Human Trafficking is an organized criminal industry that affects every nation. Whilst the statistics can seem overwhelming, it is important to remember that every number represents the life of a victim. The A21 Campaign has recognized a significant need in the region of Eastern Europe, and is committed to combating this injustice through rescuing one life at a time.
LIFE FOR A SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIM
After a trafficking journey that typically involves deception, rape, beatings, and constant threats, victims are often forced to live in confining and unsanitary conditions. Once formally put to work, human trafficking victims can be forced to service from 40 to 110 customers in one day.[1] Malnutrition, sleep deprivation, as well as emotional and physical abuse become day-to-day normalities. In addition, forced abortions and the contraction of STI's, Hepatitis B & C, and AIDS are ever looming probabilities. Life for a victim of sex trafficking is hell on earth. This injustice is the reason The A21 Campaign exists.
THE STATISTICS: FOCUS EUROPE
- Trafficking in women is the second largest global organized crime today, generating approximately US$12 billion a year.[2]
- There are 1.39 million victims of commercial sexual servitude worldwide.[3]
- Over 25 percent of sex trafficked victims are trafficked from Southern and Eastern Europe.[4]
- 90% of victims trafficked into EU member states end up in the sex industry.[5]
- There is an estimated 20,000 women and girls trafficked into the Greek sex industry, earning Greece the title: "the center of trafficking in Europe."[6]
- One study reveals that one in every 10 Ukrainian persons knows someone in their community who has been trafficked.[7]
- Tragically, only 1-2 percent of victims are rescued, and only 1 in 100,000 Europeans involved in trafficking are convicted.[8]
UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE: WHY EUROPE?
Whilst human trafficking is a global issue, the growth of trafficking of women from Eastern and Southern Europe (the former Soviet Bloc) into Western Europe over the past 20 years has been unparalleled anywhere else on the globe.[9] This trend has developed due to a specific combination of factors:
The fall of communism had devastating results for the nations of the former Soviet Bloc, where "widespread poverty, social inequalities, booming shadow markets, corruption, and rampant conflicts" soon became the norm. [10] Floundering economies resulted in a "devastating reduction in living standards for the majority, with poverty emerging as a widespread issue."[11] From the perspective of human traffickers, the fields became ripe for harvest. [12]
A characteristic of the collapse of the Soviet Union was the return to a traditional male dominated family structure with a shortage of labor positions that unevenly affected women.[13] Unemployment rates for women soared, ranging between 70 and 80 percent in most of the former Soviet republics.[14] Out of desperation to gain financial security, women have been more likely to take risky recruitment offers, leaving them prey to the deceptions of traffickers promising decent employment in another country.[15] Even more concerning, with the depressing prospects in their countries, many women have lost "all self esteem and hope for the future" and have become more likely to accept offers they know are linked with the sex industry due to the belief that "it cannot be worse than their present lives."[16]
Heavy entry restrictions into Western Europe created a "strong demand for clandestine migration, readily supplied by criminal networks. Many of these criminal networks took advantage of the vast numbers of willing migrants and diversified from human smuggling into the more lucrative sex trafficking industry. Thus, thousands of women from eastern Europe attempting illegal migration with hopes of employment, peace, and a better life, found themselves enslaved as prostitutes upon arrival in Western Europe."[17]
Generating US$12 billion annually, trafficking in women has become the second largest global organized crime today.[18] Criminals formally involved in illegal drugs and weapons trafficking are finding that profit margins are higher in human trafficking and are now using their extensive networks and well-worn trade routes for sex trafficking.[19] In the Soviet Bloc, shadow economies were relied upon under communism to supply necessary goods and services undersupplied by the state.[20] However, since the fall of communism, these shadow economies have quickly grown and mutated, absorbing desperately unemployed men and women as both traffickers and the victims of trafficking.[21] Additionally, corruption amongst border officers, police, soldiers, and government officials undergirds and sustains human trafficking.[22]
"The prevalence of sexually transmitted disease, emotional breakdowns, violence-induced injuries, pregnancy and constant demand for young and 'innocent' women have created high turnover rates in the sex industry. This high demand creates a strong market for migrant and trafficked women. Whilst this demand is facilitated by brothels, pimps, clubs and bars owners, it originates from the clients". [23] Ultimately, the whole human trafficking network comes down to the clients who pay for sex, and as long as they continue to offer their money; the multi-billion dollar sex trafficking industry will flourish.
With a critical awareness of the overarching factors that cause trafficking in Europe, A21 has developed our strategy to combat this injustice.
- [1] Lazaridis, G., 2001, 'Trafficking and Prostitution: The Growing Exploitation of Migrant Women in Greece', European Journal of Women's Studies, Vol. 8, Is. 67.
- [2] United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2009, Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns, Available: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Global_Report_on_TIP.pdf
- [3] United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2009, Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns, Available: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Global_Report_on_TIP.pdf
- [4] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [5] Varouhakis, M., 2002, July 26, "Trafficked Women Are Victims," Global Outlook, Centre for Research on Globalisation.
- [6] Hötzeldt, A., 2003, "Prevention and Fight Against Trafficking: Institutional Developments in Europe," Berlin Institute for Comparative Social Research, pp. 2. http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/daphnetoolkit/files/projects/2002_010/int_fight_against_trafficking_greece_report_2003.pdf
- [7] Ukraine Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2005. available at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61682.htm
- [8] United Nations, 2009, "UN Agency Calls for Better Monitoring to Combat Human Trafficking in Europe," in UN News Centre, Available: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32575&Cr=human+trafficking&Cr1
- [9] Granville, J., 2004, "From Russia without Love: The "Fourth Wave" of Global Human Trafficking," Demokratizatsiya, Vol.12, Is. 1, pp.147-155.
- [10] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [11] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [12] Hughes, D. & Denisova, T., 2003, 'Trafficking in Women from Ukraine', Cited in: Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [13] Vocks, J. & Nijboer, J., 2000, 'The Promised Land: A Study of trafficking in Women from Central and eastern Europe to the Netherlands,' Cited in: Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [14] Hughes, D., 2000, "The 'Natasha' Trade: The Transnational Shadow Trade of Trafficking in Women," Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 53, Is. 2, pp 8-15.
- [15] Lazaridis, G., 2001, 'Trafficking and Prostitution: The Growing Exploitation of Migrant Women in Greece,' European Journal of Women's Studies, Vol. 8, Is. 67.
- [16] Hughes, D. & Denisova, T., 2003, 'Trafficking in Women from Ukraine,' Cited in: Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [17] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [18] United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2009, Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns, Available: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Global_Report_on_TIP.pdf
- [19] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [20] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [21] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
- [22] Kligman, G. & Limoncelli, S., 2005, 'Trafficking Women after Socialism: To, Through, and From Eastern Europe', Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 118-140.
- [23] Rombola, M., 2009, 'The Causes of the High Rate of Sex Trafficking from Central and Eastern European Nations to Western Europe," Unpublished Research Report Submitted to The University of Sydney.
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