Human Trafficking in [Bosnia and Herzegovina Street Children in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years of the 21st
Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Bosnia-Herzegovina.htm
Bosnia and Herzegovina is primarily a
source for women and girls trafficked within the country for commercial
sexual exploitation, though it is also a destination and transit country for
women and girls trafficked to Western Europe for the same purpose. Some
victims from Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Iraq, and Russia are
trafficked into Bosnia and Herzegovina via Serbia or Montenegro for
commercial sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking continued to increase in
2008, as the majority of identified victims were Bosnian, and more than half
of them were children. There were reports that some girls, particularly Roma,
were trafficked for the purpose of forced marriage. Reports of Roma children
trafficked for forced labor continued.
- 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 *** Trafficking of Women and Girls to A Submission for the United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child from the Human Rights Watch Children’s
Rights Division, 2002 www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.39/Bosnia_HRW_ngo_report.doc [accessed 23 January 2011] I was sold in Bosnia. The owner
told me that he paid 2000 KM [convertible marks-€1,025/U.S.$925] for each of
seven girls. My movement was restricted completely. I could not go anywhere.
In Dubrave village, Tuzla
municipality, at the Harl[e]y Davidson nightclub,
one [local policeman] was very often in the club. I recognized him in the
photo showed to me by the local police for Crime Department Tuzla. I was beaten very often if I refused "to
work." Very often we were hungry. Every time we were threatened to be
sold to Serbia.... Kevin [an American] paid 3,000 Deutschmarks
[€1,538/U.S.$1,388] for me. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/bosnia-herzegovina.htm [accessed 23 January 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - The prostitution and trafficking of girls to, from, and within the
country continues to be a problem.
Reports indicate that there are growing numbers of minors, primarily
girls ages 14 to 18 years, who are trafficked from less economically
developed Eastern Bosnia to more economically developed Western Bosnia and
externally to Eastern and Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61640.htm [accessed 23 January 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – The
country was a destination, transit point, and, to a lesser extent, country of
origin for women, girls, and, in a few cases, teenage boys trafficked for
sexual exploitation. During the year, Romani children were trafficked into
and within the country for forced labor. The country was also a transit point
for Chinese nationals being trafficked for forced labor; illegal Chinese
immigrants generally remained in the country for short periods before
continuing to destinations in Over 90 percent of trafficked women
in the country came from Victims reported working in
conditions akin to slavery, with little or no financial support. In some
cases, traffickers paid victims some wages so that they could send money home
to their families. Traffickers coerced victims to remain in these situations
through intimidation, verbal threats, seizure of passports, withholding of
food and medical care, and physical and sexual assault. To keep victims in
the country legally, traffickers also made victims apply for asylum since, as
asylum seekers, they were entitled to remain in the country until their
claims could be adjudicated. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child, BiH UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 3 June 2005 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/bosnia2005.html [accessed 23 January 2011] [69] While the Committee welcomes
some positive developments in the prosecution of those responsible for
serious crimes against women and girls in the context of trafficking and
forced prostitution, as well as the adoption by the Council of Ministers of a
National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in 2001, it is concerned that a
growing number of children under 18, especially adolescents girls, are still
being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Committee is
further concerned that the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography has not been adequately
addressed within the criminal justice systems. Survivor Testimonies Jeff Edwards, "The Sex Factory", The Mirror ,19
May 2002 jammedtruestories.blogspot.com/2008/09/eleni-trafficked-in-bosnia.html [accessed 23 January 2011] TESTIMONY OF ELENI - Eleni,
25, didn't know the friend who wrote inviting her to work as a waitress was
now a prostitute. Once at the Bosnian restaurant her new owner told her she
had been bought for 900 DEM and had to repay him by having sex with his
customers. When she refused she was beaten until she couldn't walk for days
but was still forced to have sex. She said: "My owner told me
'You are lying down anyway so you can still work for me.'" After two
months she was sold on to a man who held a pistol to her head when she
threatened to go to police. Eleni was moved to a
remote house after corrupt police tipped off her owner that Interpol was
looking for her. He raped her several times then passed her to a third owner
as she had become "too dangerous." She said: "I was a slave. I
was no more than a piece of meat." The State of the World's Human Rights - Amnesty International Report 2007 archive.amnesty.org/report2007/eng/Regions/Europe-and-Central-Asia/Bosnia-Herzegovina/default.htm [accessed 23 January 2011] Violence against women - In June
the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed
concern that BiH remained a country of origin,
transit and destination in the trafficking in women, and that
victims of sexual violence during the 1992-1995 war suffered
additional disadvantages as both female heads of households and IDPs. NGOs Work To Eradicate Human Trafficking, Help Victims presszoom.com/story_134115.html [accessed 24 January 2011] U.S.-funded nongovernmental
organizations around the world are working to prevent human trafficking,
provide resources to victims and arrest and prosecute child-sex offenders.
From Africa to Europe to Asia, initiatives are raising worldwide awareness of
the illegal practice of human trafficking. PROVIDING
RESOURCES FOR VICTIMS - In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the NGO Vasa Prava provides free legal assistance to victims of human
trafficking. Founded in 1996, the organization runs 16 permanent
offices and 50 mobile units, staffed by 80 employees. It has assisted
more than 400,000 Bosnians. Attorneys from Vasa
Prava are available to domestic victims from the
time they arrive at a shelter, and they arrange residency permits and asylum
applications for foreign victims.
