Human Trafficking in [Moldova Street Children in [Moldova] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Moldova] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Republic
of Moldova [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The Moldova is a major source, and to a lesser extent, a transit
country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. Moldovan women are trafficked to Turkey, Israel, the U.A.E.,
Ukraine, Russia, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the
Czech Republic, Italy, France, Portugal, and Austria. Girls and young women
are trafficked internally from rural areas to Chisinau. The small breakaway
region of Transnistria in eastern Moldova is outside the central government's
control and remained a significant source and transit area for trafficking in
persons. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in
Persons Report, June, 2007 [full country report] |
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CAUTION:
The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation
in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** NGOs urge
Moldova and Pridnestrovie to work together in fight against sex slave trade TOP EXPORT: PROSTITUTES - In Moldova, the situation is
much worse. Although formerly one of the most wealthy parts of the former
Soviet Union, Moldova is today officially the poorest country in Europe. With
nearly total unemployment, the registered daily income of 80% of the
population is below a dollar per day. This fact can explain why desperate
people sell their organs for money and sex trafficking is rampant. Moldovan
prostitutes are now the country’s main export. 40% of Moldova's sex slaves are
kids, and both the traffickers and the involved government officials know
that children are highly sought after for the sex trade. Government
officials behind record rise in Moldova organ trade There are villages in the Southern
region of Moldova where almost all the inhabitants sold organs in order to
escape the extreme poverty they live in. The "commerce" goes on
with the agreement of the Chisinau authorities, DPA reports. ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - According to the IOM, Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – While many different individuals have become trafficking victims, the primary target group was the female population between the ages of 15 and 30. In 2004 the IOM reported that 12 percent of the victims they assisted were minors at the time of return, and 40 percent were minors at the time of their initial trafficking. Victims often came from rural areas where economic desperation had already driven many residents to look for work abroad. According to the IOM, most victims had already suffered some form of physical or sexual abuse at home and were willing to face significant risk to escape unbearable circumstances in their families. Women and girls typically accepted job offers in other countries, ostensibly as dancers, models, nannies, or housekeepers. In many areas, friends, relatives, or acquaintances approached young women and offered to help them find good jobs abroad. The IOM reported that former victims frequently acted as trafficking recruiters, sometimes under coercion, and that over the past two years women had recruited most of its caseload victims. Newspaper advertisements promising well-paying jobs abroad also lured many victims. The IOM also noted that traffickers themselves were mainly foreign men, and the International Labor Organization's (ILO) program for the elimination of child labor reported that in many cases traffickers of children have been Roma. Another trafficking pattern involved orphans who were required to leave orphanages when they graduated from school, usually at the age of 16 or 17, and had no funds for living expenses or continuing education. Some orphanage directors reportedly sold information on when orphan girls were to be turned out of their institutions to traffickers, who approached the girls as they left. According to the Center for Prevention of Trafficking in Women, parents or husbands pressured some young women to work abroad. Traffickers commonly recruited women from rural villages, transported them to larger cities, and then trafficked them abroad. Concluding
Observations Of The Committee On The Rights Of The Child (CRC) - 2002 [45] The Committee notes that some measures have been
developed to combat trafficking, but is nevertheless deeply concerned about
the serious proportions of trafficking of girls from Trafficking in
women remains a global abuse The June 28, 2007, German weekly,
Die Zeit, published an article on the growing problem of human trafficking in
Europe. The article gave several specific examples. One woman, Natalia, from
the country of Moldova, wrongly
assumed that a household job awaited her in Istanbul that would pay 300 Euros
per month. At the Istanbul airport, however, her male contact person was approached
by another man who told Natalia that she would be working for him instead.
Subsequently, she was forced into prostitution and ''sold'' six more times.
Fortunately, her sister managed to locate her and to get her released. Trafficking victims
prompt new Baptist ministry in Moldova "Earn money abroad. Waiters,
housemaids and managers needed for world-renowned hotel chain. Immediate
openings. Potential to earn thousands."
