Women's council warns of World Cup sex trade

Thousands of women and girls will be trafficked into Germany for the purpose of prostitution during the World Cup, according to the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI).

At the announcement of their "Buying Sex is not a Sport" campaign today, the NWCI called on the Government and sporting bodies to highlight the issue of trafficking women for prostitution.

Although prostitution is legal in Germany in certain city zones, many women are expected to be trafficked into the country to coincide with the thousands of fans attending the World Cup this summer.

The NWCI claimed the owners of brothels in the 12 German World Cup cities are preparing to make maximum profits during the competition, including building "performance boxes".

"Performance boxes are wooden 'sex huts' resembling toilets that have been built in fenced-in areas the size of a football field, with condoms, showers and parking for the buyers and a special focus on protecting their 'anonymity'," the NWCI director Joanna McMinn said.

"For this, the private sex entrepreneurs have had to receive authorisations from the local governments in the 12 German cities."

Ms McMinn said that the organisation "views prostitution as sexual exploitation, in which women - legally or not - are physically and psychologically harmed.

"Treating women's bodies as sexual commodities violates women's human rights and fundamental freedoms," she added.

As part of the campaign the NWCI have launched an online petition calling on the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, and the Irish government to put the issue of trafficking in women for prostitution on the agenda of an EU Council of Minister's meeting in Luxembourg later this year.

They are also calling on sporting bodies such as FIFA and the FAI to publicly disassociate themselves from the sexual exploitation of women around sporting events and to affirm the dignity and human rights of all women.