Victims assisted by Vasa Prava
are more likely to testify against their traffickers in criminal proceedings,
and their testimony has led to the conviction of several notorious
traffickers and organized crime rings. 71 victims of human trafficking reported in Bosnia and
Herzegovina for 2006 www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n114371 [Last access date unavailable] For 2006 71 victims of human
trafficking were registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 31 of whom were
locals, 22 from Serbia and Montenegro, six from Moldova, four from Ukraine,
three from Croatia, two from Bulgaria and one from each of Switzerland,
Russia and Romania, Radio-Television of the Republika
Srpska (RTRS) reported. Increasing Number Of Bosnian Women Fall Victim To
Trafficking Hina News Line, 19 March 2007 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] The number of victims of human
trafficking on territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina has been falling over recent
years, but the share of female citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina falling victim
to this crime is on the rise, Bosnian state co-ordinator
of efforts aimed at countering human trafficking said earlier this week. Sentences for those found guilty
of human trafficking in Bosnia vary in length from prison terms of one year
to 15 years. According to Radovanovic, judges more frequently resort to milder
sentences. So far only once the sentence of 14 years has been delivered for
this crime. Balkans Urged To Curb Trafficking Imogen Foulkes,
BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4397497.stm [accessed 23 January 2011] Countries in Child Sex Trafficking Study By CU-Boulder Sociologist
Reveals Misperceptions dirwww.colorado.edu/news/r/7e44f6528ca6257ecb5962e553ca32fb.html [accessed 19 April 2012] Unprecedented research into child
sex trafficking in the post-war nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina suggests that
public perceptions of the problem and some kinds of intervention efforts
around the globe may be misguided, according to a "People often think that all
child sex traffickers kidnap their victims, but in many cases the children
end up funneled into the system by their own families because of extreme poverty,"
according to assistant Professor AnnJanette Rosga. "Sometimes the children leave home
voluntarily because of abuse or other harmful conditions." - htsccp Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 4 Civil Liberties: 3 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2009&country=7571 [accessed 23 January 2011] Human Rights Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/bosnia-and-herzegovina [accessed 23 January 2011] Stop Violence Against Women – Country Page Duska Andric-Ruzicic,
BiH National VAW Monitor, The Advocates for Human
Rights, 15 November 2006 stopvaw.org/bosnia_and_herzegovina.html [accessed 23 January 2011] Library of Congress Call Number DR1214 .Y83 1992 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/yutoc.html [accessed 23 January 2011] Sex slavery is a worldwide disgrace Katie Kelberlau, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] Trafficking in Human Beings in Transition and Post-Conflict Countries [PDF] Alja Klopcic,
Human Security Perspectives, Volume 1 (2004) Issue 1 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] A. PUSH FACTORS - As demonstrated above, the majority
of women and children are very of-ten helped to cross the borders by people
whom they trust and are subsequently traded to traffickers. As the female
trafficking agents are easily trusted, the potential victims should be warned
about the trap they can fall into, especially if they live with potential
traffickers in the same local communities. First Conviction in the Federation for Enslavement May 26, 2004, Compiled from the 2004 Amensty
International summary for [accessed 23 January 2011] According to a
Amnesty International report published in May 2004, the Human Rights Watch, November 25, 2002 www.hrw.org/en/news/2002/11/25/bosnia-and-herzegovina-traffickers-walk-free [accessed 23 January 2011] According to Human Rights Watch,
traffickers who have forced thousands of women and girls into prostitution in
Trafficking of Women and Girls to A Submission for the United Nations Committee on the
Rights of the Child from the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division,
2002 www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.39/Bosnia_HRW_ngo_report.doc [accessed 23 January 2011] I was sold in Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to
Post-Conflict Human Rights Watch Reports, Volume 14 No. 9 (D), November
2002 www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2002/bosnia/ [accessed 23 January 2011] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - According to experts of nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations Mission in Trafficking in Women and Girls in Human Rights Watch, June 14, 2004 www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/06/14/bosher8815.htm [accessed 23 January 2011] Human Rights Watch submitted a
number of requests to the Bosnia: The United Nations, human trafficking and
prostitution Tony Robson, World Socialist Web Site, 21 August 2002 www.wsws.org/articles/2002/aug2002/bosn-a21.shtml [accessed 23 January 2011] There is mounting evidence that
the United Nations has carried out a cover-up of the role played by its
personnel in human trafficking and prostitution in Bosnia—a trade that has
grown astronomically since the establishment of the Western protectorate
seven years ago. Teenagers 'used for sex by UN in Stewart Payne, Telegraph, 25/04/2002 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] A human rights investigator who
claims she was sacked for exposing the sexual abuse of Bosnian women by her
United Nations colleagues, told a tribunal yesterday that girls as young as
15 were offered for sex. Kathryn Bolkovac, 41, said women were forced to dance naked in
Bosnian bars frequented by UN police officers. Bosnia: Landmark Verdicts for Rape, Torture, and Sexual
Enslavement Human Rights Watch, Feb 22, 2001 www.hrw.org/en/news/2001/02/22/bosnia-landmark-verdicts-rape-torture-and-sexual-enslavement [accessed 23 January 2011] These cases marked the first time
in history that an international tribunal brought charges solely for crimes
of sexual violence against women. The decision also marked the first time
that the ICTY found rape and enslavement as crimes against humanity. The
eight-month long trial included testimony of sixty-three witnesses, including
sixteen victims of rape held for months in sexual slavery and subjected to
multiple gang rapes by the defendants and others. The Tribunal found that the
defendants had enslaved six of the women. Most importantly, although two of
the women were sold as chattel by Radomir Kovac for 500 Deutsch Marks each, the Tribunal found that
enslavement of the women did not necessarily require the buying or selling of
a human being. BRAMA, November 16, 2000 www.brama.com/news/press/001116trafficking.html [accessed 23 January 2011] According to the 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 – Bosnia-Herzegovina",
http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/ Bosnia-Herzegovina.htm, [accessed <date>]
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Human Trafficking in [Bosnia and Herzegovina Street Children in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [other countries]