Child prostitution in Czech city? Facts vs. rumors as seen by experts, nonprofits, police and schools

The report depicted the neighborhood as a place of exclusion and hopelessness “reeking of the cheap perfume worn by the young prostitutes and children going ‘to the trucks’.” The subject sparked stormy discussion among Romani social media users and Czech media responded to the article as well.

News server iDNES.cz, for instance, published the testimonies of local children and residents of the quarter. News server Romea.cz reached out to various institutions, the police, and other stakeholders directly in the neighborhood and tried to ascertain what the actual situation is in Předlice so as to present readers with the wider context of this problem.

Police: We serve Předlice daily and reject allegations of inactivity

Bild reported that Czech Police “don’t even go to Předlice anymore,” implying the alleged passivity of the security forces there. According to the Czech Police, though, the claim about their inaction in Předlice is misleading and unfounded.

“The Czech Police strongly reject any claims of inaction in the Předlice area. Police officers in that area perform their daily duties and, as part of their regular duties and targeted actions, pay increased attention to crime and its prevention. All suspicions of criminal activity, including those related to child prostitution, are investigated without delay,” police spokeswoman Veronika Hyšplerová told Romea.cz.

Hyšplerová also added that in the last five years, the Czech Police have investigated several reports in that area regarding possible child abuse, threats to a child’s upbringing, or other socio-pathological behavior. “In each case these matters were investigated and, where the situation allowed, forwarded to the prosecutor for further proceedings,” she added.

Municipal Police: We have no record of child prostitution

The Municipal Police of Ústí nad Labem responded similarly to the Bild article. According to Deputy Director Jan Novotný, local police officers have never encountered any cases of child prostitution.

“If this is happening, then it is happening secretly, and the patrolling police officers have no chance of detecting this behavior,” said Novotný, adding that the neighborhood is home to a larger number of socially disadvantaged citizens who most often commit offenses such as disturbing the peace at night, petty theft, and setting up illegal garbage dumps. According to Novotný, a crime prevention assistant has been working in the area for a long time and has very good local knowledge, and he has not encountered any cases of child prostitution either.

“In addition, there are also non-profit organizations operating here which, if they had such information, would have to report it to the Czech Police, because they have a reporting obligation like everyone else,” Novotný added. Reporters from Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES heard something different from a local schoolboy, though.

“A boy here just sold his girlfriend to a German for CZK 3,000 [EUR 120]. The German came and took her away. The boy sold her, they arranged it through his cousin,” the schoolboy, who was about 12, allegedly told the reporters while they were taking pictures of one of the streets in Předlice.

The schoolboy willingly began to tell the reporters incredible stories: “Girls and boys also go to the trucks here, they earn money.” What do they do there?

“They show off, have sex, f&*k. Do you know what that is?” the schoolboy asked the journalists.

Primary school principal: This is not a mass phenomenon, rumors are frequently spread to slander people

Martin Košnar, the local elementary school principal, admits that the phenomenon of prostitution in Předlice is intensely perceived by local children. “For many local women, [prostitution] is a source of livelihood. Due to the fact that many local families know about prostitution and it is not a taboo, children often speak about it as part of their lives,” he explained to Romea.cz.

According to the principal, it sometimes happens that an underage girl is accused of prostitution, but such cases have never been directly confirmed. He believes they may be more slander than reality.

“During my time at this school, it has sometimes happened that a child, an underage girl, has been accused of prostitution, but it has never been confirmed directly,” Košnar recalled, admitting that the investigations of such intimate matters are performed so secretly that as principal he would never be informed if pupils attending his school had become involved in such investigations. “I don’t believe it, personally. If this is happening, it is definitely not a mass issue. As if anyone would come to Předlice to buy a child – I don’t believe it,” he added with conviction.

Girls between 15 and 17: Minors perceived to be adults?

According to the principal, however, it does sometimes happen that underage girls have sex with adults or with other minors. “This is not prostitution, of course, but a purely voluntary matter, for which both parties bear the consequences if it comes to light,” he said.

This is likely to be the heart of the problem. When “child prostitution” is discussed, everyone imagines 10-year-olds being abused by pedophiles.

