New DIIS report: The hidden migration crisis
June 4, 2026
New DIIS Report – by Sine Plambech and Loan Torondel in collaboration with the Red Cross – documents that sexual violence is a widespread, normalised and almost inevitable part of the journey for refugees and migrants on the Central Mediterranean route.
Key findings:
- 50-90% of women experience sexual violence along the way – in some cases almost 100%.
- The violence is committed in the majority of cases by human smugglers and traffickers, armed groups and by authorities, but also by other migrants on the route, and even humanitarian actors.
- The violence is systematic and used as a means of control, coercion and humiliation.
- The lack of help and prosecution makes the problem invisible: victims do not dare to report it due to stigma, fear and lack of support.
Sexual violence can take many forms, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture, forced presence during sexual assaults, and sex for payment. The report shows that sexual violence is an integral part of the migration route – an issue often overlooked in the debate on migration.