Human Trafficking in [Latvia Street Children in [Latvia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Latvia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the
early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Latvia.htm
Latvia is a source and destination
country for women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation and forced labor. Latvian women are trafficked to Germany, the
United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece,
Ireland, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation. Latvian teenage girls
are trafficked within the country for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. Latvia is a destination country for women trafficked from
Belgium and Portugal for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and
for women from Thailand who may have been trafficked for the purpose of
forced labor. - |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Awareness of Human Trafficking Among Young People in Alison Y. Boak, Kenneth W.
Griffin, Debra Jones & Vita Karklina -- 29th
Annual Conference, Global Health in Times of Crisis, 28-31 May 2002 72.3.236.96/conference_2002/abstracts/a5.php3 [accessed 17 April 2012] CONCLUSIONS - While youth in From Ballroom Dancer to
Stripper: Surviving Chicago's sex slave trade Series: Sex and Sorrow: The
Modern Slave Trade Annie Sweeney, Crime Reporter, www.ipsn.org/organized_crime/prostitution/surviving_chicago.htm [accessed 17 February 2011] To Z, Mishulovich's
offer was exhilarating. It was also a
lie -- something she discovered shortly after landing at O'Hare Airport. Put up in a cramped apartment with other
Latvian women, she was watched constantly, beaten and threatened with being
sold as a prostitute. Her passport was taken away. And the dancing? Really it was stripping.
For maybe $20 a night. She was a
virtual slave -- a sex slave, a victim of "human trafficking." ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2003 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2003/latvia.htm [accessed 17 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Statistics on the number of working children under the age of 15 in
Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61658.htm [accessed 17 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – The
country was primarily a source and transit point for trafficked victims. The
main countries of destination were Traffickers, primarily organized
criminal groups, usually lured victims through false offers of employment for
jobs such as dancers, bartenders, and babysitters in European countries. A
large number of victims were drawn from the economically depressed areas of
the country's eastern regions. While some victims were recruited through job
advertisements or modeling and travel agencies, most victims were solicited
through direct contact with traffickers. Traffickers often recruited their
victims at cafes and clubs, and victims themselves recruited new victims for
the traffickers Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 26 January 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/latvia2001.html [accessed 17 February 2011] [33] The Committee expresses its
concern at the fact that the current legislation regulating adoption is out
of date and does not guarantee adequate protection of the child involved, as
recognized in the Convention. From Ballroom Dancer to
Stripper: Surviving Chicago's sex slave trade Series: Sex and Sorrow: The
Modern Slave Trade Annie Sweeney, Crime Reporter, www.ipsn.org/organized_crime/prostitution/surviving_chicago.htm [accessed 17 February 2011] To Z, Mishulovich's
offer was exhilarating. It was also a
lie -- something she discovered shortly after landing at O'Hare Airport. Put up in a cramped apartment with other
Latvian women, she was watched constantly, beaten and threatened with being
sold as a prostitute. Her passport was taken away. And the dancing? Really it was stripping.