An anonymous source from the locality told Romea.cz that he believes minor prostitution in Předlice concerns girls aged around 15 to 17, i.e., girls who are minors, but not young children. “It’s not like young children are being sold there. They are teenagers who often look older, but are still minors, and therefore such behavior is considered child prostitution,” this informant specified.

According to Košnar, it is not easy to comment on such a matter. “Child prostitution has certainly been investigated here several times, but not often. As far as I know, it was never confirmed. It was more about slander, some kind of revenge, conflicts between families,” he said.

NGO: Child prostitution does occur in Předlice, we take immediate action on any such suspicions

The organization “Rozkoš bez rizika” [Pleasure without Risk], which has been operating in Předlice for a long time, regularly visits the locale as part of its healthcare and social work services provided in the field and focuses on working with persons providing paid erotic and sexual services. “Media reports and our clients suggest that child prostitution does occur in the Czech Republic,” the NGO’s Pavel Ubrankawicz told news server Romea.cz, adding that the organization provides services only to persons over 18.

“If we have the reasonable suspicion that a child is at risk of prostitution, we always proceed in accordance with the law – we collaborate with child welfare authorities (OSPOD) and with other institutions. We do handle such cases on an individual basis, quite confidentially,” added Ubrankawicz.

Karel Karika: Sensationalizing child prostitution harms the whole community

Karel Karika of the Czechoslovak Roma Union called Bild’s claims “dishonorable” and highly misleading. “These may be isolated cases at most, but they certainly do not represent the majority of the situation in Předlice. Such generalizing, sensationalist reports harm the entire community and do not contribute to solving real problems. The situation needs to be viewed objectively and with respect for the people who live here,” Karika, who has no direct information about any current cases of child prostitution, told news server Romea.cz.

“The only case I know of is more than five years old and is currently being heard in court, where the accused pimp faces many years in prison,” added Karika.

Zuzana Kumanová: Moral principles sometimes go by the wayside, prostitution is a survival strategy of people in poverty

According to expert on social exclusion Zuzana Kumanová, in poor communities prostitution is “one of the survival strategies, too.” Kumanová, who works as an ethnographer and historian in Slovakia, points out that in an environment of intergenerational poverty, the earnings from prostitution can be perceived as an acceptable – or even the only – source of income for the entire family, and then “all moral principles go by the wayside.”

According to Kumanová, what may be particularly alarming is the fact that the age of girl prostitutes is falling below 15. “If the age limit for potential prostitutes is falling below 15, it is appropriate to impose criminal liability,” she told the Romea.cz news server.

According to Kumanová, cases of child prostitution often take place covertly, with the tacit consent of those around the children. In the environment of social exclusion a lack of intervention by the state is usual, which further exacerbates the problem.

“If there were no customers, there would be no supply,” the expert reminded Romea.cz. Without demand, she believes, these phenomena could not arise or persist, which is why it is necessary to focus not only on prevention for children at risk, but also on the consistent punishment of perpetrators.

Kumanová stresses that the state must combine consistent, long-term prevention work with repression. “A concomitant phenomenon of poverty and social exclusion are livelihood strategies which often cross the boundaries of morality and ethics,” she said.

According to Kumanová, better coordination between the communities involved and state agencies as well as early protection of children are all crucial. Solutions do not exist in the form of simple measures but must, in her view, be sustainable and targeted.

Security forces say they are also trying to act preventively

Activists from the grassroots organization Amare Předlice drew attention to the phenomenon of the prostitution of young girls there in 2017. According to human rights activist Miroslav Brož, the police reaction at the time was very strange.

“We went to the places where prostitution was being practiced and disrupted its offering and operations for one day. We called both journalists and the police, who filmed the entire event. Unfortunately, instead of taking action against the customers on the spot, they preferred to scold the participants of our event for allegedly violating the law on assembly,” Brož described at the time to Romea.cz, adding that in his opinion, the fight against prostitution should be the task of the police, not activists.

The police claim to be currently implementing preventive activities in addition to repressive measures. According to them, both criminal police and riot police patrol the area regularly.

Police collaboration is reportedly taking place with child welfare authorities, city representatives, and schools. “Preventive lectures are also being held focusing on youth crime, addiction, domestic violence and online safety,” said Hyšplerová.

