Human Trafficking in  [Moldova]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Moldova]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Moldova]  [other countries]
 

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Republic of Moldova                                                              [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Moldova (formerly Moldavia) is a landlocked country of hilly plains lying west of the Carpathian Mountains between the Prut and Dniester (Dnestr) Rivers [map].  The country is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine.  Chişinău (formerly Kishinev) is its capital and largest city.  Moldova is one of the poorest countries in the region despite recent progress.  It enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits.  As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture.  Although it returned to positive growth in 2000, (6.8% in 2004), the economy remains vulnerable to higher fuel prices, poor agricultural weather, and the skepticism of foreign investors.

 

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Moldova.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated, misleading or even false.   No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

National Plan of Action

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - According to the IOM, Moldova is considered the primary country of origin in Europe for trafficking of women and children for prostitution to the Middle East, Balkans, and Europe. According to information gathered by ILO-IPEC through a rapid assessment survey, boys and girls as young as 12 years old are trafficked, many of them recruited by people they know. IOM statistics from 2000-2003 indicate that 42 percent of the trafficking victims who were returned to Moldova were minors

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

CHILDREN - Trafficking of children for the purpose of sexual exploitation and begging remained a problem.

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The country was a major country of origin for women and children trafficked abroad for sexual exploitation and men and children who were trafficked to Russia and neighboring countries for forced labor and begging.

Concluding Observations Of The Committee On The Rights Of The Child (CRC) - 2002

[45] The Committee notes that some measures have been developed to combat trafficking, but is nevertheless deeply concerned about the serious proportions of trafficking of girls from Moldova. It notes with concern that there is no precise information about the real dimensions of this phenomenon and that very little support in terms of rehabilitation and reintegration is provided to the victims of trafficking.

ECPAT: Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for Action [DOC]

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – MOLDOVA – It appears that Moldova has the highest number of girl victims of trafficking for sexual purposes.

Joint East West Research on Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes in Europe: The Sending Countries [PDF]

[page 34]  In Moldova, many different kinds of persons, and even UN peacekeeping troops, use the sexual services of minors. In most cases where children have gone abroad, the children’s own parents will have paid US$1000-$1500 to send them out of Moldova, hoping that they might build a better future for themselves. From the trafficker’s point of view, the value of a minor will depend on the destination. The report notes that in Russia, a Moldavian girl can cost US$400, but in the Arab Emirates she can be sold for US$10,000. According to the Moldavian police, in the summer of 1999 police in Moscow discovered two brothels, where 15 of the girls were Moldavian minors sold into slavery for US$400 each, their virginity costing US$150. However sexual exploiters normally use private apartments in order to avoid being detected by the police; they are careful about approaching potential clients, or advertising the services of minors, and they don’t allow occasional clients to enter the apartments.

NGOs urge Moldova and Pridnestrovie to work together in fight against sex slave trade

TOP EXPORT: PROSTITUTES - In Moldova, the situation is much worse. Although formerly one of the most wealthy parts of the former Soviet Union, Moldova is today officially the poorest country in Europe. With nearly total unemployment, the registered daily income of 80% of the population is below a dollar per day. This fact can explain why desperate people sell their organs for money and sex trafficking is rampant. Moldovan prostitutes are now the country’s main export.

40% of Moldova's sex slaves are kids, and both the traffickers and the involved government officials know that children are highly sought after for the sex trade.

Moldova: Lower prices behind sex slavery boom and child prostitution

Two American TV crews have investigated Moldova's growing sex slave trade. In Chisinau, human traffickers now charge as little as $500 for delivering a child prostitute into a life of white slavery abroad. These record low prices are driving up demand, and exports are booming.

MAIN ORIGIN OF FORCED CHILD PROSTITUTION - Organ trafficking and sexual slavery are mainstays of Moldova's economy. Record numbers of Moldovan women are made into sex slaves, forced into prostitution and lifelong servitude.  Moldova holds a dubious world record: The country is today the leading haven for pedophiles and for traffickers who earn fortunes enslaving underage kids in a brutal international sex trade.

Anti-trafficking action in south-eastern Europe [PDF]

[pg 8] INTERNAL PROSTITUTION AND TRAFFICKING - There is more information, especially from Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria, that women and girls are often initially trafficked internally for sexual exploitation. There is information from many countries about the functioning of the internal prostitution market, which leads to the conclusion that the chain of trafficking in sex workers very often starts with the local market. Pimps who “own” women locally and control the internal prostitution market often sell them or move them from place to place. After some time, these women are sold abroad.

A Report On Sex Tourism And Trafficking Of Women And Children

MOLDOVA - An estimated 30 percent of trafficking victims from Moldova are adolescent girls trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, according to UNICEF.

Child Trafficking

WHAT IS THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM? - An estimated 500,000 women from all over the world are trafficked into Western Europe alone with Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, and Albania particularly major trafficking source countries for women and children.

Messages from Moldova

Some are trafficked repeatedly, due to being unwanted, shunned and stigmatized by their families for having been trafficked and sexually exploited in the first place. They have no place in society and again become even easier prey to the traffickers. Some of these young people become traffickers themselves, luring other unsuspecting children into the world of prostitution, glamorizing this as a profession that affords them an extravagant lifestyle.

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Human Trafficking in  [Moldova]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Moldova]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Moldova]  [other countries]