Human Trafficking in [Russia Street Children in [Russia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Russia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Russia.htm
Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for
men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation. Men and women from the Russian Far East are
trafficked to South Korea, China, Bahrain, Oman, Japan, and South Korea for
purposes of sexual exploitation, debt bondage, and forced labor, including in
the agricultural and fishing sectors. Some Russian women are trafficked to
Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Germany, Poland, Italy, Israel, Spain, Vietnam,
Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. Men and women from Central Asia and |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Russia. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their
authenticity or to verify their content. ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Merchants of Misery: Human Trafficking in Don Hinrichsen, from The State of World Population 2005
report, The United Nations Population Fund UNFPA www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/presskit/docs/moldova.doc [accessed 20 December 2010] Silvia’s descent into the dark
world of trafficking began when a neighbor told the 19-year-old that she could
get a good job as a sales girl in Her ‘home’ in Moscow was a grimy
hotel in a seedy section of the city. Actually, the entire hotel was a
brothel, filled with girls from Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus and other former
Soviet republics. “At first we were forced to walk the streets in search of
clients,” recalls Silvia. “If I didn’t return with clients, I was beaten. We
had to work in thin dresses even in the middle of the Russian winter.” Trafficking in Anti-Slavery International At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] CASE STUDY: SERGEY'S STORY - Sergey is 27 years old and from
On arrival in Spain, Sergey was
picked up by a person from the "agency" who took his passport. He
was taken to Portugal and forced to work on a construction site without pay
for several months. The site was surrounded by barbed wire. Without his
passport he was afraid that the Portugese
authorities would arrest him. One day Sergey managed to escape and begged his
way to Germany. Because he did not have a passport the German authorities
arrested him. He stated the police beat him and took away what little money
he had before deporting him to Russia. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/russia.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Children are trafficked globally for sexual exploitation from There are reports that rebel
forces in Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61671.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS –
According to the IOM, women have been trafficked to almost 50 countries,
including every West European country, the Reports indicated that internal
trafficking, fueled by poverty and unemployment, remained a problem. Women
were recruited and transported from rural areas to urban centers typically to
work in sex industries. There were continued reports of
child trafficking, primarily for sexual exploitation. The victims were
usually homeless children or children in orphanages. There are no reliable
estimates of how many children were trafficked. The country has become a
major producer and distributor of Internet child pornography, leading to
confirmed cases of child sex trafficking and child sex tourism. Information from foreign prosecutions,
academic researchers, and law enforcement sources suggested that criminal
groups carried out most trafficking with the assistance of front companies
and more established organized crime groups. Typically, the traffickers used
a front company‑‑frequently an employment agency, travel agency
or modeling company‑‑to recruit victims with promises of
well-paying work overseas. Many placed advertisements in newspapers or public
places for overseas employment, some employed women to pose as returned workers
to recruit victims, some placed Internet or other advertisements for mail
order brides, and some victims were recruited by partners or friends. Once
the victims reached the destination country, the traffickers typically
confiscated their travel documents, kept them in a remote location, and
forced them to work. Reports indicated that employers
or traffickers withheld workers' passports or other documentation. They
threatened workers with deportation or prosecution if they demanded
compensation. One trafficking researcher indicated that some local police
cooperated with employers to "shake down" such workers to deprive
them of their wages. Traffickers often used their ties to organized crime to
threaten victims with harm to their families should they try to escape. They
also relied on ties to organized crime in the destination countries to
prevent the victims from leaving and to find employment for the victims in
the local sex industry. Trafficking organizations typically paid domestic
organized crime entities a percentage of their profits in return for
"protection" and for assistance in identifying victims, procuring
false documents, and corrupting law enforcement. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 30 September
2005 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/russia2005.html [accessed 20 December 2010] [80] While welcoming the recent
introduction in the Criminal Code of norms prohibiting the trafficking of
human beings, the Committee is concerned that not enough is being done to
implement these provisions effectively. The Committee also expresses its
concern that protection measures for victims of trafficking of human beings are
not fully in place and that reported acts of complicity between traffickers
and State officials are not being fully investigated and sanctioned. newsx.com/story/13373 [access date unavailable] Sky News reported that girls and sex
slaves were being sold by trafficking mafias at several street markets on the
outskirts of Kester Kenn Klomegah, Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42139 [accessed 20 December 2010] According to qualitative research
in CIS countries, trafficking for forced labour (other than forced
prostitution) is the main form of trafficking in the region, in particular
central Uzbeks Prey to Modern Slave Trade Times of Central Asia, iwpr.net/report-news/uzbeks-prey-modern-slave-trade [accessed 16 January 2011] When Abror,
an unemployed engineer at the locomotive depot in Urgench,
in northwest In spite of his grim experience in
Volgograd, Abror plans to hire himself out again
this spring to repay this debt. “Once
it gets warm, I’ll sell myself into slavery again,” he said. “What else can I
do? Otherwise, my family of four will be left to live off my sick mother’s
pension.” NGOs warn against plan to increase Russian visas Ruth Eglash, The At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 11 September 2011] However, A spokesman for Aharonovitch told the Post zthat
the minister was aware of the problems of human trafficking in Israel and
that the issue needed to be tackled; however, he added that there was little
connection between the trafficking and the cancellation of visa requirements
for Russian visitors. He also said
that the number of women arriving from Russia was much lower than those from
other countries and that countries with border policies stricter than
Israel's still had to contend with women and men being smuggled in for
illegal work purposes. Stopping sexual abuse of Russian kids CESAR CHELALA M.D., The search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20070911cc.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Sexual abuse of children can take
several forms — from their use in pornographic materials for sale, to their
use in other countries and St. Petersburg and the northwest
region of Russia report a high incidence of sex tourism, which is widely
advertised on the Internet and aimed at people from neighboring Scandinavian
countries. Prostitution is the most common form of child exploitation in the
region. Frequent recruiting targets
are street children or children from dysfunctional families. Once they're
entrapped, they may end up in brothels and red-light districts as they get
older. Recruiters prey on these children's situations, deceiving them into a
life of dependency. - htsccp Four Russians Arrested in Russian Spy www.russianspy.org/2007/04/18/four-russians-arrested-in-sweden-over-human-trafficking/ [accessed 20 December 2010] Swedish prosecutors have charged a
group of 24 Russians and Swedes with human trafficking, pimping and buying
sex from nine Russian women, the AFP news agency reports. The prosecutor said he was only
able to prove human trafficking in one of the cases and said the other eight
women had come from Russia to Sweden of their own will. Spanish police arrest 7 for human-trafficking Associated Press AP, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] The arrests took place in the
northeastern Mediterranean coastal region of Costa Brava, where the gang
allegedly smuggled in women, mostly from EU Presses Vladimir Kovalev, Transitions
Online—Intelligent [accessed 20 December 2010] Like many struggling young people
in the former Soviet republics, 17-year-old Maryam
dreamed of a better life. She thought she was on her way to one when she
decided to leave her native Kazakhstan to work as a shop assistant in
Russia. Instead, she walked into a
nightmare. When she arrived at her
destination, the shop she had expected to see turned out to be a locked cell
with barred windows and a metal door. Armed guards told she would be working
as a prostitute. Smuggler's Prey – [PDF] www.selfconnection.ca/Descriptions/9780143012597.pdf [accessed 19 December 2010] Every day, scores of young women
throughout the former East Bloc are lured by job offers that lead to a
hellish journey of sexual slavery and violence. Despite the barrage of
warnings on radio and TV, in newspapers and on billboards, desperate women
continue to line up with their naiveté and applications in hand, hoping that,
this time, they might just be in luck. Merchants of Misery: Human Trafficking in Don Hinrichsen, from The State
of World Population 2005 report, The United Nations Population Fund UNFPA www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/presskit/docs/moldova.doc [accessed 20 December 2010] Silvia’s descent into the dark
world of trafficking began when a neighbor told the 19-year-old that she
could get a good job as a sales girl in Her ‘home’ in Human trafficking on the rise in Russia The Russian News & Information Agency RIA Novosti, en.rian.ru/russia/20050629/40815589.html [accessed 20 December 2010] The official said her predecessors
had focused mainly on the sex trade, whereas she was determined to extend her
position's scope to other related issues, such as the trafficking of people
into forced labor. She also stressed the importance of addressing the
problems of forced marriage and trafficking in human organs Russian Officials Surprised At Reports Of Human
Trafficking Helsingin Sanomat,
16 March 2005 www.hs.fi/english/article/1101978846177 [accessed 20 December 2010] Fresh arrests at Vaalimaa border crossing - "The problem for the
officials is that the illegal border crossings take place legally." He says that there are always people who
will help in the acquisition of genuine travel documents. It is only after
the borders are crossed that the activities become illegal. Authorities Turn Blind Eye On Far East Agence France-Presse
AFP, [accessed 20 December 2010] “Young women sought for very well paid job
in Russian Girls Eager To Work Abroad, Despite The Danger Of
Sex Trafficking Pravda, 31 March 2005 english.pravda.ru/society/stories/31-03-2005/7977-slaves-0/ [accessed 20 December 2010] It is really difficult for such
girls to escape when they reach Human Trafficking In US Gets Tackled - US toll-free number 1-888-222-5673 Aljazeera.net, 15 February 2005 -- Source: english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3C7CB369-17E6-40FA-9681-F08B05F8D658.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] Russian-speaking women trapped
into sexual servitude in the "I just saw a babushka
(grandma) wearing a billboard, marching up and down the streets of Moscow
saying 'Great jobs for sexy girls in Chicago'," Engel told a forum at
the Johns Hopkins Paul Nitze School of Advanced
International Studies to discuss the problem.
International trade Engel described Russian websites with one advert
in English reading "cheap women, you can fit three in a room, they'll
serve 10 men a night" and another in Russian saying "great jobs
overseas, have your own apartment, don't pay for anything". Cards are being printed with the
US toll-free number 1-888-222-5673 and other information in Russian on them. Few Human Trafficking Cases Registered in 2004 Carl Schreck, The www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/few-human-trafficking-cases-registered-in-2004/224809.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Only 25 cases of human trafficking
and slave labor were registered last year, but an Interior Ministry official said
this was only the tip of the iceberg and understaffed police forces and
hesitant victims were hindering prevention efforts. Anti-trafficking organizations
said last year that some 50,000 women and children from Russia and other
former Soviet republics are sold into slavery in the United States every
year. Other destinations include Turkey, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the
Netherlands and China. Dyomin said the police force did not have enough officers
to deal with the problem, and that victims were often scared to turn to the
police for help. "These factors make the job significantly more
difficult," Dyomin said. Seduction, Sale & Slavery:
Trafficking In Women & Children For Sexual Exploitation In Jonathan Martens, Maciej ‘Mac’ Pieczkowski & Bernadette van Vuuren-Smyth,
International Organization for Migration (IOM), www.iom.org.za/Reports/TraffickingReport3rdEd.pdf At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The major findings may be
summarized as follows: Russian and Bulgarian mafias
traffic Russian and other Eastern European women on South African visas
fraudulently obtained in Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 6 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Not Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2009&country=7689 [accessed 20 December 2010] Human Rights Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/russia [accessed 20 December 2010] Stop Violence Against Women – Country Page The Advocates for Human Rights, January 2009 stopvaw.org/russian_federation.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Library of Congress Call Number DK510.23 .R883 1998 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rutoc.html [accessed 20 December 2010] ILO: 4 Million Enslaved in Anatoly Medetsky, The www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/ilo-4-million-enslaved-in-russia/232490.html [partially accessed 20 December 2010 - access restricted] A report published Thursday by the
International Labor Organization said that 80 percent of an estimated 5
million illegal immigrants in New Forced Labour in International Labour Organisation (ILO) News, 4 March 2004 www.ilo.org/public/english/region/eurpro/moscow/news/2004/304.htm [accessed 11 September 2011] The Russian chaotic market and
corruption among officials result in serious marginalisation
of labour migrants and the emergence of new forms of forced labour and
slavery-like conditions. The study
examined a wide range of data and identified different elements of violence –
from deception and blackmail to abduction - that are already present in the
migration and employment in Russia. In the process of work the wide-spread
forms of exploitation of migrants are: compulsion to work extra-time without
pay (62%), highly intensified work (44%), lengthy wage delays (39%),
compulsion to perform work for which consent has not been given (38%),
compulsion to work without pay (24%), compulsion to provide sex services (22%
of polled women), psychological violence, threats, blackmail (21%),
restricted freedom of movement - being kept locked up all the time or for
some time (20%). Such cases are now so wide-spread in the country that they
are not perceived as marginal or unlawful practices, but as a normal state of
affairs. Aid Group Alleges Massive Child-Trafficking in Radio Free Europe/Radio [accessed 20 December 2010] An aid group says more than 30,000
children and teenagers go missing every year in Leonid Chekalin,
who heads the organization Children are Russia's Future, gave the estimates
at a news conference in Moscow late yesterday. He said 190 child-trafficking
networks have been uncovered in the past five years.
htsc Monitoring the ECPAT International, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] REGIONAL CONSULTATIONS - RUSSIAN NATIONAL CONSULTATION ON THE
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN - Don Hill, AsianSexGazette,
August 6, 2004 www.asiansexgazette.com/asg/central_asia/centralasia01news35.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] "We are not happy with what
is going on in Israeli Minister Blames Russian Mafia for Human
Trafficking Crisis MosNews, 18.08.2004 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 11 September 2011] He said that the mafia had
transported women to Russian president seeks stronger penalties for human
trafficking Anti-Slavery International, Trafficking news monthly,
January 2004 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] On 27 October, President Vladimir Putin submitted to Parliament a number of amendments to
the Russian Criminal Code which seek to introduce a maximum prison sentence
of 15 years for those convicted of trafficking. The maximum penatly will be reserved for cases where the trafficking
offence has caused severe damage to the health of the victim, or any other
grave consequences; posed a threat to the lives and health of many people; or
been committed by an organised group. Trafficking in Anti-Slavery International At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] CASE STUDY: SERGEY'S STORY - Sergey is 27 years old and from
On arrival in Spain, Sergey was
picked up by a person from the "agency" who took his passport. He
was taken to Portugal and forced to work on a construction site without pay
for several months. The site was surrounded by barbed wire. Without his
passport he was afraid that the Portugese
authorities would arrest him. One day Sergey managed to escape and begged his
way to Germany. Because he did not have a passport the German authorities
arrested him. He stated the police beat him and took away what little money
he had before deporting him to Russia. Vladimir Radyuhin, The Hindu, www.hindu.com/2004/05/31/stories/2004053102791400.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] After the break-up of the Soviet Union
in 1991, Russia’s Willing Sex Workers Find Enslavement Abroad Anastasia Lebedev, News and
photos from the Moscow News, 22/04/2004 www.waytorussia.net/news/2004-04/women-foreigners.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Through the Inostranets
weekly, a paper geared toward Russians looking to find employment abroad, the
institute polled women who already had job offers and were preparing to leave
Supplying Women for the Sex Industry: Trafficking from the
Prof. Donna M. Hughes, University of Rhode Island,
7/12/2004 www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/supplying_women.pdf [accessed 20 December 2010] INTRODUCTION - The Nyet to Trafficking Prof. Donna M. Hughes, National Review, June 18, 2003 www.nationalreview.com/articles/207249/i-nyet-i-trafficking/donna-m-hughes [accessed 20 December 2010] For the last two years, Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation: The Case of the Prepared for the International Organization for Migration
IOM by Prof. Donna M. Hughes, June 2002 www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/russia.pdf [accessed 20 December 2010] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - There are a multitude of
reasons why the trafficking business thrives in Many women have few choices
because they have become impoverished and find themselves devoid of options
for jobs or means of survival. This is the plight of many women in poor rural
and remote areas in Russia or those attempting to survive urban poverty. For others, such as the new groups
of street children and orphans which did not exist in Russia ten years ago,
they are recruited at an early age, virtually sold into slavery, and may
never know another way of life. This is true for countless young Russian
girls and boys, some as young as 12 years of age, who may later become a part
of criminal syndicates themselves and perpetuate this phenomenon. In this
way, more and more people without options are lured into sub-human and
degrading conditions, often for the rest of their lives. - htsccp Galina Stolyarova,
Radio Free Europe/Radio www.rferl.org/content/article/1096513.html [accessed 20 December 2010] According to a recent survey
conducted in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, as many as 70 percent of
women between the ages of 18 and 30 would like to leave the country to find
work abroad. Visa restrictions, however, make it almost impossible for young
women to gain legal working status abroad, leaving them only one option --
buying visas from so-called "employment" services who force them
into prostitution and slavery once they cross the border. In this second of a
two-part series, Galina Stolyarova
reports for RFE/RL that economic and social conditions in Russia have allowed
the women-trafficking trade to flourish. Forced Labour In The Elena Tyuryukanova, International
Labour Organization ILO, www.ilo.org/public/english/region/eurpro/moscow/info/publ/russian_s.pdf [accessed 20 December 2010] [page 107] APPENDIX I
- INTERVIEWS WITH VICTIMS OF
FORCED LABOUR [page 116] CASE 6 - A 17-year old man from Novosibirsk in Russia was
kidnapped and coerced into construction work. The interview took place in Omsk I am from Novosibirsk. At present
I live in Omsk because I do not want to be traced.
I am seventeen. Half a year ago they kidnapped me. It happened as follows: I
was going home, a foreign car approached me, and they put a sack on my head,
drew me into the car and then injected me with something. I remember nothing. I do not even remember
how they took me away. It seemed as if we were flying or if it was a car, it
was shaking. It was dark, like a bunker - they covered me up with something.
I only came to when we were somewhere in the East. They watched. There were no
hand-cuffs, but guards with guns were present, and a supervisor with a stick
was there. If somebody fell, he beat then until they stood up and collected
the things that they had dropped. There were ten of us. We were not allowed
to speak. They kept us in pairs, even at night we weren’t allowed to speak.
The supervisors walked around to check that nobody was speaking. 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 [Russia Street Children in [Russia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Russia] [other countries]