The non-profit organization Talita, which works to help women out of prostitution, pornography and human trafficking for sexual purposes, is now warning that former victims of the sex trade are being hit hard by the corona pandemic.

- Women are hit very hard.

Many of them have lost their jobs.

It can be a cleaning job or a job in the hotel industry.

Now we, like the state that supports activities, have had to go in and support individuals, otherwise even more would have ended up back in the sex trade, says one of the organization Talita's founders, Josephine Appelqvist.

Josephine Appelqvist does not know how many ended up wrong, but she believes that the number of unreported cases is large.

- The pandemic affects very many who have simpler jobs and they are very dependent on them for their livelihood, both in Sweden but we see the same thing in Romania, Mongolia and Kenya that we also work in, says Josephine Appelqvist.

"Sweden should follow France"

According to Josephine Appelqvist, the risk is that the women who have stopped selling sex will fall back into prostitution.

More people seek help but Talita does not have the opportunity to receive more victims.

It is above all then that society needs to step in and support.

She believes that the state should go in and pay for rehabilitation for those who want to leave prostitution.

In other European countries, such as France, this is enshrined in the Sex Purchase Act.

- We wish it was like in France.

In Sweden, victims of crime are given support during the legal process, but when it is completed, they no longer receive support in the form of, for example, sheltered housing.

You do not get out of prostitution by applying for a job at the Swedish Public Employment Service, it does not work that way.

You need a transit period of at least one year.