victims. if they get sent home they land right back in the place they left to escape poverty and what about that one year you get your after all they didn't leave because things were ok. which so they'll go to countries where sex work is better paid by germany switzerland belgium or france or wherever their pimp takes them. where there is demand for their services and opportunity to carry them out. 60 percent of sex workers in europe come from romania and bulgaria and nearly half of them are minors i.

was still a child when she fell into the hands of a sex trafficker. her mother started a new relationship and gave her to a man who offered her and other girls to people traffickers. now. 10 lined us up in the middle of the street there were 13 or 14 of us i don't remember exactly we stood there like chickens. and he asked the guy which one do you want. and the other guy pointed to me. i was a minor a minor they thought i was about 17 but i wasn't even 14. he had a passport made for me with my signature all that would have needed my parents signal. i was taken to italy. she was passed from one country to another italy hungary romania years of horror.

and there were many terrible moments the worst moment was when a gun was put to my head. but it was equally awful when i was left alone when no one would have given a central me when i was beaten when i went to bed and then woke up being beaten. and when all those days he takes to allow to touch me. i don't know what was worst in my life but at the same time all these experiences have made me stronger because i'm a human being with dignity i hold my head high and i won't bow to anyone. in the end liliana was freed by the police and found a place to live here at generac to turn our or the young generation it's a refuge that was set up by marianna peter cell 20 years ago offering protection and a way out for sex slaves she tries to help them build a new life. where they're going to it's very very difficult for these girls with an

egg. they try to start a normal life but they still carry a sense of shame like a stamp on their lives and it says they were sold they still think i'm a prostitute or i'm this or that it's been sent to them so often and they've been shamed and humiliated so many times that they believe it themselves. even though none of the things that happened to them for their fault that. she gets almost no support from the remaining government but she is getting help from an unexpected source in germany. there's a former police chief who's now retired while in office he worked with our assistance program and he also encouraged others to help us. and he still calls or several now and then got to find out how things are going. and jeff was us

. that police chief is munford palos even though he's retired he still travels to romania regularly to raise awareness of how sex work is often driven by poverty today he's meeting with the usually a vaguer from me and marietta hoag an a from the human rights group a salvati they discuss their experiences and plan new projects both in germany and abroad after all sex trafficking is a european problem yeah well i grew up since 2015 we've been going to eastern europe every year to spend a week travelling round schools and educating the children on what my 1st like in the golden west and in germany in particular. when we ask the students at the beginning how many of them would like to go to germany or switzerland or austria once they finish school 70 percent raise their hand says put send him there not

out was going on and that's exactly what organize. crime networks exploit people's willingness to migrate to escape poverty and the lack of prospects like the floors or herself but i don't want her i met one woman who admitted to me in complete shock that she didn't know how terrible things are that if she said i thought because sex work is legal in germany it can't be anything terrible thriller but the reality was very different she was brutally raped repeatedly and then told what she had to do and. she seeing if they're caught in this red light subculture much of which is criminal and other laws apply it's very much like the mafia if you betrayed them it's considered the worst of all crimes so to tell others that you're not doing sex work willingly but were forced into it is one of the worst forms of betrayal. that's why when you ask them they're all in the job bollen tearaway for

they insist on it vehemently. in cebu halasz he says 90 percent of sex workers in germany are forced into the trade because the law defines sex work as a voluntary service it's not a criminal act manfred palos says that makes it difficult to track down and prosecute those behind the human trafficking he says people in romania and bulgaria can't understand germany's approach. and vice in all these and in all of these recruiting countries people are now very aware of what happens to the women and girls here in germany under the rule of law they look at it with amazement if not contempt. and i don't think we can afford to continue this way long term and neither should we need laws. germany is seen as a paradise for pimps and sex trafficked is you leave a good end to the others here to counteract that by doing prevention work and

raising awareness through posed just like this one for example the for. this was done by students at a school girls i think it's great the process hello maybe it's an option for mannheim mannheim female students wrote not for sale across their own far it's george tension to the problem of sex slavery and to show solidarity with girls their rage in romania and bulgaria the plan is to hang the posters on building site advertising boards no. money for it powerless only does it remain in police officer drivel adore you but because of the pandemic an online meeting must suffice they've been meeting for years and have become friends and that even though they need a translator to communicate. you have a lot of women come back to romania from germany the brothels here are ball had to close schools with well. yeah sitting at

yes they have come back but they haven't been registered so there are no statistics and they don't know exactly how many have returned but they can see that the number of sex workers on the streets has increased in romania. inspector door you works for the national agency against human trafficking and browse of the agency has victims of trafficking to press charges and puts them in contact with aid groups he too believes the german system makes life easier for the traffickers. germany out of germany is a special case because sex work is legal there as a result many of these girls appear to be pursuing legal employment opportunity even though they're actually victims of human trafficking and age fed up but on the face of it employees of a club. sex work is

