greed for power and profit plummeted an entire continent into chaos and violence. this is the journey back into the history of slavery. our documentary series slavery routes starts march 10th on g.w. . 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 shoot. get it myself and smash to. 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 send my songs into slavery treated as a commodity they sell sex well less than a pack of cigarettes and some women in our district a soap or they charge just 24 year ads for sex. germany is seen by many as europe's brothel we meet a woman who's looking to change that. but yulia v. it is

a lifeline to them sasha and allie 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 found 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. office but also knew best obviously i refused for most of that he threatened to kill me and said no one would know where i was. up to he held me captive for 2 or 3 days and then he put me to work so good off at the castle i'm convinced now that he had actually planned it all a lot of you got to look at that when you're in love you just blind to everything else and you don't realize that the thought of such as of so to. 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. i had to serve at least 15 or

20 clients a day because this was so you can reckon around 50 euros per client. in the club but at the end of the month i was only given 2 or $300.00 euros he took everything else to stay everything she's reaching his emotional. 20 clients a day 20 men that she was forced to have sex with every day and unimaginable trauma . whatever for the enrollment but all as soon as the man comes into the room you switch your brain off to trash in the sense that you're not there when it happens in those 15 to 20 minutes just like that but you're not there in that place. that's like a protection for your mind. to. sasha has a one year old child and early supporter younger siblings back. involved area 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 eat only 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 vigorous 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 emily 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 family gives out food assists women in dealing with your thora to use 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 she feels accepted. as the token since the 1st day i walked in here and i arrived with plastic bags and had nowhere to go 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 were our image a bit abused. out on the street she says men only see one thing in her own center 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 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 use me then so it always feels like prostitution again. prostitute. 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 mostly of school clothes everything's fine that's quite an unusual move going hiatuses many of the sex workers he sees suffers from bleeding pain and infections and then there are the emotional wounds. this if 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 oh only 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. 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 wonderful 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 to give either to. the mannheim district of neck or start 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. you live in your 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 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 kind of struck home to head. back. to.

sidor czechia runs a cafe in the neighborhood trust us who we are and to the work she does he's known this area for 40 years but 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 at all this. much to coronavirus can demick has made a difference a few streets further on man homes red light district feels like a ghost town. in

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 6 trade has been less impacted by the pandemic 6 work is illegal here but many police officers just look the other way or even earn from the trade themselves romania is one of the most corrupt countries in europe. but here too there are people and organizations committed to helping the women are 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 32 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 here you come to an interview they say we're calling you to morrow we'll get back to you mike but they never do that i could not 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 what i have no other income you want me to really. know alternative to sex work damn popescu from hard ass says poverty amongst women is a much bigger problem here in romania then 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 if and. when it gets back 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 talk about their journey are you after all they didn't leave because things were ok. so they'll go to countries where sex work is better paid by germany switzerland. or france or wherever their pimp takes them. where there is demand for their services an 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. a mother started a new relationship and gave her to a man who offered her and other girls to people traffickers. now. turned 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 sort i was about 17 but i wasn't even 14. he had a passport made for me with my signature although it would have needed my parents and then. i was taken to italy. she was passed from one country to another italy hungary romania years of horror.

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 were allowed 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. what they get oh it's very very difficult for these girls with an egg.

they try to starting normal life but they still carry a sense of shame like a stamp on their lives that says they were sold they still think i'm a prostitute or i'm this or that it's been said to them so often and they've been shamed and humiliated so many times that they believe it themselves prost 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 and also 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

there for that that police chief is munford powerless 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 bigger firm and marietta hogmanay 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 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 fears mike 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 if he puts and him they know

what was going on and that's exactly what organize. crime networks exploit people's willingness to migrate to escape poverty and a lack of prospects like the flows are cut himself but only one high met one woman who admitted to me in complete shock that she didn't know how terrible things are 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 i think it's heart 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 voluntarily for i believe they insist on it vehemently

. 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 of the human trafficking he says people in romania and bulgaria can understand germany's approach. and vice and decent 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 traffickers you leave a good end to the others here to counteract that by doing prevention work and

raising awareness through posters like this one for example. the private business done by students at a school girls i think it's great the process hello maybe it's an option for mankind not to mannheim female students wrote not to sail across their own far it's giora tension to the problem of sex slavery and to show solidarity with goes their rage in remaining and vogue area the plan is to hang the posters on building site advertising boards no. money for it powerless only visits remain in police officer. but because of the pandemic an online meeting must suffice they've been meeting for years and have become friends and that's even though they need a translator to communicate that soon to have a lot of women come back to romania from germany the brothels here are ball had to close schools and will. mark you as using and

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 ata even though they're actually victims of human trafficking up energy 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 but repeatedly every day. marianna peter sellers constantly outs 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 this city of tennis fun and head out into the countryside. 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 they're under and why they choose to become dependent on traffickers. and agreed to do these things and become

a part of it he said. romania and bulgaria are among the poorest countries in the european union in the countryside especially the level of education is low and unemployment rights high women here in these rule areas have few prospects and in some cases that makes them easy prey for traffickers. to go she's looking for is nowhere to be seen perhaps she's still in germany up to roll but marianna p. just 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 to. help the women come from countries like vogue area

romania albania and moldova europe's poor houses 90 percent of the sex workers in germany are migrants many of them work illegally have no apartment no health insurance and a not registered as you will a vegan or has known some of them for years. here and also happen 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 paedophile i've met some women who had up to 40 clients a day so should say hi i'm tapped at. cafes and bars normally serve as a place to make contact with clients but even very 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 out when you go on one of these platforms some people will write to ask can even have me do you have facebook or whatsapp can i see pictures of you. and 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. tribes. and so the states 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 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 it's afghan it does he look i'm amazed that so many women a daring to quit now we're currently helping 13 women have realized they can't bear it anymore and want something new. to go on 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 this not in germany's prostitution act hasn't helped us. under german law sex workers are considered service providers just like nurses stigma 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 on the missing the so human 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. to the job of course to do you. feel 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 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 uli of aig has taken a stand against the sexual exploitation of women through amelie 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. i'm going to miss going to dark i'm happy to get involved in areas where others prefer to look the other way. and when i see the women who've 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 and how i can win over more supporters or make the best use of volunteers and if i'm going to

the ends i think that's important benefit of all we've been able to do a lot over the last few years. sasha and ellie are just 2 of the beneficiaries thanks to our early there was a life of slavery don't ever forget the trauma they experienced but at least they have their dignity back. momentum says the people at an early have shown me that women have rights too. and you can fight back and that you can seek help from others. but on the album is finished as much they made me strong by showing me that they stand with me and has my back i. want to.

kick off. this town atmosphere means listless clay shaw from the. looks of guns and the mentalist fights obsessive. non-stop excitement to the final match to. the seagull. to go. to minutes on d w. the 1st african woman to win the go to medal and wants to give people. an essentially africa and i'm very pro women maybe we need more voices that are more visible whistleblowing. more freedom more cell to turn. more right. today on arts and culture on d w. the

be. this is to use live from berlin people across the globe mark international women's day tens of thousands of take. into the streets to show you our see an appreciation of what women do in the world as the main. pandemic of many women accounting losses rather than gains coming off. explosive interview with oprah winfrey about the royal family. of racism and indifference.