Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 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 Check out a later country report here or a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you like
to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims Police Department Emergency: 112 Non-emergency: 110 Country code: 372- ***
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article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]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 *** Estonia 'has become
a destination country for human trafficking' ERR News, 18.10.2019 news.err.ee/993454/estonia-has-become-a-destination-country-for-human-trafficking [accessed 23 October 2019] This year the
Social Insurance Agency has officially identified 36 foreign victims of human
trafficking, which is three times more than last year's total. Apart from one person, everyone else was a
victim of sexual abuse. Many of the victims
have come from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova and other countries and
arrive in Estonia in an economically or socially vulnerable situation. "Work-related
exploitation is also a concern. The local labor market, particularly the
construction, cleaning and industrial sectors, hides many victims of human
trafficking. There have also been cases in catering businesses, although
there are no criminal cases yet," said Blumberg. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Estonia U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/estonia/
[accessed 6 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, and the government effectively enforced the law.
Authorities prosecuted and convicted three persons for labor-related
trafficking crimes during the year. Penalties for human trafficking and
forced-labor offenses were commensurate with those for other analogous
serious crimes, but sentences often failed to reflect the seriousness of the
crime. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The government
effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children from exploitation
in the workplace. Penalties were commensurate with those for analogous
serious crimes. The Labor Inspectorate monitored whether the conditions for child
workers were appropriate. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/estonia/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Estonia is a
source, transit point, and destination for human trafficking. Although the
government makes serious and sustained efforts to prosecute traffickers and provide
services to victims, in recent years the number of victims has increased, and
the number of investigations and prosecutions of people involved in human
trafficking has decreased. Estonia’s
unemployment rate was relatively low in 2019. However, according to Eurostat,
almost a quarter of the population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion
in 2018. Lawmakers raised the monthly minimum wage again in December 2019 to
combat this issue. 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. Joint East West Research On Trafficking In Children For Sexual Purposes In Europe: The Sending Countries [PDF] 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] lastradainternational.org/lsidocs/223%20Joint%20east%20west%20research%20(ECPAT.pdf [accessed 28 January
2018] [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 Research Report by Aire Trummal, Edited by Muireann O’Briain, Tallinn 2003 www.defenceforchildren.nl/images/13/375.pdf [accessed 28 January
2018] childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/estonia/dbaFile10779.doc [accessed 3 February
2019] 1. INTRODUCTION -
THE ISSUE OF TRAFFICKING -- Like in other post-soviet countries, the Estonian
sex industry started to thrive after the country’s new independence in the
middle of the 1990s, when the number of brothels and persons involved in
prostitution increased tremendously.
Drug trafficking, prostitution, and excise fraud are the main income
sources for organised crime today. There are some
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that support
the victims of trafficking among their other activities, by helping with
repatriations or with prevention work.
There is no organisation which only works
with trafficked and sexually exploited persons. Today there is no state level strategy or programme in Estonia on preventing and combating
trafficking and supporting victims. No
significant separate attention has been given to the involvement of minors in
cross-border trafficking. 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 Baltic Sea Region, December 30, 2002 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 Marion Pajumets, Report, Tallinn, 2002 Child Centre for
Children at Risk in the Baltic Sea Region, December 30, 2002 www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/ifid2389.html [accessed 4 February
2011] childcentre.info/research/ifid2390.html [accessed 27 April
2020] 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 Estonia. The
study was conducted by sociologistsi (Marion Pajumets)at the Estonian
Institute of Humanities. 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] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor 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 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. Trafficking in
Women and Prostitu-tion in the Baltic States:
Social and Legal Aspects Aet Annist,
University of Tartu, International Organization for Migration, 2001 -
ISBN-92-9068-117-9 [Long URL] [accessed 18
February 2022] The three Baltic
States have got their share of the trafficking problem while going through an
adjustment period after the ending of the Soviet era and re-establishing
their independent statehood in the early 1990s. A common feature to almost
every country that emerged from the Soviet legacy is that the lack of new
work opportunities has hit more on women than on men in the transition to
market economy. In the Baltic States, this has been the case especially with
the women of the ethnic minorities who are over-represented among prostitutes
and trafficked women. In general, the lack of opportunities for women has
made many seize the opportunity to make earnings in sex industry through
prostituting either in the home country or abroad, sometimes helped by
traffickers. Some begin sex work voluntarily, some are deceived by traffickers
with false promises of other work and later forced to commercial sex. Protection Project Country Report on Estonia [DOC] 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. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** 2017 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 20 April 2018 www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2017/eur/277161.htm
[accessed 22 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/estonia/
[accessed 26 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, and the government effectively enforced the law.
In 2016 police registered two cases of a forced-labor crime. In 2016, 14
cases concerning trafficking in persons reached the courts; 29 individuals,
of whom seven were women, and two companies were
found guilty. Penalties for human trafficking and forced-labor offenses range
up to 15 years’ imprisonment. While penalties for violations were sufficient,
their application in sentencing often failed to reflect the seriousness of
the crime. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The government
effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children from exploitation
in the workplace. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61646.htm [accessed 8 February
2020] 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. 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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