Natasha couldn't believe her eyes. She'd been looking for employment
ever since she graduated but there were no jobs to be found in Moldova, a
country in Eastern Europe. Seeing the newspaper advertisement, she thought to
herself, Why not try it? Most of her friends had found jobs in other
countries, why shouldn't she? She picked up the phone and made the call. Two weeks later, Natasha was
sitting in a small, windowless room with a foam mattress on the floor and a
bare bulb giving off insufficient light above her shaved head and bruised
body. When the door opens, a man quietly slips in and strips. Natasha shrinks
into a small ball -– this is not the job she applied for. Tricked and sold into slavery, Natasha has
nowhere to turn to for help. Since declaring its independence
from the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova has, in many ways, failed to make a
name for itself economically or politically. It does, however, have the
unfortunate distinction of leading Eastern Europe in human trafficking. "The British Helsinki Human
Rights Group did a study in 2000, and they said 60 percent of the girls that
are being trafficked out of all of Eastern Europe are coming out of
Moldova," Davis said. "That would include countries much, much
larger than Moldova. Russia, Ukraine, Romania, countries that are considered
to have really bad trafficking problems, and here's little Moldova ... and
more girls are coming out of here than anywhere." Human
Trafficking Booming in Eastern Europe, but Governments Don’t Seem to Care Soviet Union has fallen, there is
no way communism can be restored again, the new ruling elite gloat in
countries that were once part of that setup.
But poverty, prostitution and crime thrive like never before in that
region. Young girls are the worst victims of the churning. On a per capita basis Modolva, a small
piece of territory near Ukraine, has earned the invidious distinction of
being Europe’s top exporter of sex slaves. UN's fight
against Moldova sex slavery, human trafficking SEX SLAVERY AMONG UNDERAGE GIRLS
FROM MOLDOVA - In
Moldova, the human trafficking specialists admit that the situation is far
worse than in what they usually refer to under its Romanian name,
Transnistria. Most victims of modern-day slavery are women and young girls,
many of whom are forced into prostitution or otherwise exploited as sex
slaves. Trafficked men are found in fields, mines and quarries, or in other dirty
and dangerous working conditions. Moldovan boys and girls are trafficked into
conditions of child labor. Many of them are fatherless or motherless with
parents who already left to work abroad, and never came back. Some of these
enslaved children are abused sexually as well. Data collected by UNODC show that
about 80 per cent of the victims of human trafficking, most of them women and
young girls, are forced into prostitution. The remaining 20 per cent, usually
the men and boys, face forced labor. About half are under the age of 18. The International Organization for
Migration considers Moldova the main European source of women and children
for forced prostitution in Western Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East. Typically,
young women are lured overseas with the promise of waitress or housekeeping
jobs, only to be forced into the sex trade, sometimes even sold two or three
times. NGOs urge
Moldova and Pridnestrovie to work together in fight against sex slave trade TOP EXPORT: PROSTITUTES - In Moldova, the situation is
much worse. Although formerly one of the most wealthy parts of the former
Soviet Union, Moldova is today officially the poorest country in Europe. With
nearly total unemployment, the registered daily income of 80% of the
population is below a dollar per day. This fact can explain why desperate
people sell their organs for money and sex trafficking is rampant. Moldovan
prostitutes are now the country’s main export. 40% of Moldova's sex slaves are
kids, and both the traffickers and the involved government officials know
that children are highly sought after for the sex trade. Moldova:
Lower prices behind sex slavery boom and child prostitution Two American TV crews have
investigated Moldova's growing sex slave trade. In Chisinau, human
traffickers now charge as little as $500 for delivering a child prostitute
into a life of white slavery abroad. These record low prices are driving up
demand, and exports are booming. MAIN ORIGIN OF FORCED CHILD
PROSTITUTION - Organ
trafficking and sexual slavery are mainstays of Moldova's economy. Record
numbers of Moldovan women are made into sex slaves, forced into prostitution
and lifelong servitude. Moldova holds
a dubious world record: The country is today the leading haven for pedophiles
and for traffickers who earn fortunes enslaving underage kids in a brutal
international sex trade. Government
officials behind record rise in Moldova organ trade There are villages in the Southern
