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TRAFFICKING FROM RUSSIA & THE CIS: History &
Trends
International trafficking of girls and young
women from the former Soviet Union for the purpose of sexual
exploitation is a multi-billion dollar international, organized
criminal business.
RUSSIA AS A SENDING
COUNTRY:
Women are trafficked to, from, and through
every region in the world using methods of deceit and coercion that
have defined a new form of 21st century slavery. The value of the
global trade in women as commodities for sex industries is estimated
to be between seven and twelve billion dollars annually. This trade
in women is a highly profitable enterprise with relatively low risk
compared to trades in drugs or arms. The moneymakers are
transnational networks of traffickers and pimps that prey on the
dreams of impoverished women seeking employment and opportunities
for the future. Although the majority of these unsuspecting women
are young and single, with little education, others may be orphans,
university students or even married women with young children. All
of them are lured by advertising images of a beautiful life beyond
the borders of their homelands - making them easy prey to the
thousands of traffickers advertising in newspapers, on radio,
television, in the metro and on the streets for wonderful work
abroad with no experience necessary.
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"Road of Light" Shelter
in St.
Petersburg. |
This transnational trade in women is based on
supply and demand from sending and receiving countries. Countries
with large sex industries create the biggest, most constant demand
and are the receiving countries, while countries where traffickers
find it easy to recruit women are sending countries.
The supply and its characteristics have changed
since the last decade, when most trafficked women came from Asia and
to some extent Africa and Latin America . The transportation routes
to Western Europe were longer, and it was far more costly for
criminal organisations to invest in trafficking there. During the
1990s and after the fall of the Soviet Union and of the communist
states in Eastern Europe , however, the number of victims from these
areas increased dramatically, surpassing those from the former
regions. Today, former Soviet republics such as Ukraine , Belarus ,
Moldova , Latvia , and Russia have become major sending countries
for women trafficked into sex industries all over the world. Some
are both sending and receiving countries, like Russia , Moldova and
Ukraine . Moscow and Kiev are major receiving and transit sites for
women from Middle Asia, the Balkans and rural regions of Russia and
Ukraine .
RUSSIA AS A TRANSIT COUNTRY:
Many women are initially trafficked to Moscow
and then further on to Europe or the Middle East . In the sex
industry markets today, Ukrainian and Russian women are the most
popular and valuable women in the world. Tall, white, Slavic women
are in great demand, and while they remain naïve and impoverished,
they will continue to provide an unlimited supply for the global sex
trade. Data compiled from different countries in the EU showed that
in 1999 and 2000, over one third of trafficked women were from
Russia and CIS countries. In some countries, such as Germany,
Belgium and Austria , nearly all trafficked women now come from
Eastern Europe .
It is difficult to know how many women have
been trafficked from the former Soviet Union for the purposes of
sexual exploitation. The trade is secretive, the women are silenced,
the traffickers are dangerous, prosecution is rare and few agencies
have the staff or financing to rescue, let alone count the missing.
Some countries produce reliable statistics on trafficking cases and
convictions, but since many cases are never even reported, these
numbers serve to indicate, rather than accurately account for, the
true scope of the trafficking problem.
What is known, however, are the routes that are
used to traffic women at an increasing rate from Central and Eastern
Europe and the republics of the former Soviet Union . As a result of
trafficking, Russian women are enslaved in prostitution in over 50
countries around the word. In some countries, such as Israel and
Turkey , women from Russia and other republics of the former Soviet
Union are so prevalent, that prostitutes are called "Natashas."
The International Organization for Migration
(IOM), a UN-funded agency involved in trafficking prevention and
which assists in the return of trafficked victims, estimates that
4000 women were trafficked from Kyrgyzstan in 1999 to either Europe
or the Middle East , and that 5000 women are annually trafficked
from Kazakhstan . Moldova , Ukraine and Russia are currently amongst
the largest source areas for trafficking into Western Europe .
Approximately 50 000 to 100 000 Moldovans, over 100 000 Ukrainians,
and 500 000 Russians are active in prostitution outside their home
country, and as many as 80% are estimated to be victims of
trafficking.
Popular destination countries for women from
Russia , Ukraine , Moldova and Georgia aside from Western European
countries include Turkey , the countries comprising the former
Yugoslavia , the United Arab Emirates , Israel , Syria , China , the
United States , Canada and Japan . Destination countries for women
from Central Asia are often China , the United Arab Emirates ,
Turkey , Greece or other CIS countries.
