Torture in [Russia] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Russia Street Children in [Russia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Russia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Russia.htm
Russia is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes
of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Men and women from the
Russian Far East are trafficked to South Korea, China, Bahrain, Oman, Japan,
and South Korea for purposes of sexual exploitation, debt bondage, and forced
labor, including in the agricultural and fishing sectors. Some Russian women
are trafficked to Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Germany, Poland, Italy,
Israel, Spain, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East
for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Men and women from Central
Asia and |
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CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in
Russia. Some of these links may lead
to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even
false. No attempt has been made to
validate their authenticity or to verify their content. ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Merchants of Misery: Human Trafficking in Don Hinrichsen, from The State of World
Population 2005 report, The United Nations Population Fund UNFPA www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/presskit/docs/moldova.doc [accessed 20 December 2010] 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 Her ‘home’ in
Moscow was a grimy hotel in a seedy section of the city. Actually, the entire
hotel was a brothel, filled with girls from Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus and
other former Soviet republics. “At first we were forced to walk the streets
in search of clients,” recalls Silvia. “If I didn’t return with clients, I
was beaten. We had to work in thin dresses even in the middle of the Russian
winter.” Trafficking in Anti-Slavery International At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] CASE STUDY: SERGEY'S
STORY
- Sergey is 27 years old and from On arrival in
Spain, Sergey was picked up by a person from the "agency" who took
his passport. He was taken to Portugal and forced to work on a construction
site without pay for several months. The site was surrounded by barbed wire.
Without his passport he was afraid that the Portugese
authorities would arrest him. One day Sergey managed to escape and begged his
way to Germany. Because he did not have a passport the German authorities
arrested him. He stated the police beat him and took away what little money
he had before deporting him to Russia. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/russia.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Children are trafficked globally for sexual
exploitation from There are reports
that rebel forces in Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61671.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– According to the IOM, women have been trafficked to almost 50 countries,
including every West European country, the Reports indicated
that internal trafficking, fueled by poverty and unemployment, remained a
problem. Women were recruited and transported from rural areas to urban
centers typically to work in sex industries. There were
continued reports of child trafficking, primarily for sexual exploitation.
The victims were usually homeless children or children in orphanages. There
are no reliable estimates of how many children were trafficked. The country
has become a major producer and distributor of Internet child pornography,
leading to confirmed cases of child sex trafficking and child sex tourism. Information from
foreign prosecutions, academic researchers, and law enforcement sources
suggested that criminal groups carried out most trafficking with the
assistance of front companies and more established organized crime groups.
Typically, the traffickers used a front company‑‑frequently an
employment agency, travel agency or modeling company‑‑to recruit
victims with promises of well-paying work overseas. Many placed
advertisements in newspapers or public places for overseas employment, some
employed women to pose as returned workers to recruit victims, some placed
Internet or other advertisements for mail order brides, and some victims were
recruited by partners or friends. Once the victims reached the destination
country, the traffickers typically confiscated their travel documents, kept
them in a remote location, and forced them to work. Reports indicated
that employers or traffickers withheld workers' passports or other
documentation. They threatened workers with deportation or prosecution if
they demanded compensation. One trafficking researcher indicated that some
local police cooperated with employers to "shake down" such workers
to deprive them of their wages. Traffickers often used their ties to
organized crime to threaten victims with harm to their families should they
try to escape. They also relied on ties to organized crime in the destination
countries to prevent the victims from leaving and to find employment for the
victims in the local sex industry. Trafficking organizations typically paid
domestic organized crime entities a percentage of their profits in return for
