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Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century 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; Human Trafficking Scheme from Bulgaria
Busted in Greece Sofia News Agency, August 16, 2012 www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=142382 [accessed 17 August 2012] Police in Greece
have cracked a network for human trafficking from Bulgaria, in which Bulgarians
were forced to beg. The undisclosed number of Bulgarians were held in an apartment in the
central Greek city of Larissa. The Bulgarians were
among the country's poor, and were lured with promises for work in
Greece. After that, they were
forcefully held, were made to beg in various European countries, and were
severely beaten at each attempt to escape. Greek police
discovered the network, after a 58-year-old male Bulgarian was hospitalized
after being abandoned outside the city following such a beating. 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/report/freedom-world/2009/greece [accessed 26 June 2012] 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.csmonitor.com/2001/0516/p1s2.html [accessed 30 August 2012] Lena, a Russian
woman in her 20s, still remembers the friendly middle-aged woman who spun a
tale of her own daughter going abroad and sending cash home to her mother.
Lena leapt at the chance to go to Greece
as a maid. But the day 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 - |
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