These are the forgotten sexual assault victims in Europe

The Amnesty International report, however, sheds light on victims who have largely been forgotten in the debate about sexual assaults by asylum seekers. “After living through the horrors of the war in Iraq and Syria these women have risked everything to find safety for themselves and their children. But from the moment they begin this journey they are again exposed to violence and exploitation, with little support or protection,” Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response director, was quoted as saying.

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Although a press release by the organization includes several references to flaws in Germany, it stressed that the situation was particularly worrisome in transit zones, including “Hungary, Croatia and Greece, where (female refugees) were forced to sleep alongside hundreds of refugee men. … A dozen of the women interviewed said that they had been touched, stroked or leered at in European transit camps.”

One refugee said she never felt safe in any of the camps. “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,” she was quoted as saying.

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