In many parts of Germany, police and other officials are seeing more and more short-term rental apartments being used for illegal prostitution. Criminal groups are using websites like Airbnb and Booking.com to rent homes and turn them into what experts call pop-up brothels.
These are apartments rented for just a few days or weeks, where sex work takes place without anyone noticing. These brothels are hard to track because the people who run them move often and use online tools to stay hidden.
One man in Berlin rented out his apartment through Airbnb. When he returned, he was shocked to find trash, used condoms, and signs that many people had been there. He believes dozens of men may have visited the apartment while he was gone. He had no idea this would happen when he accepted the rental.
This situation is not rare. Experts and police say that since the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more of these short-term rentals have been used in this way. Stephan Fuchs, from a group in Switzerland that helps victims of human trafficking, says these apartments are often chosen because they don’t have cameras and are easy to book quickly online.
The victims and the law
Many of the women forced to work in these pop-up brothels are in very bad situations. Claudia Robbe, who works at the Women’s Information Center in Stuttgart, helps women who have been victims. She says that many of them don’t even know which city they are in.
They are moved often and kept in the dark, making it very hard for them to ask for help.
According to Robbe, these women almost never book the apartments themselves. Instead, the rentals are handled by people connected to criminal networks. The women often don’t have phones or ways to contact anyone for help. They are isolated and frightened.
Germany allows prostitution under certain rules. It must happen in places that are officially registered. But in these cases, the law is being broken. During the pandemic, more cases were reported of prostitution happening in private homes and rented apartments. Police believe that many more cases happen than are actually reported.
An investigator in Leipzig, named Sören, says it’s hard to stop this kind of crime. The apartments are booked quickly and used for only a short time, so even cities with strong police teams find it difficult to take action. Once authorities find out, the group running the brothel has often already moved to a new place.
What companies are doing and what still needs to be done
Airbnb and Booking.com both say they are trying to help. In official statements, they said they work closely with police around the world. Booking.com said they fully cooperate with investigations. But some police officers are not satisfied.
Sören explained that talking to Airbnb is not easy for German police. Because the company’s main office is in Ireland, communication can take a long time. That slows down investigations and makes it harder to act quickly.
Experts say that today’s digital tools, like online ads and easy booking systems, are being used by criminals to keep their activities hidden. Victims are often advertised online without any clear information, making it hard to find or help them. A German news channel, ZDF, looked into online forums and found that many people buying sex treat the women like objects. This is made worse by the fact that everything can happen anonymously.
Police and other experts say there needs to be stronger laws and better international teamwork. They want platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com to take more responsibility and help stop this kind of abuse. They also say society needs to understand how modern technology is being used to hurt people — and take steps to change it.
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