Anonymous information warning that a woman could be held against her will on October 7 allowed the Civil Guard to dismantle a labor exploitation network that operated in the municipality of Marchena, Seville (population 19,400) and kept 14 women in slavery. They worked without papers picking olives, and two of them were subjected to sexual assaults. Investigators arrested six individuals accused of alleged crimes related to trafficking, membership in a criminal group, and violation of labor rights.
As is often the case in these cases, the group recruited the women in their home countries — all in Eastern Europe, according to sources familiar with the investigation — making them believe they were coming to Spain for an olive picking campaign with stable, decent working conditions. Once they arrived in Marchena, they were imposed on them with an initial debt of 2,000 euros, which increased week after week, “creating a mechanism of debt slavery that made their release impossible,” as these same sources indicate.
The women had their documents withheld from them and physical violence and threats were used to force them to work long hours and for much less than the agreed-upon salary. To ensure they would not escape, they assured them that if they tried to escape or reported their situation, they would be taken to Germany to be sexually exploited.
Two of them, in addition to being physically abused and deprived of liberty, were also sexually assaulted by a gang member, all of them also from Eastern European countries. The detainees were brought to justice
The operation culminated on November 3, after less than a month of careful monitoring by the EMUME team of the Organic Judicial Police Unit of the Civil Guard Command of Seville. During this period, officers emphasized how, in addition to physical and sexual abuse and lack of freedom, the women were forced to live in a home that “presented difficult living conditions.”