Prostitution in Malta has shifted from the streets to our screens, with arrests for loitering plummeting from 122 a decade ago to just four last year, police statistics reveal.

The shift coincides with a growing influx of foreign women offering services via escort sites, raising concerns of hidden exploitation among activists.

Anna Vella, a doctor and founding member of Dar Hosea, an NGO offering care for women in prostitution, said the changes were worrying.

Reaching the women who need help is now harder since they are no longer as visible.  The rise in online services marks a stark departure from the sight of women loitering in red-light districts.

According to a police spokesperson, “the modus operandi has shifted from physical loitering to online adverts. If one takes a look at escort sites, one can see an influx of foreigners offering sexual services.”

For Vella and her colleague Maria Borg Pellicano, this adds layers of difficulty to an already complex issue.

Many of the women now involved have little or no support network in Malta.

Far from being a choice, the activists argue prostitution is often the result of coercion or deception.

This is not sex as people think of it. Once a person pays, he can do what he wants, and violence is part of the package for some. How will these women be protected from that?- Activist Romina Lopez

“We are seeing more movement of foreigners to find a better life in Malta. We know of stories of women who do not find the job they expected when they come to Malta and end up prostituting themselves to pay back relatives who loaned them money,” Borg Pellicano said.

Others arrive under false pretences, promised work that never materialises, leaving them vulnerable to traffickers.

In the summer, nine people were charged with trafficking South American women after police carried out a series of raids across Malta.

And there is a constant demand for “fresh meat”, leading to more women arriving in the country and ending up working as prostitutes.

“The demand is increasing. Before, Maltese men were going to Holland and Thailand for sex with foreign women. Now they are coming over to us,” Vella said.

Activist Romina Lopez, who spent some time working at Dar Hosea and with international NGOs that tackle prostitution and sex education in schools, says international research shows the issue starts at a young age. 

“Many were born into it or groomed from a very young age or abused by family members. It’s a boot camp into prostitution: Young girls who are sexually abused are then pushed into prostitution. A father, family friend or relative who abused them becomes their pimp,” she says.

One growing global trend is the ‘Loverboy’ method, where young men form romantic relationships with vulnerable women before manipulating them into sex work. These women form a “trauma bond” with their pimps, Lopez explains. She has seen a pimp claim financial trouble to guilt the woman into prostitution or impregnate their victims to exert further control.

Hidden abuses

Behind the veneer of online discretion, new forms of abuse are emerging. Vella recounted the case of a woman whose online services were secretly recorded, leaving her vulnerable to blackmail.

“She lost control of the material. This can be very dangerous as the woman can get threatened with the content,” Vella said.

These new realities need to be factored in when the regulation debate emerges every so often.

While there is consensus among activists that women in prostitution should not be jailed, debates over regulation remain fraught. Vella warned that regulating brothels could restrict police oversight and allow abuse to go undetected.

“This is not sex as people think of it,” she said. “Once a person pays, he can do what he wants, and violence is part of the package for some. How will these women be protected from that?”

A dark legacy

Vella says the role of the pimp also normally passes down through generations. “When a case ends up in court, very often I know the pimps and traffickers. They are sons of pimps. They have learned the trade,” Vella said.

This is something that the law courts seem to be oblivious to, Vella says.

“I get nauseous as I feel there is so much manipulation in all that is happening in court… we hear of foreign women saying they came for choice and were getting paid.

“It stinks to see the lawyers putting the questions in such a way that they are answering – but the truth is not coming out.  The way the court system is designed is not sensitive enough to bring out the truth – just the surface layer,” she says.

I get nauseous as I feel there is so much manipulation in all that is happening in court… we hear of foreign women saying they came for choice and were getting paid- Anna Vella, doctor and founding member of Dar Hosea

Research has shown that, when police first enter a brothel, the women there initially say all is okay. But then the social workers step in and, when they feel safe, the women open up and break down.

She recounted the case of a woman who resorted to Dar Hosea for help.

“She told us how her mother’s pimp wanted ‘fresh meat’. So her mother gave her to the pimp,” Vella recalled, adding: “It is received without question – like saying my mother wanted me to go to school – and that hurts. I’ve often seen how they do not linger with that moment – it’s too painful and they move on. Here, at Dar Hosea, they have no issue saying they are addicts but few admit they are involved in prostitution.”

Addiction, in fact, is often part of the picture as it is the only way they can keep doing what they do.