Female refugees are subject to sexual abuse “at every stage of their journey” to Europe, according to a report from Amnesty International released Sunday.
The organization interviewed 40 female refugees from Iraq and Syria about their experiences during the journey to Germany and Norway. Every woman reported feeling “threatened and unsafe” and many said they experienced physical abuse, financial exploitation, getting groped or pressured to have sex in almost all countries they crossed.
The vast majority of refugees are adult men, primarily in their late teens or 20s, which made each woman more vulnerable for abuse.
“I never got the chance to sleep in settlements. I was too scared that anyone would touch me,” Reem, a 20-year-old girl from Syria, said of her experience. “The tents were all mixed and I witnessed violence… I felt safer in movements, especially on the bus, the only place I could shut my eyes and sleep. In the camps we are so prone to being touched, and women can’t really complain and they don’t want to cause issues to disrupt their trip.”
Several women said they were forced into having sex with security guards at refugee centers in order to obtain food and warmer clothes. Smugglers also offered discounts in return for sexual favors.
“The smuggler was harassing me. He tried to touch me a couple of times,” Nahla, a 20-year-old Syrian woman told Amnesty International. “Only when my male cousin was around he did not come close. I was very afraid, especially that we hear stories along the way of women who can’t afford the smugglers who would be given the option to sleep with the smugglers for a discount.”
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