region of Moldova where almost all the inhabitants sold organs in order to
escape the extreme poverty they live in. The "commerce" goes on
with the agreement of the Chisinau authorities, DPA reports. Training
Roma to combat human trafficking Through a contribution of the
Norwegian and Finnish governments, the Council of Europe is organising
training courses to prevent human trafficking of Roma from Albania, Moldova
and Slovakia. The advert in the local paper was
brief. "Women and girls under 35. Well-paid jobs abroad." There was
a contact phone number, and Olga rang the same evening. She was a 21-year-old
single mother, living in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau and supporting her
young son by working ten hours a day in an outdoor food market. Revealed:
kept in a dungeon ready to be sold as slaves The women, aged 18 to 24, are from
across eastern Europe, lured from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria,
with promises of good jobs as waitresses, au pairs and dancers. Instead, they have been forced into
modern-day slavery in western Woman
falls six stories, now walking The woman was kidnapped and left with a group of individuals who intended to sell her into forced prostitution. In November 2004, she fell six stories while trying to escape her captors and suffered numerous life-threatening injuries including a fracture of the pelvis and spinal column, causing her to lose the use of her legs. Merchants of
Misery: Human Trafficking in Moldova [DOC] 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 Moscow. Unemployed, broke, with a baby daughter and no husband
or job prospects in her hometown of Ungheni, Silvia (not her real name)
decided to travel to the Moldovan capital of Chisinau where she was to meet
two men who would arrange her travel to Balkans
Urged To Curb Trafficking Countries in Treatment
Options for Young Moldovan Woman Sex Trafficking Victim Texas Back Institute Research Foundation (TBIRF) physicians, along with a team of local specialists, will be donating professional treatment and services to a 19-year-old Moldovan woman, an escaped sex trafficking victim Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Stop
Violence Against Women – Country Page U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study Young
Women From Rural Areas Vulnerable To Human Trafficking Tens of thousands of Moldovan
women are estimated to have fallen victim to human trafficking. Most victims
come from rural areas, where economic hardships and ignorance turn young
girls into easy prey for traffickers. "During the day, we were
locked on the third floor of a house with iron bars on the doors and windows.
We did not have a TV or a phone. It was very strict. At night, they would
take us to a hotel, which had guards and a tall fence around it, so we could
not get out. There were people guarding us around the clock," Alina
said. One day, while at the market here
in the Moldavian capital, she met a woman from a neighbouring village who
listened attentively to her woes and proposed that she accompany her to
Ukraine where she could find a job. From September to April 2003,
Ioana was forced to sell goods on a market in Ukraine. As compensation, she
received a pair of winter clothes and food. Eventually, Ukrainian police who
had been searching for her at the request of her mother, found the girl and
returned her to her home. Paradoxically, Ioana reportedly told the police she
preferred life with the trafficker to her own home, believing life was better
on the run than among her alcoholic parents. Trafficking
of children for labor and sexual exploitation in Moldova This paper analyses the problem of
child trafficking from Moldova for the purpose of labour or sexual
exploitation. According to the authors, the problem is a serious one, with up
to 5000 cases of child trafficking each year. The children are either
abducted or sold by their parents. According to the researchers, the
single most important factor that contributes to the problem of child
trafficking is widespread poverty. More than one-half of the population live
on below-subsistence incomes ($30 per month per capita or less). Joint
East West research on trafficking in children for sexual purposes in Europe
[PDF] [page 30]
Other countries see mostly the emigration of their young populations
to service the sex industry and labour markets abroad. The Belarus report
says that of Belarusian workers who went abroad in 2001, 70% of them were
under the age of 24. Unofficial estimates put the number of Moldavians
working abroad at between 600,000 and 1 million persons. From some
communities in Moldova up to half the population has emigrated. The Romanian
researchers point out that it is a combination of economic and political
factors at home that creates a favourable climate in which young people want
to emigrate. These include low pay, insecurity of employment, and the
inadequacy of the educational system at home to respond to the labour market.
