At least 8 agencies with Dutch ties luring sex workers from Eastern Europe

At least 104 agencies are active in Eastern Europe that lure sex workers abroad with online ads, Pointer reports after investigating almost 45,000 ads posted by these agencies along with other investigative journalist agencies in Europe. At least eight of the agencies and 561 advertisements have direct ties to the Netherlands.

Sex workers who respond to these advertisements are at high risk of becoming victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, six organizations that offer victim assistance told the program.

The agencies promise salaries of an average of 20,000 euros per month. That amount only checks out if a sex worker has around 100 customers per month and keeps almost all of the money herself, according to Pointer. In practice, agencies often charge half of the income as commission. Most also promise to organize transport, accommodation, and clients. Pointer spoke to several agencies and found that many also charge an amount for travel and paperwork that the sex worker has to repay while working.

According to Pointer’s research, almost all agencies send sex workers to work in countries where their profession is not permitted. In some destination countries, like Romania and Slovakia, sex work is illegal. Other destination countries follow the “Nordic” model, where sex work is not punishable, but the customer is. The ads also mention destinations where it is downright dangerous to be a sex worker, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Most of the agencies that try to bring sex workers to the Netherlands also advertise for locations in countries where prostitution is not allowed.

According to Pointer, 96 of the 104 investigated agencies cannot be traced to an existing, identifiable person. They’re also not officially registered anywhere in a Chamber of Commerce. That means that when things go wrong, sex workers have no way to hold the agencies liable.

Advertising to recruit sex workers is not prohibited. But the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) warned last year that human traffickers often use these online platforms to lure victims. Victim support organizations Fier, Lumens, Terwille, El Roi, De Haven, and HVO Querido also told Pointer that these sex workers are at high risk of becoming victims of human trafficking and exploitation. They unanimously said there must be stricter supervision and control of these agencies.