Human Trafficking in [Greece Street Children in [Greece] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Greece] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Greece.htm
Greece is a destination
and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of
sexual exploitation and for men and children trafficked for the purpose for
forced labor. … One NGO reported that there were many teenage male sex
trafficking victims from Afghanistan and sub-Saharan Africa in Greece. …
Child labor trafficking victims were subjected to forced begging and forced
to engage in petty crimes. - 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 *** IHF-HR: "A Form of Slavery: Trafficking in Women in
OSCE Member States" - Country Reports - International www.greekhelsinki.gr/english/reports/ihf-wit-july-2000-greece.html [accessed 7 February 2011] Regarding the coercion of victims,
the following methods were uncovered: o
Their documents are kept in order to stop them from escaping. o
They are often raped, kept without food or water or unable to use the
toilet in order to make them more “willing to cooperate”. o
If they come from religious families, offenders threaten to tell the
victims’ parents or relatives, even videotapes are secretly made for the
purpose of blackmail. There are seldom injuries or
beating that could “spoil” the future exploitation of the woman. Often, women
are forced to see over fifty “customers” per day, to the extent that they
lose a sense of time and space and lose consciousness. Recently, a
thirteen-year-old girl managed to get to the police and escape her
imprisonment and torture. She had been brought illegally and forcefully from
Albania in order to work as a prostitute. She had been imprisoned for six
months. ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61651.htm [accessed 7 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – According
to an academic observer, trafficking in women and children for sexual
exploitation in the country decreased from approximately 20 thousand victims
in 2003 to approximately 10 thousand during the year. Unofficial NGO
estimates placed approximately 13 thousand to 14 thousand trafficked persons
in the country at any given time. Trafficking of children was a
problem. Most child trafficking victims were Albanian Romani children
trafficked for labor exploitation or teenage girls trafficked for commercial
sexual exploitation. Albanian children made up the majority of children
trafficked for forced labor, begging, and stealing. NGOs reported that the
practice of "renting" children had dramatically decreased as it
became easier for Albanian parents to emigrate to the country. An NGO working
on child-trafficking problems reported that some legalized and illegal
Albanian immigrants residing in the country exploited their children. Women and children arrived as
"tourists" or illegal immigrants and were lured into prostitution
by club owners who threatened them with deportation. There were reports that
traffickers kidnapped victims, including minors, from their homes abroad and
smuggled them into the country, where they were sold to local procurers.
Traffickers less frequently confined victims to apartments, hotels, and clubs
against their will, failed to register them with authorities, and forced them
to surrender their passports. Some rescued victims reported being given small
stipends, mobile phones, and limited freedoms but nevertheless were coerced,
threatened, and abused by their traffickers. Concluding Observations Of The Committee On The Rights Of
The Child (CRC) - 2002 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1 February 2002 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/greece2002.html [accessed 7 February 2011] [76] Welcoming the State party’s
recent bill in this regard, the Committee remains concerned: (b) At reports of children being trafficked
into, and sometimes through, the State party for, inter alia, sexual
exploitation; Major human trafficking ring busted in nationwide sweep www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3719151 [accessed 30 August 2011] The women coming to They were then imprisoned in the
apartment by members of the ring until they had payed
off their so-called debts, sleeping 12 to a room and paying five euros a day
in rent, one euro to use cold water, two euros for hot water and five euros
to wash their clothes. Several of them were sent to work
in bars and strip clubs in Karditsa and Florina, for which the ring received a one-off payment
for their "sale" to the club owners, who then kept all the money
that they earned. In order to force them into prostitution or other sexual
acts with clients, they were beaten and threatened. Human trafficking a Games pitfall, researcher warns The www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=c8b93773-4373-465c-92a3-4c5af740bec7 [accessed 7 February 2011] In its report, the Future Group
said German authorities employed a
coordinated effort to combat human trafficking related to an increased demand
for prostitution during the 2006 World Cup of soccer. It involved public
education, cooperation with social agencies and tight border controls. In the
end, while officials did see an increase in prostitution, they did not detect
a rise in trafficking. However, in Human trafficking ring busted Reuters, news.oneindia.in/2007/07/10/greek-police-break-up-human-trafficking-ring-1184007980.html [accessed 7 February 2011] "Greek security forces
uncovered members of an international criminal group that has been operating
for the last two years," Greek police security chief Drossos
Bougoudis told reporters. "They were trafficking women from
eastern Europe and Balkans," he said.