But they also include the low level of community and parental involvement
with young people and the negative perceptions that young people have about
their futures in their own country as important ‘push’ factors. The Moldova
research quotes official polls as showing that almost 90% of young people
between the ages of 18 and 29 want to leave the country. Trafficking
troubles poor Moldova NOT FOR SALE - The country is the source of
much of Europe's human trafficking. Billboards in the streets of the capital,
Chisinau, depict a girl gripped in a huge clenched fist, being exchanged for
dollars. The caption reads: "You
are not for sale". There are few countries in the world where people
have to be reminded of that by public advertisements. In fact, tens of thousands of Moldovan
women have been sold into prostitution in more affluent countries. And the
trade in human organs, particularly kidneys, is a growing and frightening
problem. Europe's
human trafficking hub Wandering through Ana's village,
it is not hard to understand why her daughter was eager to leave. Few people here have running water, which
has to be hauled from local wells. Grinding poverty and chronic unemployment
since the fall of the Soviet Union has made many Moldovans desperate to seek
their fortunes abroad. But it does not always work out as planned. Elena, who is 25 years old, had been
promised a job in Italy at a pizzeria by her best friend Marina. But Marina
sold her to a pimp who forced her to walk the streets of Bologna. Escaping
brutal bondage in Europe TRAPPED - Ruslan, pretending to be her
suitor, took Natasha to meet some acquaintances and said they would take her
to Italy. That was the last Natasha saw of him. “I liked him, but I also
needed a job. I had no money,” Natasha said. “Ruslan sold me, and I didn’t
even know. I cried. I wanted to go home. But I couldn’t do anything. It was
too late.” On buses and cars — and crossing
borders on foot — Natasha followed a path to sex slavery trodden by thousands
of other hapless women, passing, under the watchful eyes of a gang of Balkans
thugs, through Romania, Serbia and Kosovo before ending up in the former
Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. In
struggling Moldova, desperation drives decisions Europe's Poorest Country Is Major
Source of Human Organ Sellers and Women Lured to Sexual Slavery. "Poverty and personal
problems force people to do this," said Adrian Tanase, head of the renal
transplant department at the gloomy, run-down hospital in the capital of
Chisinau. Every month someone walks into his office begging to sell an organ,
which the doctor turns down. "In developed countries, that hasn't been
done for a long time, but here you can buy or sell anything." Int'l
Organization for Migration Data on Human Trafficking in Kosovo The International Organization for
Migration (IOM) April 24 revealed new information about the methods and the
victims of human trafficking in Kosovo. At a briefing in Geneva, IOM
Spokesperson Jean Phillippe Chauzy told reporters that 85 percent of the victims left their home countries in search of work
when they were snared into a trafficking scheme and forced prostitution. The data, published by the IOM
office in Pristina, Kosovo, was compiled from interviews with victims who
were helped by IOM last year. Sixty
one percent came from Moldova,
19 percent from Romania, and the rest from Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania and
Russia. Their average age was 21, and more than 60 percent had a secondary
school education or better. Angela Slobodchuk, 25, has a story
to tell. She offers it in a low monotone, in a near-whisper, to anyone who
listens. It begins in her poor farming
village in the former Soviet republic of Moldova with the promise of a job as
a waitress in Italy. It takes her on
an odyssey of torment through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia and
Albania. She is raped, beaten, forced into prostitution, smuggled across
borders and sold 18 times from one pimp to the next. It ends 11 months later
when police along Italy's Adriatic
coast rescue the weeping woman with the miniskirt and bruised legs and arrest
her 21-year-old Albanian captor. Sex
Slaves: Trafficking in human beings from Moldova to Italy Indeed, the country is so poor
that the local police are quite incapable of dealing with the
trafficking. The Vice Squad in the
Moldovan capital, Chişinău, consists of seven policemen who have no
car nor any other dedicated equipment.
This is no match for the powerful criminal networks who control this
lucrative trade Trafficking
in Women: Moldova and Ukraine [PDF] II. CURRENT CONDITIONS - A.
BACKGROUND - In
Moldova and Ukraine, the female role has become much more circumscribed in
the name of tradition. Women in the earliest phases of transition from
communism showed signs of developing a new social force that would break with
the discriminatory aspects of tradition, but ultimately women have emerged to
face strengthened levels of misogyny, discrimination and inequality. In the
course of researching this report, numerous interviewees told Minnesota
Advocates of the “strong Ukrainian [and Moldovan] woman,” the provider for
the family, the keeper of traditions, a person to be revered and respected. This
mythology starkly contrasts with the reality of women’s lives. This reality
is more likely to be defined by poverty, unemployment, domestic violence, and
trafficking. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Moldova Street Children in [Moldova] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Moldova] [other countries]