Forced prostitution, abuse Hungarian woman stands trial in Zurich for human trafficking

Women from Hungary forced into sex work in Zurich's red-light district: a Hungarian woman will have to answer charges of human trafficking and promoting prostitution at Zurich District Court today, Monday.

Keystone-SDA

11.05.2026, 06:02

11.05.2026, 08:12

SDA

A 33-year-old Hungarian woman is due to appear before Zurich District Court today (Monday) to answer charges of human trafficking and promoting prostitution. She is alleged to have forced women into sex work for six years.

The accused is alleged to have brought at least 14 women from Hungary to Zurich between December 2016 and November 2022. There, she forced the women into prostitution under precarious conditions, according to the indictment. The public prosecutor's office accuses her of commercial human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

According to the indictment, the accused selected her victims according to a systematic pattern. The women mostly lived in extremely precarious social and economic circumstances. They were often homeless, poor, had addiction problems or experienced domestic violence.

Monitored around the clock

The accused allegedly presented herself to the women as a helper or mother figure. By making financial advance payments to the women or their families in Hungary, she created a massive relationship of dependency.

In Zurich, the women were accommodated in hotels in the Langstrasse district and monitored around the clock. Their working hours often began at 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning and were determined by the accused. The women were sometimes only allowed to sleep for two to three hours.

The accused allegedly prescribed minimum earnings of between 1,000 and 2,150 francs for the women. They had to hand over most of the money to the accused. The accused is said to have used the money to finance her living expenses, beauty treatments and the purchase of property.

Serious allegations of abuse

The indictment lists numerous cases of physical and psychological violence. The women were beaten, pulled by the hair or severely threatened if they did not achieve the required turnover. They were also forced to have unprotected sex, which led to numerous unwanted pregnancies, abortions and infection with sexually transmitted diseases. The women often had to continue working despite illness or severe pain.

The public prosecutor and the defense made their motions during the main trial. The accused has been in custody since November 22, 2022.

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