Sexual Abuse of Asylum Seekers – A Worldwide Phenomenon

It’s heartbreaking how many humans across the globe see the desperation of asylum seekers as an opportunity for abuse and exploitation.

From Norway this week, we have the story of Svein Ludvigsen. A former cabinet minister, Ludvigsen has been found guilty of “abusing his position as a regional governor and exploiting the vulnerable situation of the three young men,” as the BBC reports. Luvigsen, the victims reported, “believed their response to Ludvigsen’s demands for sex could either result in being deported or securing permanent residency.”

Meanwhile, CNN has the harrowing tale of a Yazidi refugee who, forced into sexual slavery, escaped, yet was forcibly returned to sexual enslavement a second time in Turkey. Now rescued, she is safe. But she wants justice.

Closer to home, there have been numerous reports of violence against women making their way to the United States. 

The depravity of those who harm individuals who have already suffered so much is truly hard to fathom.

-KitJ