Human Trafficking in [Bosnia and Herzegovina Street Children in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and girls trafficked internationally and internally for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Over the last year, an increased number of Bosnian victims were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation within the country. There were some reports of trafficking of Roma children within Bosnia and Herzegovina for forced labor. Foreign victims originated primarily from Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, and Russia. Some victims are trafficked through Bosnia and Herzegovina to Western Europe for commercial sexual exploitation. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2007 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** IV.
Women's and Girls' Experiences of Trafficking into the Bosnian Sex Industry SALE OF WOMEN AND GIRLS - After the women and girls arrived
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of the purchasers were local Bosnians, but in
some cases, women and girls were purchased by members of the international
community. One Moldovan woman, sold for the first time in Belgrade, and for
the last time to an American citizen working in Tuzla, told IPTF
investigators: I was sold in Bosnia. The owner
told me that he paid 2000 KM [convertible marks-€1,025/U.S.$925] for each of
seven girls. My movement was restricted completely. I could not go anywhere.
In Dubrave village, Tuzla municipality, at the Harl[e]y Davidson nightclub,
one [local policeman] was very often in the club. I recognized him in the
photo showed to me by the local police for Crime Department Tuzla. I was
beaten very often if I refused "to work." Very often we were
hungry. Every time we were threatened to be sold to Serbia.... Kevin [an
American] paid 3,000 Deutschmarks [€1,538/U.S.$1,388] for me. ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - The prostitution and trafficking of girls to, from, and within the
country continues to be a problem.
Reports indicate that there are growing numbers of minors, primarily
girls ages 14 to 18 years, who are trafficked from less economically
developed Eastern Bosnia to more economically developed Western Bosnia and
externally to Eastern and Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – The
country was a destination, transit point, and, to a lesser extent, country of
origin for women, girls, and, in a few cases, teenage boys trafficked for
sexual exploitation. During the year, Romani children were trafficked into
and within the country for forced labor. The country was also a transit point
for Chinese nationals being trafficked for forced labor; illegal Chinese
immigrants generally remained in the country for short periods before
continuing to destinations in Over 90 percent of trafficked
women in the country came from Victims reported working in
conditions akin to slavery, with little or no financial support. In some
cases, traffickers paid victims some wages so that they could send money home
to their families. Traffickers coerced victims to remain in these situations
through intimidation, verbal threats, seizure of passports, withholding of
food and medical care, and physical and sexual assault. To keep victims in
the country legally, traffickers also made victims apply for asylum since, as
asylum seekers, they were entitled to remain in the country until their
claims could be adjudicated. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, BiH (3 June 2005) [69] While the Committee welcomes
some positive developments in the prosecution of those responsible for
serious crimes against women and girls in the context of trafficking and
forced prostitution, as well as the adoption by the Council of Ministers of a
National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in 2001, it is concerned that a
growing number of children under 18, especially adolescents girls, are still
being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Committee is
further concerned that the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography has not been adequately
addressed within the criminal justice systems. Amnesty International Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina - 2007 Violence against women - In June
the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed
concern that BiH remained a country of origin, transit and destination in the
trafficking in women, and that victims of sexual violence during the
1992-1995 war suffered additional disadvantages as both female heads of
households and IDPs. NGOs Work
To Eradicate Human Trafficking, Help Victims U.S.-funded nongovernmental
organizations around the world are working to prevent human trafficking,
provide resources to victims and arrest and prosecute child-sex offenders.
From Africa to Europe to Asia, initiatives are raising worldwide awareness of
the illegal practice of human trafficking. PROVIDING
RESOURCES FOR VICTIMS - In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the NGO Vasa Prava provides free legal
assistance to victims of human trafficking. Founded in 1996, the
organization runs 16 permanent offices and 50 mobile units, staffed by 80
employees. It has assisted more than 400,000 Bosnians. Attorneys
from Vasa Prava are available to domestic victims from the time they arrive
at a shelter, and they arrange residency permits and asylum applications for
foreign victims. Victims assisted by
Vasa Prava are more likely to testify against their traffickers in criminal
proceedings, and their testimony has led to the conviction of several
notorious traffickers and organized crime rings. 71
victims of human trafficking reported in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2006 For 2006 71 victims of human trafficking
were registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 31 of whom were locals, 22 from
Serbia and Montenegro, six from Moldova, four from Ukraine, three from
Croatia, two from Bulgaria and one from each of Switzerland, Russia and
Romania, Radio-Television of the Republika Srpska (RTRS) reported. Increasing
Number Of Bosnian Women Fall Victim To Trafficking The number of victims of human
trafficking on territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina has been falling over recent
years, but the share of female citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina falling victim
to this crime is on the rise, Bosnian state co-ordinator of efforts aimed at
countering human trafficking said earlier this week. Sentences for those found guilty
of human trafficking in Bosnia vary in length from prison terms of one year
to 15 years. According to Radovanovic,
judges more frequently resort to milder sentences. So far only once the
sentence of 14 years has been delivered for this crime. Balkans
Urged To Curb Trafficking Countries in Child Sex
Trafficking Study By CU-Boulder Sociologist Reveals Misperceptions Unprecedented research into child
sex trafficking in the post-war nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina suggests that
public perceptions of the problem and some kinds of intervention efforts
around the globe may be misguided, according to a University of Colorado at
Boulder sociologist. "People often think that all
child sex traffickers kidnap their victims, but in many cases the children
end up funneled into the system by their own families because of extreme
poverty," according to assistant Professor AnnJanette Rosga.
