Austria/Europe

Leaving prostitution is a long process for many affected individuals, marked by violence, dependency, poverty, and social exclusion. While public debate often reduces the issue to “free choices” or “lifestyles,” available studies paint a different picture: for the majority, prostitution is a system of violence, economic hardship, and third-party control.   Reasons Exiting Is So Difficult   […]

The primary objective of the Austrian criminal justice system is to prepare offenders for a life of freedom, and to increase their chances of successful reintegration into society. Working while in prison plays a key role in achieving this: It is designed not just to lend structure to everyday life behind bars, but also to

When Julia was helping her mother sort through the post, she noticed an unusual bank statement for the first time. ‘It’s probably just a mistake,’ her mother said quietly, almost apologetically. But a few weeks later, the strange debits began to pile up. What was initially a slight doubt developed into a shocking realisation: something

For years, intimate photos of women were posted in the Italian Facebook group “Mia Moglie” without their consent. As if that were not bad enough, men commented on the posts with sexist and sometimes explicitly violent statements such as: “I know exactly what I would do to her.” “Fuck her.” “I would rape her.” The

What are femicides? The term femicide describes the killing of women due to their gender. The Federal Centre for Political Education states that this involves gender-specific violence in its most extreme form. It does not just mean the murder of a woman, but one motivated by a hatred of women, patriarchal power structures and the idea that women are

16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence – Human trafficking must be made visible  End violence! Every year, the international campaign ‘16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence’ draws attention to the omnipresent problem of violence. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the United Nations once again published shocking figures: more than 80,000 women were victims of femicide last year – most

Under the name “Operation Bogotá”, the authorities have succeeded in tracing an international network which forced women from Colombia into prostitution in Austria. Forty-three victims were freed, while five suspected perpetrators were arrested. 43 women freed For years now, Austria’s Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working together with the Colombian police and Europol on

Every day, women around the world are victims of violence – many believe this is a problem “abroad,” “far away,” or simply “not here.” But that is unfortunately not true. Reality paints a very different and deeply concerning picture: in 2025 alone, eleven so-called femicides have already been recorded – eleven women who lost their

Spanish authorities made a shocking discovery recently while carrying out a large-scale police operation against human trafficking, as 162 women were freed from forced prostitution in several apartments which had been converted into “massage salons”. The women lived in unimaginably awful conditions – they were forced to service their clients in bunkbeds, where they then

The term resilience has its origins in psychology and sociology and describes the ability of individuals, groups or systems to cope with crises, adapt and emerge stronger from stressful situations. This year’s Vienna Conference on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings has the theme ‘Resilient Together: Preventing Human Trafficking in Times of Crisis’ – a highly