Severe risks for women and children

The passage to Europe is especially dangerous for women and children. Many undergo beatings, rape, enslavement and other forms of abuse during their journey. Many Eritrean women get contraceptive injections in Sudan before they cross the Libyan Desert as they know there is a high risk that they will be raped along the way.

Children are exceptionally vulnerable during irregular migration journeys. There are many recorded cases of children being abused, kidnapped, exploited and raped en-route to Europe. These children often fall victim to sexual and labour exploitation by criminal organizations and are forced to ‘pay back’ the traffickers who smuggled them into the country.

In migration transit countries like Libya, even young children are held in detention centers, where they are at risk of sexual and physical violence. Basic human rights are denied and starvation and abuse is common.