Transnational trafficking of women is a new
type of crime in the republics of the former Soviet Union , and
governments have been slow to respond. Few of these countries have
laws to prevent trafficking or to prosecute traffickers. These
criminals are free to operate openly and with impunity. The only
forces working against international trafficking are the small
women's and human rights NGO's working in their regions to inform
the at-risk populations of the risk of answering ads that promise
"good jobs at high pay with no experience". These brave NGO's,
banded together by the "roof" of the Angel Coalition, are also in
the forefront of working with local, regional and national
governments to encourage them to enact strong laws to protect young
girls and women from trafficking and other criminal acts of
exploitation.
RUSSIA AS A RECEIVING
COUNTRY:
The most negative aspect of Russia 's
liberalized economy has been widespread corruption and criminal
activity and the failure of government to contain them. One of the
most dangerous results of this inaction has been the rapid rise of
international criminal trafficking in human beings -- including
children - for purposes of prostitution into Russia . In just a
single decade, Russia has become one of the main source and
receiving countries for the international trafficking in women and
children, child prostitution, child sex tourism and child
pornography. These forms of violent exploitation are so widespread
in Russia that they are a daily threat the lives and well-being of
tens of thousands of youth and children.
Although sexual exploitation of minors occurs
in all regions Russia , it manifests most acutely in Moscow . As the
nation's largest and most influential city-the gateway to Europe-it
serves as a magnet not only for homeless children looking for work
but for pimps and traffickers who import women and children into
Moscow from economically depressed regions and former Soviet
republics for purposes of prostitution and sexual slavery.
According to the Moscow militia more than
70,000 victims of trafficking for prostitution are currently in
Moscow . Ninety percent of them are women and girls and 80% of them
are under 18 years of age. Exacerbating their fate is the fact that
there is currently no system of rescue or rehabilitation for these
girls - only deportation if they are caught by police.
Within the Moscow City Government it is widely
recognized that something must be done to help these victims and to
stem the growing trend of child sex tourism and child pornography in
the nation's capital. The Commission of the Moscow government on
public health pays lots of attention to that problem earlier this
year the Moscow City Duma held the round table devoted to he
questions of prevention of child trafficking, prostitution and
pornography. This Commission quickly established itself as a major
governmental force and was instrumental securing the passage of
strong criminal laws against trafficking, prostitution and child
pornography. The Commission has worked closely with MiraMed
Institute and its partnering program, The Angel Coalition
Trafficking Victim Assistance Center, to improve assistance and
repatriation procedures for children trafficked abroad and children
trafficked into Moscow .
Unfortunately, all rescue, protection and
assistance attempts are critically impaired by the absence of any
shelters equipped to receive or assist child victims of sexual
exploitation in Moscow . As a result, children whose first point of
contact is with police or social services are randomly distributed
to the closest city run shelters. There are about 100 of these in
Moscow which process approximately 50,000 "vagrant" children each
year.
No distinction is made between child victims of
violence, runaways, children who have committed criminal acts,
violent children, etc. All are simply placed into a holding facility
until a final dispensation can be made by referring them on through
the court system, into an orphanage, deporting them or until they
simply leave the shelter on their own. Many child victims of sexual
violence and exploitation are simply re-exploited and/or subjected
to more violence in the shelters. The majority of shelter staff
interviewed during the course of this research consider their
shelters nothing more than detention facilities for "difficult"
youth.
The Angel Coalition in partnership with the
Russian NGO "Women and Children First" in cooperation with the
Department of Social Protection and Office of the Mayor of Moscow
and with financial support provided by the World Childhood
Foundation is planning to initiate the project of intensive staff
training and on-site support for the staff of 10 Moscow shelters.
THE ROAD OF SLAVERY FROM CENTRAL ASIA TO AND
THROUGH RUSSIA:
Central Asia is a major source
and transit region for drug and human trafficking in the former
Soviet Union . The Muslim republics of Tajikistan , Uzbekistan ,
Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan did not exist as distinct
political entities prior to the collapse and their transition to
independent statehood since the dissolution of the Soviet Union has
been a difficult one. The abrupt detachment of these states in the
past decade from a once integrated, Russia-centered economic
structure has contributed to a socioeconomic and cultural crisis of
vast proportions. Thousands of people from Central Asia are now
flooding into the Russian Federation and through Russia to many
European countries, desperate for jobs, fleeing drug lords and
Afghan and Pakistani insurgents, and falling prey to international
trafficking syndicates along the way.