Local police also stress their long-term work in the field of crime prevention through the “Municipal Police for Children” program, focused on children from socially excluded localities, including Předlice. “The project’s purpose is to raise awareness of the law and instill social norms in children who live in localities identified as being at risk of social exclusion. These are children from the localities of Předlice, Mojžíř, Střekov, Neštěmice, and Krásné Březno. The localities are selected based on a security analysis of the city of Ústí nad Labem,” explained Novotný.

Art competitions, lectures on legal awareness, sports events, and suburban camps are part of the project. The goal is to guide children toward the norms of society, to motivate them to conform, and to support collaboration with their families.

“An integral part of the project is close collaboration with the children’s families. This cooperation can occur thanks to the involvement of crime prevention assistants who live in the locality and have excellent local knowledge. The assistants visit the families and explain the purpose of involving children in the project and its benefits for improving the children’s quality of life,” Novotný told Romea.cz.

Karika: The aid from the state is not extensive enough, nonprofits cannot resolve the situation

However, not everyone considers the city’s or the state’s work in this area to be sufficient. “I assess the current response of the city, region, and state to the problem of exclusion and poverty in Předlice quite negatively. This locality, specifically Nové Předlice, has long been left to its unfortunate fate – people here live in poverty without any real opportunity to move forward,” Karika told Romea.cz.

Karika points out that this is not just about his region, but that the situation is similarly bad elsewhere in the Czech Republic. “We have lost two generations of children. They now have children of their own and often just follow the fates of their parents because they have no chance of breaking out of the vicious circle of poverty,” he added, saying that non-profit organizations have just limited opportunities to transform the situation.

“Our community work in Předlice is just volunteers who clean up public spaces. We don’t carry out any other activities there, our work is primarily focused on providing recreation and tutoring to the Mojžíř housing estate. We don’t carry out direct activities aimed at protecting children or girls from sexual violence or prostitution in Předlice,” Karika explained to Romea.cz.

Prevention in schools and in the field: Trust is key

The organization “Rozkoš bez rizika” [Pleasure without Risk] also contributes its share of preventive measures to the puzzle which, in addition to the direct assistance to adults working in the sex business, also focus on the reduction and prevention of the risks associated with sexual exploitation in a systematic way. “In the Ústí nad Labem Region we provide the full range of field social work and health services. We also offer workshops focused on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and safe sex. When we test the public for STDs we also distribute all of our educational materials,” Ubrankawicz described the full range of the NGO’s activities.

The local elementary school is also trying to focus on the prevention of prostitution. According to Košnar, the school contacts the Czech Police in case of any suspicions, holds preventive lectures, and talks to students about the issue of prostitution.

“I have also been advised by police that it is always better to report a case of possible child prostitution and then have the Czech Police refute it through their investigation than to deliberately cover it up and pretend that nothing will probably happen,” Košnar told Romea.cz, adding that in such cases, parents are also informed.

Child prostitution in Předlice: What we know and what we don’t know

All of the available information shows that while child prostitution in Předlice cannot be ruled out, there is no evidence that it is a mass or organized phenomenon. The problem remains the difficulty of proving it, the discrepancy between what people gossip about and what behavior can be prosecuted, and low trust in state institutions among locals.

Maybe 10-year-old children are not being “sold” in Předlice, but girls under the age of 18 can indeed engage in sex for money there. What is being described by some of those who were interviewed for this article as “voluntary” behavior on their part is frequently the result of their hopeless situations.

The cases of girls aged 15-17 providing sex for money are definitely on the edge of what is lawful and moral. Experts from the nonprofit sector and representatives of public institutions agree that better coordination of all those working in these communities, consistent prevention, and timely aid are necessary in addition to repression.

Nonprofits, police, and schools are aware of the problem, but each is tackling it differently, frequently without a clear outcome to their work, and separately. Without community collaboration and the consistent prosecution of customers and pimps, the problem will not go away.

Investigations of prostitution are complicated because they frequently involve underage victims who may have a distorted perception of their own abuse or may not consider it a problem. The overall conditions in this excluded neighborhood, including its complex social dynamics, distrust in institutions, the overburdened system, and poverty, all contribute to the fact that any signs of such sexual exploitation remain hidden.