Female asylum seekers from Ukraine living in the Galaxen Hotel in the town of Olofström in southern Sweden's Blekinge County have come under a strict dress code, Swedish Radio reported.
Tiny shorts - also known as hot pants - and blouses showing off the midriff are some of the clothes that Ukrainian women have been told not to wear. The formal explanation provided by the authorities is that it “can provoke men from others cultures” who live at the same hotel.
Although this measure is apparently designed to protect the women themselves, refugee activist Gitana Bengtsson is strongly critical of the dress code.
“[The Ukrainian women] were usually dressed like you and me. They didn't look like prostitutes. The hotel manager said that they should not be dressed in flimsy clothes which show off body parts. He said they shouldn't wear tiny shorts or skirts,” Bengtsson told Swedish Radio.
Gitana Bengtsson has reported the case to Tjejjouren, a feminist association that helps women to challenge situations, which pledged to arrange a meeting for the women to inform them about their rights.
Since the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine to demilitarise and de-Nazify the country, millions of Ukrainians have left, travelling both eastwards to Russia and westwards to Europe. More than 37,000 Ukrainians have sought asylum in Sweden, according to the Nordic country's Migration Board.
Before the conflict, asylum seekers to the Nordic country were mainly Muslims fromo the Middle East and North Africa, with Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis forming the largest groups.
Eastern Europe in general and Ukraine in particular have recently been the largest source of prostitutes in Sweden. During the latest Operation “Cod” by Swedish Police, for example, 30 of 38 men arrested for buying sex received services from Ukrainian women.
According to national broadcaster SVT, many of them were said to have been lured into the sex trade through marketing on Ukrainian online forums, where money and accommodation is offered to travel to Sweden and sell their body. According to Swedish police, this trend is beginning to end as Ukrainian women identified in previous operations most often had previous convictions for of prostitution.