Russia is the primary destination country for
trafficking from Central Asia and serves as a transit country of
trafficking in drugs and human beings into Europe . In Moscow , the
Ministry of Interior reports that at any one time, there are over
50,000 women and children who have been trafficked from Central Asia
by criminal gangs for prostitution and sex tourism in the Russian
capital - 70 percent of these are minors. From Russia , Central
Asian men, women and children are sold into slavery in Western
countries - transiting through Poland , Germany and the Balkans.
Central Asia is also a major drug trafficking area, and human
trafficking has been closely linked to the smuggling of narcotics.
Trafficked women and children are often used as drug carriers or
"mules."
Because the problem of human trafficking through Russia is
inextricably linked with the expansion of criminal trafficking from
Central Asia , it is both timely and essential to promote close
collaboration and exchange of experience between anti-trafficking
advocates.
TADJIKISTAN
The contemporary problem of trafficking in
Tajikistan is rooted in the civil war of 1992-1997. Violence as well
as kidnapping, rape and trafficking became widespread and routine as
various factions within the country fought for control. Local
insurgents and their leaders, Afghan militants, forced Tajik women
to work as domestic servants and prostitutes, sold Tajik children to
criminal traffickers and forced young Tajik men to work with
agricultural camps and/or forced them to participate in armed
conflicts. Tajik boys were sold to neighboring Afghanistan and
Pakistan and forced to fight with insurgents. In addition, Afghan,
Pakistani, and Tajik rebels were "rewarded" with 10-14 year-old boys
and girls who were forcibly seized and removed from their homes to
serve as sex slaves.
The same outrageous practice has continued
since the war's end, with drug dealers replacing militants. Local
drug-addicts sell their children to traffickers to buy narcotics.
Drug dealers take children from their addict parents as a guarantee
for drug debts, and when payments are not made, the children are
sold to criminal traffickers. Thousands of them are transferred to
Moscow where they are forced to work in mobile brothels called
"tochkas" as prostitutes for primarily North American, European,
Scandinavian and Middle Eastern men who book "sex tourism" tours to
Moscow via the internet.
Another regional peculiarity which fuels human
trafficking is the dearth of men in the country after the atrocities
of a five-year-long war. The gender imbalance plays into the hands
of recruiters. Some parents even welcome the chance to marry their
daughters to Muslim men with better opportunities, from such
countries as the U.A.E., Egypt , Iran , and Afghanistan . They sell
their daughters to traffickers for virtually nothing or even pay
recruiters to take their girls abroad after being promised that
good, religiously-sound marriages have been arranged. In many cases,
these young women are actually brought to Moscow , forced into
prostitution and eventually trafficked into Europe or killed.
The end result of these factors is that in the
Tajikistan of today, the traffic in human beings has become the most
lucrative criminal business - exceeding even drugs and guns. It
continues to grow. According to the Tajikistan Ministry of Interior,
82 percent of all labor migrants from Tajikistan travel to Russia
illegally and find themselves in conditions of slavery and
involuntary servitude under the control of criminal groups.
KYRGYZSTAN
Kyrgyzstan is primarily a country of origin and
transit for trafficking victims. Young women are trafficked for the
purposes of sexual exploitation to the U.A.E., South Korea , Turkey
, Russia , Kazakhstan , China , Greece , and Germany . Unofficial
figures derived from independent research suggest that the actual
number of women trafficked from the country in 2004 was close to
4,000. Kyrgyzstan has been a popular transit country for trafficking
victims originating from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan . More recently,
Kyrgyzstan has been a destination country for trafficked Uzbek and
Tajik men and women
Internal and external factors have both played
a role in fueling trafficking in the country. Since obtaining
independence in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has struggled to develop its
economy. According to official reports, 40 percent of the population
is below the poverty line. The lack of options in Kyrgyzstan causes
women to seek opportunities abroad and take risks which put them in
vulnerable situations. Traffickers use newspaper ads, tourist
agencies, friends and acquaintances, as well as the Internet, to
recruit women, children and men. Border control is inadequate and
opportunities for international travel have multiplied. A variety of
tourist agencies operate in Kyrgyzstan , but many agencies are
affiliated with Moscow and are well known to have links to
international organized crime. Government corruption and widespread
toleration of prostitution contribute to the growth of trafficking
as well.