a lucrative business for organized crime human beings cost less than drugs or firearms and you can sell them not just once repeatedly every day. marianna peter sellers constantly out and if out today she's looking for a girl that was trafficked to germany but is now said to be back in romania we leave the city of tema shrug and head out into the countryside. which. i want to show you what it's like to grow up in a rural area here. so that you see how these children live in the countryside these girls and women. that so you can see how much pressure there are here and why they choose to become dependent on traffickers. and agreed to do these things and become

a part of it project by. romania and bulgaria are among the poorest countries in the european union and in the countryside especially the level of education is low and unemployment rates high women here in these rule areas have few prospects and in some cases that makes them easy prey for trafficked is. the girl she's looking for is nowhere to be seen perhaps she's still in germany up to roll but marianna peter so want to give up even though it often feels. like a losing battle. back in germany at the support center our money they're giving out food today. to women who come here or do sex work in the local area. we've had stuff donated you can take some with you if you want so. that the women come from countries like vogue area

romania albania and moldova europe's poor houses 90 percent of the sex work is in germany on migrants many of them work illegally have no apartment no health insurance and are not registered to living there has known some of them for years. here in public here in our neighborhood we have a lot of women who work for extremely low prices for some of them it's still a lot of money but they have to serve a huge number of clients and there's a few of hi i've met some women who had up to 40 clients a day it's a foot high i'm talking. cafes and bars normally serve as a place to make contact with clients but even they are closed right now still business can continue online sandra knows all the relevant platforms like ladies

sugar daddy or buy me. meetings or even arranged on facebook or what's up. in mind here after you put on when you go on one of these platforms some people will write to ask can even send me do you have facebook or whatsapp can i see pictures of you it's what i am when you ask what kind of pictures they want to see you naked and things like that so you can then see who was interested in your photos and either they then write to you or you write to them. or do tribes you know. and so the sex work and in many cases the exploitation continues there's not much the police can do so they're changing tack trying to get into conversation with the sex workers and win their trust cathy with the help of common. this city's police chief comes to the center

in person until he has to spend years investigating cases of sexual exploitation and understands the issues together they hope to persuade more women to exit the trade depend demick is an opportunity. if an astonished us figure i'm amazed that so many women a daring to quit now we're currently helping 13 women his realize they can't bear it anymore i want something new even 6 weeks ago when we have women wanting to stop who are also willing to talk about their experience it's important to me that they know they can trust us. we need their testimony to get to the traffickers who are earning a fortune out of their misery or does not and germany's prostitution act hasn't helped us. under german law sex workers are considered service providers just like nurses shooting a says the change in law was well meant but he too says that legalizing the trade has made it more difficult to catch the criminals the 2 of them also agree that

more focus needs to be placed on the role of the clients. obviously they're partly to blame for the women's plight. and we know that because the prices have plummeted because of all the women coming from abroad to services costs a little anyone can afford it i'm always amazed how many young men also use these services all the missing the so huge and we need to move more towards the scandinavian approach where clients are prosecuted if they're known to have visited sex workers that were coerced into the job and or through your. this is pretty obviously a good they're called to account and face criminal charges. in sweden paying for sex has been illegal for more than 20 years and has become increasingly unacceptable so surely the law there targets the clients but not to the sex workers in germany on the other hand sex work is legal and subject to

social and health insurance contributions just like any other job that gives the impression of fair pay and protection for the workers but in reality 90 percent of the estimated $400000.00 sex workers in germany and not registered usually a very good has taken a stand against the sexual exploitation of women through amalie she's built up a network that can free women from sexual slavery and offer them a new life with a place to live and a job where they're not exploited. in a dark i'm happy to get involved in areas where others prefer the other way. and when i see the women who have left the trade or those who come here with their children there are so many wonderful moments that proved to me it's worthwhile working in this part of mannheim and thinking every day of new ideas that i can put into practice of how i can win over more supporters or make the best use of volunteers. and i think that's important benefit of we've been able to do

a lot over the last few years. and earlier just 2 of the beneficiaries thanks to amalie there was scope delight of slavery don't never forget the trauma they experienced but at least today have their dignity back. new momentum says the people at an early have shown me that women have rights too. that you can fight that and that you can seek help from others. just as much they made me strong by showing me that they stand with me and has my back and forth to me in the most.

innocent homey pushed. us road out into more climate change government office stores face is my place and went from just one week. before i can really guess. we still have time to ask i'm going. to said. can you hear me no no yes we don't need you and how it all stands gentlemen sonce now we're bringing you what i'm going to man call and you never have surprise yourself with what is possible who is magical really what moves and want some who talk to people who follow along the way maurice and critics might join us from eccleston stocks.

this is g.w. news live from berlin tonight our attention goes to her as the world's international women's day so it's a 1000. have taken to the streets to show their solidarity and appreciation of what women do all around the world as the main caregivers during the pandemic many women are counting their losses not their game also coming up tonight terry and meghan in an explosive interview with oprah about their breakup with the royal family includes accusations of racism and indifference to mental distress.