Three Ukrainian women, held against their will in an Athens apartment,
were freed and now in safe hands, police said. "Members of the gang were
luring women from these regions promising them legal work and were keeping
them in several apartments in Athens," Bougoudis
said. Agencies involved in human trafficking, says expert Xinhua News Agency, November 14, 2006 english.people.com.cn/200611/14/eng20061114_321236.html [accessed 7 February 2011] Journalist Pavlos
Nerantzis told a seminar on "Trafficking in
Human Beings" held in He added that as soon as these
victims reached their destination, the travel documents were taken away from
them and they were led to prostitution. Joint police operation in SE European countries targets
human trafficking Xinhua News Agency, October 03, 2006 english.people.com.cn/200610/03/eng20061003_308443.html [accessed 7 February 2011] A simultaneous police operation in
Children of the Stoplights Discarded Lies, January 14, 2005 www.windsofchange.net/archives/006160.html [accessed 7 February 2011] The Greek government estimates
that there are some 3,000 unaccompanied Albanian children in the country,
with more coming during the summer months. In oral evidence about the
trafficking of Albanian children to Greek Police Dismantle International Human Trafficking
Ring Xinhua News Agency, news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/19/content_2593030.htm [accessed 7 February 2011] The ring sought out young women and undertook to provide
them with travel documents, promising them legitimate work as baby-sitters,
domestic help or waitresses once they arrived in Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2009&country=7615 [accessed 7 February 2011] Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/greece [accessed 7 February 2011] Trafficking of Migrant Women for Forced Prostitution into Human Rights Watch Backgrounder www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/greece/greece_memo_back.htm [accessed 7 February 2011] Despite widespread acknowledgment
that trafficking of human beings for the purpose of forced prostitution has
escalated dramatically in recent years, the government of Child Trafficking Between Albania And Greece Stop Child Trafficking, 01. 06. 2005 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] For the last three years, the
Swiss Foundation, Terre des hommes, has been
fighting against the trafficking of children from poor villages around Elbasan and Korca in Joint East West Research Project On Trafficking In
Children For Sexual Purposes In Europe: The Sending Countries - Compiled by Alma Maksutaj, Programme Coordinator, www.ecpat.nl/images/13/368.pdf [accessed 7 February 2011] [page 31]
CASE NO 3 - Elixhena T. has denounced a young couple as her
traffickers. They made me a beggar in Athens. “In the summer of 1998, I ended up
in the hands of a young married couple, - says the girl – and in few days I
was in Greece. At the beginning they beat me by saying that I had to beg on
the streets and in this way I could help my family. I didn’t agree but they
put me in the street”. The girl declared that she begged every day in the
centre of Athens, so she knew and was known to many people, especially those
who gave her money. The girl said that during this time she didn’t lose
contact with her family. New Fight to Stop Sex Trade Kathy Tzilivakis, www.helleniccomserve.com/archivedgreeknews33.html [accessed 7 February 2011] Thousands of migrant women and
girls as young as 12 are trafficked to Psychologically crushed into
suppression and stripped of their passports by ruthless pimps and owners of
brothels, strip clubs and seedy massage parlours,
these women and girls are forced to "work off" exorbitant debts
owed to traffickers. As many as 20,000 women, including 1,000 girls between
the ages of 13 and 15, have been sold so far into Greece's alarmingly booming
sex trade industry for thousands of euros each. They are mainly from the
Balkans and countries of the former Soviet Union. East European prostitutes find haven in Greece Didier Kunz, Agence France-Presse AFP, quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/ab/Qgreece-eeurope.R8mp_DOU.html [accessed 7 February 2011] The hostel looks ordinary enough
-- four bedrooms, a television room, a work room with two computers, a
kitchen and a bathroom located above a charity medical centre in a run-down
district of the Greek capital. But 15 Michalis Boda Street, Athens,
opened on October 24, is the first shelter in Greece for east Europeans lured
by human traffickers into prostitution and there are security guards on the
door to prevent pimps sinking their claws back into their prey. Additional measures taken by the Greek Ministry of Public
Order and the Greek Police At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 5 September 2011] OKEA has contributed to the
mobilization of relevant NGO's and governmental agencies to take appropriate