Government efforts to combat trafficking are
proving inadequate. On April 21, 2002 a program aimed at combating
trafficking was approved by the government. There now is a National
Council on Trafficking which reports directly to the Kyrgyz
president and counter-trafficking amendments to the Criminal Code of
Kyrgyzstan were introduced in 2003. Article 124 was amended to
address measures to be taken to combat trafficking in persons in
accordance with such international conventions as the UN Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children which supplements the UN Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime, ratified by the Republic of
Kyrgyzstan in 2003. Yet the new legislation does not establish
mechanisms to protect trafficking victims.
In some instances, government officials have
permitted traffickers to continue operating if they are paid bribes,
and investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes has been
minimal. Law enforcement is unprepared to work with the victims, and
like other police in the CIS, use the same threatening Soviet-style
tactics as traffickers in trying to enlist the cooperation of
victims as witnesses for prosecutions. Officers need training and
standards for working with victims. Customs officers and airport
police lack awareness and need training as well. Recent political
upheaval resulting in the ouster of the Kyrgyz President has
exacerbated ethnic and religious tensions, economic instability, and
political uncertainty, leading to conditions which enable organized
criminal groups to operate with additional impunity.
Unique cultural factors also play a role in aggravating the
problem of trafficking in Kyrgyzstan . There are many Kyrgyz
traditions that make women more vulnerable to trafficking include
community structures which have been recently revived such as the
"mahalla" and court of elders-institutions which restrict women's
rights. Violence against women is prevalent throughout the country,
and often not reported because of cultural taboos and the
indifference of law enforcement. Women and girls who have been
forcibly trafficked are often not viewed as victims and have been
prosecuted for crossing borders illegally upon their return to
Kyrgyzstan . Consequently, family members are reluctant to inform
the police when their family members go missing.
KAZAHKSTAN
The Republic of Kazakhstan is the ninth largest
country in the world. Kazakhstan is an origin, destination and
transit country for victims of human trafficking. Uzbek, Kyrgyz and
Tajik girls are imported into Kazakhstan and forced into
prostitution. Kazakh women and girls are trafficked to the United
Arab Emirates , Western Europe , Israel , Russia , South Korea ,
Georgia , and through Russia , Ukraine and Poland into other
countries. Trafficked Kazakh women are most commonly trafficked to
Turkey and Saudi Arabia via Moscow , where they are given documents
and visas for their destination country. Poverty causes many of
these women to eagerly seek advertised job opportunities abroad,
where they are forced in prostitution. To compound the problem,
trafficking victims are often vilified and viewed as being complicit
in their own exploitation - many victims choose not to approach
police for this reason.
NGOs have been active in their efforts to
combat human trafficking, working to establish a network of shelters
to aid trafficking victims and conducting information campaigns on
the prevention of human trafficking as well as seminars/training
sessions for NGOs in Kazakhstan and from Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan .
In the last few years, the government of
Kazakhstan has also taken several important legislative steps to
combat trafficking in persons. Counter-trafficking amendments to the
Criminal Code of Kazakhstan were passed in July 2003. In that year,
law enforcement conducted 15 trafficking-related investigations and
prosecuted four cases. In August 2003, Kazakhstan 's Ministry of
Justice was designated responsible for coordinating
counter-trafficking activities and an Interagency Commission on
Trafficking in Persons was established. A national plan of action to
fight human trafficking in Kazakhstan was adopted in February 2004.
In November 2004, Kazakhstan signed the 1949 United Nations
Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the
Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.
These measures, while positive, are not
sufficient. Kazakhstan still has not ratified the 2000 UN Convention
to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children which supplements the UN Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime. Perhaps even more significantly,
government complicity in organized criminal activities in Kazakhstan
has seriously hampered its efforts to combat human trafficking.
Investigators and customs officials are frequently bribed, and
convicted traffickers receive light or suspended sentences.
Insufficient protection and assistance for victims also means that
some are jailed for prostitution or fined and deported with no
investigation of their situations in spite of the fact that a formal
cooperation agreement is now in place between the government and
NGOs providing victim assistance services.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
"THE ANGEL COALITION COUNTER-TRAFFICKING
RESOURCE BOOK FOR THE FORMER THE FORMER SOVIET
UNION & BALTIC SEA STATES "
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