For maybe $20 a night. She was a
virtual slave -- a sex slave, a victim of "human trafficking." Warnings of human trafficking taught to children Annie Sweeney, Crime Reporter, Chicago Sun Times, tvol.blogspot.com/2005/08/warnings-of-human-trafficking-taught.html [accessed 17 February 2011] She was 17, the daughter of
unemployed alcoholics in a struggling country where good work can be
difficult to find. So she took a job
that, though it required leaving the Baltic state, would help pay the
family's bills. She was going to pick
strawberries in Finland. But as her
new employers drove across the Latvian border and into Estonia, everything
changed. She was ordered to take off
her clothes and pose for photos that would be posted on the Web. One snapshot shows her wearing only a black
bikini bottom, coyly hiding behind an overgrown plant. Another has her arched
against a cinderblock wall. If you didn't know better, you'd think she wanted
to be there. She made it to Finland
all right, but as a virtual slave who was forced to work as a prostitute and
give almost all of her earnings to her captors. Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2009&country=7643 [accessed 17 February 2011] Stop Violence Against Women – Country Page The Advocates for Human Rights, November 13, 2003 [accessed 17 February 2011] At one time this article had been archived and may possibly
still be accessible [here] Library of Congress Call Number DK502.35 .E86 1996 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/lvtoc.html [accessed 17 February 2011] Cypriot held in www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/cypriot-held-latvia-flesh-trade-charges [accessed 30 November 2010] According to the Latvian police
the suspect was allegedly involved in trafficking in women under the pretext
of recruiting them as waitresses and cleaners when in fact they would be
pushed into prostitution. Prevention of Youth Trafficking Initiative www.iofa.org/prevention.html [access date unavailable] IOFA AND YOUTH TRAFFICKING
PREVENTION - PROJECTS IN THE PREVENTION, INVESTIGATION, &
REPATRIATION OF VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN LATVIA: This project provides training
to encourage cooperation among law enforcement officials and NGO leaders in
combating trafficking of young people in Latvia. Regional Trafficking
Response Teams have been established in three regions. STRENGTHENING SOCIAL SERVICE
PROVISION TO VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN LATVIA: This project strengthens social
service provision to victims of human trafficking by assessing current
services, creating partnerships between service providers and a local
shelter; and by ensuring that the shelter staff is properly trained to respond
to victims' needs. Trafficking Alert - Trafficking and the NGO Community Vital Voices, Trafficking Alert, June 2002 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] [scroll down] NEW YORK-BASED ORGANIZATION
EDUCATES LATVIAN ADOLESCENTS ABOUT SAFELY WORKING ABROAD AND WARNS ABOUT
TRAFFICKING - . PPAT
integrates an educational module on human trafficking into the existing
curriculum of teen centers in Latvia. Before traveling abroad, adolescents
can receive consultations in the center in order to ensure safe travel. The
centers keep copies of the young peoples' passports, and provide them with
information about embassies and NGOs that can help if they find themselves in
dangerous situations overseas. Women’s Anti-Discrimination Committee Experts Urge Latvia
to Update Laws to Protect Women from Domestic Violence UN Information Service UNIS, www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2004/wom1457.html [accessed 17 February 2011] COUNTRY MAKES FIRST PRESENTATION TO
COMMITTEE; TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN, EQUAL PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL LIFE AMONG
OTHER ISSUES RAISED -
Turning to a related issue, experts expressed deep concern over the sexual
abuse and sexual exploitation of women trafficked or lured in to Latvia from
other countries. Portugal’s expert lamented the apparent lack of programmes in place to rehabilitate those women once they
were removed from harm. Granted, some cooperative initiatives were
underway with neighbouring and transit countries,
but the problem should be made a national priority. Other experts stressed
the need to target and prosecute the client side of the equation -- usually
middle-aged, married men. Addressing that issue, Ms. Druviete said Latvia adhered to major international
conventions and treaties aimed at preventing human trafficking. Also, the
country had recently established the National Programme
for Prevention of Human Trafficking (2004-2008), which focused on improving
legislation, rehabilitating victims and raising awareness. To limit
trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation, the Government had created a
special police unit, strengthening its cooperation with neighbouring
countries and cooperating with non-governmental organizations. Finnish man faces charges of human trafficking in Latvia Helsingin Sanomat
International Edition, 19.2.2004 www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20040219IE6 [accessed 17 February 2011] A Finnish man in his 40s is
suspected of human trafficking and pimping in Human trafficking is not often
encountered in the Nordic countries and for the time being the Finnish penal
code has no reference to this issue. However, this fault will be corrected
soon. The charges against the man will
be heard shortly and if found guilty he will be sentenced under Latvian law.
Any sentence is expected to be rather heavy - particularly as it is suspected
that some kind of pressure was used and an international criminal
organization was involved, and because one of the women was a minor aged 17. Awareness of Human Trafficking Among Young People in Alison Y. Boak, Kenneth W.
Griffin, Debra Jones & Vita Karklina -- 29th
Annual Conference, Global Health in Times of Crisis, 28-31 May 2002 72.3.236.96/conference_2002/abstracts/a5.php3 [accessed 17 April 2012] CONCLUSIONS - While youth in All material used herein
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Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery - |
Human Trafficking in [Latvia Street Children in [Latvia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Latvia] [other countries]