Human Trafficking in [Estonia Street Children in [Estonia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Estonia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years of the
21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Estonia.htm
Estonia is a source country for the trafficking of women to
Norway, the United Kingdom, and Finland for the purpose of forced
prostitution. Estonian men were trafficked within the country for forced
labor, specifically forced criminal acts and to Ukraine for forced labor in
the construction industry. - U.S.
State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in *** FEATURED
ARTICLE *** Ambassador Joseph M. DeThomas'
opening remarks at The Estonian Women's Studies and Resource Centre
Conference Radisson SAS Hotel, Tallinn Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Embassy of the At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] It should not be that up to twenty
thousand people a year are trafficked into my country. It should not be that
their fate is shared by perhaps 800 thousand people a year trafficked in
Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. It should not be that the third
largest source income for organized crime (after the sale of drugs and guns)
is the sale of human beings. Some number of those human beings is Estonian. I
do not know how many, but I know that it should not be that any Estonian is
lost to this practice. Second, we need to protect and
rehabilitate victims. One of the great obstacles to ending this practice is
that, once they are entrapped, the victims are treated as lawbreakers. This
gives the traffickers a weapon of coercion. It means that law enforcement
authorities tend to ignore their charges and fail to protect them so that
they can testify. It means that victims feel trapped by a lack of
opportunities for rehabilitation. Third, we need to prevent the
crime. Criminals do not kidnap the majority of victims of trafficking in
Europe, nor do friends or relatives sell them into their fate. (This does
happen on a massive scale elsewhere in the world.) They are duped into
participating. Many young women, boys and girls are duped into believing they
are being recruited to honest work abroad. Once they accept offers from these
recruiters, they are trapped. This is happening as we speak in this country.
We need to warn and educate people about this practice. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2003 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2003/estonia.htm [accessed 4 February 2011] GOVERNMENT
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - From 1998 to 2000, the Government of Estonia
participated in a European Commission anti-trafficking initiative called the
STOP Project. The second phase of the
project, “Minors in the Sex Trade,” promoted networking among law enforcement
officials in INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD
LABOR - Children are engaged in prostitution in Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61646.htm [accessed 4 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – A recent
study carried out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in
which more than 160 domestic and international sources (including EUROPOL,
INTERPOL, law enforcement, NGOs, IOM, and governmental ministries from the
region) participated, estimates that the number of women and children
trafficked into, through, and from the country between 2001 and 2004 was
below 100. Women and minors were trafficked from the country to Nordic
countries and Western Europe or in or to The trafficking pattern appeared
to be unchanged from recent years. Travel-friendly regulations, short
distances, low travel costs, and the draw of legitimate employment make the
Nordic and EU countries easier destination points for traffickers. The
traffickers were individuals, small groups, and organized criminals who ran
the prostitution industry and mainly lured victims with the promise of
legitimate employment and/or the opportunity to live and study abroad. The
traffickers tended to befriend the victims or attempted to pass themselves
off as legitimate job mediators. Due to fairly liberal travel regulations
around the region, false documentation was not always necessary. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 31 January 2003 sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/uncom.nsf/0/bfa2f61011a4a1de41256d04004c6028?OpenDocument [accessed 4 February 2011] [36] The Committee is concerned that
there is no effective system for the screening of foster or adoptive parents,
including national standards and efficient mechanism to prevent the sale and
trafficking of children, to review, monitor and follow up the placement of
children, and collect statistics on foster care and adoption, including
inter-country adoption. [48] The Committee is concerned at
the insufficient information and awareness of the extent of commercial sexual
exploitation and trafficking of children. It is also concerned that there is
no specific prohibition in law of trafficking in human beings, including for
the purpose of prostitution. Protection Project Country Report on The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/estonia.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Estonian women are trafficked
for several purposes. Often the women are forced to work in prostitution, as
domestic workers, nannies, dancers, striptease dancers, or waitresses or to
become brides for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Women and minors respond to job
opportunities that they see in newspapers or hear about through acquaintances.