"Sometimes the children leave home voluntarily because of abuse or other
harmful conditions." Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 3 Status: Partly Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Stop Violence
Against Women
– Country Page U.S. Library of Congress - Country Study Sex
slavery is a worldwide disgrace Victoria realized something was
amiss when she noticed they were headed west, to Serbia. At the border, her
"friend" handed her to a group of Serb men who raped her and sent
her to Bosnia, where she was bought and sold 10 times over a two-year period
by various brothel owners who forced her into a life of prostitution. Trafficking
in Human Beings in Transition and Post-Conflict Countries [PDF] A. PUSH FACTORS - As demonstrated above, the
majority of women and children are very of-ten helped to cross the borders by
people whom they trust and are subsequently traded to traffickers. As the
female trafficking agents are easily trusted, the potential victims should be
warned about the trap they can fall into, especially if they live with
potential traffickers in the same local communities. Hopes
Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced
Prostitution EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - According to experts of nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(UNMIBH), trafficking first began to appear in 1995. As of October 2002,
UNMIBH suspected 227 of the nightclubs and bars that dot Bosnian cities and
towns of involvement in trafficking in human beings. Experts from the U.N.
mission's Special Trafficking Operations Program (STOP) stated in a 2001
press conference that approximately 25 percent of the women and girls working
in nightclubs and bars were trafficked.2
NGO experts working to stop trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina, cautioning
that the statistics remain woefully unreliable, estimated that as many as
2,000 women and girls from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have
found themselves trapped in Bosnian brothels. Trafficking in
Women and Girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Additional Documents Human Rights Watch submitted a
number of requests to the U.S. government for documents relating to trafficking
in persons in Bosnia pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Two years
after our initial request, we obtained a limited number of documents. A
selection of documents, some redacted in part by the U.S. government, is
available through the links below. These documents corroborate Human Rights
Watch’s findings in its November 2002 report, “Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Bosnia and
Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution.” First
Conviction in the Federation for Enslavement According to a Amnesty
International report published in May 2004, the Tuzla Cantonal Court found
the owner of a local nightclub guilty of enslavement in March 2003 and
sentenced him to three and a half years in prison. This case is notable
because it marks the first conviction in the Federation for enslavement. Bosnia and
Herzegovina : Traffickers Walk Free According to Human Rights Watch,
traffickers who have forced thousands of women and girls into prostitution in
Bosnia and Herzegovina are not being apprehended for their crimes. Local
corruption and the complicity of international officials in Bosnia have
allowed a trafficking network to flourish, in which women are tricked,
threatened, physically assaulted and sold as property. Bosnia: The
United Nations, human trafficking and prostitution There is mounting evidence that the
United Nations has carried out a cover-up of the role played by its personnel
in human trafficking and prostitution in Bosnia—a trade that has grown
astronomically since the establishment of the Western protectorate seven
years ago. IV.
Women's and Girls' Experiences of Trafficking into the Bosnian Sex Industry SALE OF WOMEN AND GIRLS - After the women and girls
arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of the purchasers were local
Bosnians, but in some cases, women and girls were purchased by members of the
international community. One Moldovan woman, sold for the first time in
Belgrade, and for the last time to an American citizen working in Tuzla, told
IPTF investigators: I was sold in Bosnia. The owner
told me that he paid 2000 KM [convertible marks-€1,025/U.S.$925] for each of
seven girls. My movement was restricted completely. I could not go anywhere.
In Dubrave village, Tuzla municipality, at the Harl[e]y Davidson nightclub,
one [local policeman] was very often in the club. I recognized him in the
photo showed to me by the local police for Crime Department Tuzla. I was
beaten very often if I refused "to work." Very often we were
hungry. Every time we were threatened to be sold to Serbia.... Kevin [an
American] paid 3,000 Deutschmarks [€1,538/U.S.$1,388] for me. Teenagers
'used for sex by UN in Bosnia' A human rights investigator who
claims she was sacked for exposing the sexual abuse of Bosnian women by her
United Nations colleagues, told a tribunal yesterday that girls as young as
15 were offered for sex. Kathryn
Bolkovac, 41, said women were forced to dance naked in Bosnian bars
frequented by UN police officers. Bosnia: Landmark
Verdicts for Rape, Torture, and Sexual Enslavement These cases marked the first time
in history that an international tribunal brought charges solely for crimes
of sexual violence against women. The decision also marked the first time
that the ICTY found rape and enslavement as crimes against humanity. The
eight-month long trial included testimony of sixty-three witnesses, including
sixteen victims of rape held for months in sexual slavery and subjected to
multiple gang rapes by the defendants and others. The Tribunal found that the
defendants had enslaved six of the women. Most importantly, although two of
the women were sold as chattel by Radomir Kovac for 500 Deutsch Marks each,
the Tribunal found that enslavement of the women did not necessarily require
the buying or selling of a human being. Bosnia and
Herzegovina: 33 victims of human trafficking aided by UN mission According to the Mission, the UN
International Police Task Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina monitored a raid on
three nightclubs conducted by the Prijedor police on 13 November. A
preliminary investigation found that 33 women and girls from Romania, The
Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Russia -- some as young as 14 years old --
had been trafficked for the purpose of prostitution. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Bosnia and Herzegovina Street Children in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries]