A European Perspective

by HANA BUSHNAQ

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion for the purpose of exploitation — sexual or forced labor — for material gain.  With 127 countries of origin, 98 transit countries and 137 destination countries, human trafficking is, sadly, still poorly documented and understood. 

"Congratulations! A job for you abroad!” One could only imagine how luring such an advert could be for a naïve Albanian teenager, where one third of the children live on less than two dollars a day. It is not only one of the poorest countries in Europe, but also the youngest, with 34% of the population under the age of 18.1 Many girls reading such ads end up as victims of human trafficking. Although it is almost impossible to obtain solid figures of victims around the world, here is a shocking fact: “It certainly runs into millions,” as stated by Antonio Mario Costa, Executive Director of UNODC (United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime).

It is safe to say that no country on the map is immune to the crime of human trafficking or is not affected by it in some way. It has been found that there are 127 countries of origin, 98 transit countries and 137 destination countries.2 As bad as this may sound, human trafficking is still not a well-presented issue. There still exists a confusion with the term human smuggling. Whereas smuggling is the procurement, for financial or material gain of the illegal entry of immigrants, human trafficking is a much bigger crime. It is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion for the purpose of exploitation for material gain. The two main reasons for trafficking are sexual exploitation and forced labor, respectively.

The problem is massive in the poor Eastern European countries. Although the appalling treatment of girls from that region is not unheard of, it is still poorly documented and understood at present and should move higher up the policy agenda.

Trafficking in Europe has more than exploded since the break-up of the former Soviet Union, depicting the problem as the “underside of Globalization.” The massive growth of “shadow economies” in these countries translated to an increase in the number of vulnerable people who fall victim to practices taking place in such economies. The challenges faced by these countries are plenty. In some areas poverty was brought about by natural disasters and conflicts which were subsequently followed by a flow of refugees and migration. Migration has changed the demography of some of the countries in the region.

For example, the population of men is 75 men to 100 women in Armenia.3 In Russia, the great number of single young mothers alongside the decline of cultural and educational services made poverty a much graver reality for women. All this makes the women of these countries desperate for seeking better income jobs abroad, which makes them easy prey for the traffickers. In a country like Azerbaijan, outdated educational systems and lack of proper publicity on the issue pose an extra hurdle for the government and NGOs since the problem is not only demand-based, but should be understood as a multi-faceted problem with children’s proper upbringing being a cornerstone in prevention.

But simply knowing that the problem exists is not enough, as has been found by a UNICEF led research in Moldova in 2002.4 It discovered that children had heard of trafficking but were still eager to migrate and willing to take risks to do so. In Montenegro, when asked how to protect themselves from trafficking, the children cited, “Not to walk alone after dark.” It makes one wonder how much publicity still needs to be reinforced into the minds of these children. Consequently, while dealing with solving the problem, it helps to consider the programs that understand the root causes of trafficking which are those programs focusing on children. UNICEF doesn’t look at trafficking as an isolated issue, but as a result of the intolerable abuse and neglect of children. It helps governments help families raise strong children before the traffickers come after them.

Although we might not be able to obtain solid figures, as the level of reporting varies considerably between countries, we could know more about the kind of girls the traffickers are after and what awaits them after being trafficked. Most are 18 to 24-year-old women trafficked mainly for sexual exploitation, but ages can range from 15-35.5 The girls are brought in by gangs from Lithuania, Albania and the Czech Republic, among others.

The girls themselves come from many different countries. Most victims come from Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Albania and Moldova. Of those, the Roma ethnic minority is especially vulnerable. Children under 13 years are trafficked for forced labor and begging. These often come from orphanages or residential institutions. In fact, UNICEF states that children in orphanages are ten times more vulnerable to trafficking than children from healthy households. In Moldova, for example, thousands of children grow up without the care of one or both of their parents. More than 14000 children are in institutions.6 For thousands of other families, one or both parents leave their children to work abroad because they cannot find jobs in their country.