Young girls are also lured by recruiters posing as boyfriends. The victims of trafficking from Estonia
are often members of the Russian-speaking community in the northeastern
portion of the country. Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2009&country=7605 [accessed 4 February 2011] Stop Violence Against Women – Country Page The Advocates for Human Rights, September, 2008 [accessed 4 February 2011] Library of Congress Call Number DK502.35 .E86 1996 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/eetoc.html [accessed 4 February 2011] Project for the Prevention of Adolescent Trafficking The International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA), NGO
Living for Tomorrow, and AIDS-I www.policy.hu/kalikov/DATABASE%20ESTONIA/PPAT-_Estonia.html [accessed 4 February 2011] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - This project proposes to
replicate in Estonia the successful Project for the Prevention of Adolescent
Trafficking in Latvia (PPAT-Latvia) currently sponsored by the United Nations
Fund for Women (UNIFEM). PPAT-Estonia is being developed in
response to a growing body of evidence which indicates that 1) trafficking is
a burgeoning problem in Estonia, 2) the problem of trafficking is not being
adequately addressed in Estonia, and 3) victims of trafficking in Estonia
tend to be under the age of 25. The goal of this project is to prevent
the trafficking of adolescents in Estonia by raising awareness and educating
youth about the issue of human trafficking and forced labor. The
project will also focus on building the capacity of local youth serving NGOs
to educate youth on the issue of human trafficking and work to increase the
cooperation between NGOs and the Estonian government on the issue of
combating human trafficking. Ambassador Joseph M. DeThomas'
opening remarks at The Estonian Women's Studies and Resource Centre
Conference Radisson SAS Hotel, Embassy of the At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] It should not be that up to twenty
thousand people a year are trafficked into my country. It should not be that their
fate is shared by perhaps 800 thousand people a year trafficked in Europe,
Asia, Latin America and Africa. It should not be that the third largest
source income for organized crime (after the sale of drugs and guns) is the
sale of human beings. Some number of those human beings is Estonian. I do not
know how many, but I know that it should not be that any Estonian is lost to
this practice. Second, we need to protect and
rehabilitate victims. One of the great obstacles to ending this practice is
that, once they are entrapped, the victims are treated as lawbreakers. This
gives the traffickers a weapon of coercion. It means that law enforcement
authorities tend to ignore their charges and fail to protect them so that
they can testify. It means that victims feel trapped by a lack of
opportunities for rehabilitation. Third, we need to prevent the
crime. Criminals do not kidnap the majority of victims of trafficking in
Europe, nor do friends or relatives sell them into their fate. (This does
happen on a massive scale elsewhere in the world.) They are duped into
participating. Many young women, boys and girls are duped into believing they
are being recruited to honest work abroad. Once they accept offers from these
recruiters, they are trapped. This is happening as we speak in this country.
We need to warn and educate people about this practice. Joint East West Research On Trafficking In Children For
Sexual Purposes In Edited by: Muireann O’Briain, Anke van den Borne,
and Theo Noten, ECPAT Europe Law Enforcement Group,
www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/dbaFile11169.pdf [accessed 4 February 2011] [page 30 & 31] MIGRATION - The desire of young people to
change their future by migrating and working abroad is another risk factor.
Many children are not aware of their rights, lack information and do not know
the legal procedures for travelling abroad, and the
risks related to migration. The search for adventure, idealised
notions about living abroad, and success stories from those who return from
abroad encourage risk-taking. Very importantly, the reports note the risks to
children who may have migrated normally with their families or voluntarily on
their own, but who end up in foreign countries without any protections, and
so become extremely vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. They get
involved in petty crime and move into prostitution as a survival strategy, or
because they are found by someone who will exploit them. Many people, and
especially young people, are migrating because of the lack of opportunities
for them in their own countries. The fall of the ‘Iron Curtain’ and the links
with countries of the European Union have opened up both borders and travel
opportunities, and at the same time the increasing gap between rich and poor,
the growth of international organised crime, and
corruption, provide their own incentives or opportunities. Another issue highlighted in some
reports is the lack of migration policies on the part of governments which
would help young people to migrate safely. The Belarus report mentions that
less than 5% of those who want to leave the country had adequate information
about employment outside the country. The Estonian, Romanian and Ukraine
reports also refer to this lack of information among young people trying to
emigrate. In such circumstances, it is not surprising that young people are
vulnerable to sexual exploitation. On the other hand, research among 24
victims in Moldova by an NGO, CIVIS, found that half of the young people had
known about trafficking, but had hoped it would not happen in their cases.
Most, however, said that if they had been informed about the dangers, they
would have avoided the experience. Trafficking In Children For Sexual Purposes In Child Centre for Children at Risk in the www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/estonia/dbaFile10778.html [accessed 4 February 2011] Aire Trummal
has composed the Estonian country report TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN FOR SEXUAL PURPOSES IN Grants issued by the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn Embassy of the At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] q
Combating
Human Trafficking in q
Preventive-informative
campaign against trafficking in girls and women in the Baltic States … q
To
prevent the trafficking of adolescents in Estonia by raising awareness and
educating youth … q
Participation
of 11 Estonian officials from various ministries and also NGOs … q
Prevention
of Human Trafficking q
Combating
trafficking in women q
Research
and Information on Trafficking in Persons in Estonia q
Prevention
of Human Trafficking q
To
increase the knowledge of primary school graduates of Valga
and Jõgeva counties … q
Anti-Trafficking
Hotline Service for Women Prevention of human trafficking in Estonia Child Centre for Children at Risk in the www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/estonia/ifid2406.html [accessed 4 February 2011] Human
Trafficking is
an increasing problem both in Articles (in Estonian) can be
downloaded on website of ENUT (The Estonian Women's Studies and Resource
Centre): http://www.enut.tpu.ee/ As future job-seekers, what do female high school
graduates in Child Centre for Children at Risk in the www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/ifid2389.html [accessed 4 February 2011] The present study of the awareness
that graduating female high school students have, as a group at risk of being
trafficked, is part of the campaign activity in All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery - |
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Human Trafficking in [Estonia Street Children in [Estonia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Estonia] [other countries]