action in combating human trafficking, especially within the framework of the
Greek Presidency. Combating human trafficking is a priority for all Greek
police services. The Police Headquarters is actively involved with the
Department of Public Safety, whose director is a member of OKEA. Three
officers have been assigned to deal specifically with issues of human
trafficking and to provide guidance to the regional police services. Special
anti-trafficking squads in the Public Safety Divisions of Athens and Thessaloniki will start operations by the end of October
2003. Campaign against sex slavery Kathimerini, English Edition, June 27, 2002 www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100016_27/06/2002_18048 [accessed 7 February 2011] The turnover from the exploitation
of women and children forced into prostitution in Sex slaves' refuge - At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 5 September 2011] The fight against human
trafficking in The chronicle of shame Fotini Kalliri,
Kathimerini, English Edition, December 27, 2001 www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=11774 [accessed 7 February 2011] [scroll down to THE CHRONICLE OF
SHAME] NADIA FROM She received a rude shock when she realized that in reality, her employer had bought her. He took her passport, locked her in her room, deprived her of food, and beat her to make her realize that her survival depended on him from then on. Her treatment became even harsher as her legal period of residence in Greece drew to a close. He demanded that she prostitute herself. After eight months in Greece, she was arrested by the police during a chance sweep, and deported. At the first train station inside Bulgaria, the Bulgarian mafia boarded the train and kidnapped Nadia, along with another six women. She was prostituted again, this time in Karditsa, again by force and fed with drugs. Sex slavery warriors - At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 5 September 2011] The most common way ‘sex slaves’
are trapped is by responding to newspaper advertisements for a job in a
European country as a maid or a baby sitter – no documents or passport
required. They usually end up as hostages of organised
crime gangs forced into prostitution to the tune of an average of 12,000 men
annually. Under the threat of bodily harm to themselves and their family back
home, most women are forced to comply, while passports are withheld by organised prostitution circuits for ‘safekeeping’. THE DECISION TO ACT - In Greece there are an
estimated 30,00 trafficking victims who stay for an average of two years
before being passed on to another European country. VICTIMS NOT CRIMINALS - But women fortunate enough to
escape their captors sometimes do so only temporarily. “Many women are
pursued by gangs again and sent back to Greece,’ Kanakis
said. NGOs are strengthening ties with victims’ embassies to facilitate their
repatriation and obtain necessary documents. Fred Weir, Special to The Christian Science Monitor, 16
May 2001 www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5256.html#4 [accessed 7 February 2011] [scroll down to #4] East European Women Trapped In Sex Slavery Irina Sandul,
The www.sos-sexisme.org/English/east.htm [accessed 7 February 2011] POLICE CAN'T BE TRUSTED - Usually the women are forced to
stay in the brothels, often behind barred windows. Sometimes a woman finds a client who will
help her escape, Mrs. Shvab said. "But we do
not recommend [that the women] contact police. Authorities in Greece advise
them to contact the office of a public prosecutor because the police are
corrupt. Often, they themselves are [brothel] clients." IHF-HR: "A Form of Slavery: Trafficking in Women in
OSCE Member States" - Country Reports - International www.greekhelsinki.gr/english/reports/ihf-wit-july-2000-greece.html [accessed 7 February 2011] Regarding the coercion of victims,
the following methods were uncovered: o
Their documents are kept in order to stop them from escaping. o
They are often raped, kept without food or water or unable to use the
toilet in order to make them more “willing to cooperate”. o
If they come from religious families, offenders threaten to tell the
victims’ parents or relatives, even videotapes are secretly made for the
purpose of blackmail. There are seldom injuries or
beating that could “spoil” the future exploitation of the woman. Often, women
are forced to see over fifty “customers” per day, to the extent that they
lose a sense of time and space and lose consciousness. Recently, a
thirteen-year-old girl managed to get to the police and escape her
imprisonment and torture. She had been brought illegally and forcefully from
Albania in order to work as a prostitute. She had been imprisoned for six
months. 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 - |
Human Trafficking in [Greece Street Children in [Greece] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Greece] [other countries]