"protection" and for assistance in identifying victims, procuring
false documents, and corrupting law enforcement. Concluding Observations of the Committee on
the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
30 September 2005 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/russia2005.html [accessed 20 December 2010] [80] While
welcoming the recent introduction in the Criminal Code of norms prohibiting
the trafficking of human beings, the Committee is concerned that not enough
is being done to implement these provisions effectively. The Committee also
expresses its concern that protection measures for victims of trafficking of
human beings are not fully in place and that reported acts of complicity
between traffickers and State officials are not being fully investigated and
sanctioned. newsx.com/story/13373 [access date unavailable] Sky News reported that
girls and sex slaves were being sold by trafficking mafias at several street
markets on the outskirts of Kester Kenn
Klomegah, Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42139 [accessed 20 December 2010] According to qualitative
research in CIS countries, trafficking for forced labour (other than forced
prostitution) is the main form of trafficking in the region, in particular
central Uzbeks Prey to Modern Slave Trade Times of Central Asia, iwpr.net/report-news/uzbeks-prey-modern-slave-trade [accessed 16 January 2011] When Abror, an unemployed engineer at the locomotive depot in Urgench, in northwest In spite of his
grim experience in Volgograd, Abror plans to hire
himself out again this spring to repay this debt. “Once it gets warm, I’ll sell myself into
slavery again,” he said. “What else can I do? Otherwise, my family of four
will be left to live off my sick mother’s pension.” NGOs warn against plan to increase Russian
visas Ruth Eglash, The At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 11 September 2011] However, A spokesman for Aharonovitch told the Post zthat
the minister was aware of the problems of human trafficking in Israel and
that the issue needed to be tackled; however, he added that there was little
connection between the trafficking and the cancellation of visa requirements
for Russian visitors. He also said
that the number of women arriving from Russia was much lower than those from
other countries and that countries with border policies stricter than
Israel's still had to contend with women and men being smuggled in for
illegal work purposes. Stopping sexual abuse of Russian kids CESAR CHELALA M.D., The search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20070911cc.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Sexual abuse of
children can take several forms — from their use in pornographic materials
for sale, to their use in other countries and St. Petersburg and
the northwest region of Russia report a high incidence of sex tourism, which
is widely advertised on the Internet and aimed at people from neighboring
Scandinavian countries. Prostitution is the most common form of child
exploitation in the region. Frequent
recruiting targets are street children or children from dysfunctional
families. Once they're entrapped, they may end up in brothels and red-light
districts as they get older. Recruiters prey on these children's situations,
deceiving them into a life of dependency. - htsccp Four Russians Arrested in Russian Spy www.russianspy.org/2007/04/18/four-russians-arrested-in-sweden-over-human-trafficking/ [accessed 20 December 2010] Swedish prosecutors
have charged a group of 24 Russians and Swedes with human trafficking,
pimping and buying sex from nine Russian women, the AFP news agency reports. The prosecutor said
he was only able to prove human trafficking in one of the cases and said the
other eight women had come from Russia to Sweden of their own will. Spanish police arrest 7 for
human-trafficking Associated Press AP, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] The arrests took
place in the northeastern Mediterranean coastal region of Costa Brava, where
the gang allegedly smuggled in women, mostly from EU Presses Vladimir Kovalev,
Transitions Online—Intelligent [accessed 2 September 2012] Like many
struggling young people in the former Soviet republics, 17-year-old Maryam
dreamed of a better life. She thought she was on her way to one when she
decided to leave her native Kazakhstan to work as a shop assistant in Russia. Instead, she walked into a nightmare. When she arrived at
her destination, the shop she had expected to see turned out to be a locked
cell with barred windows and a metal door. Armed guards told she would be
working as a prostitute. Smuggler's Prey – [PDF] www.selfconnection.ca/Descriptions/9780143012597.pdf [accessed 19 December 2010] Every day, scores
of young women throughout the former East Bloc are lured by job offers that
lead to a hellish journey of sexual slavery and violence. Despite the barrage
of warnings on radio and TV, in newspapers and on billboards, desperate women
continue to line up with their naiveté and applications in hand, hoping that,
this time, they might just be in luck. Merchants of Misery: Human Trafficking in Don Hinrichsen,
from The State of World Population 2005 report, The United Nations Population
Fund UNFPA www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/presskit/docs/moldova.doc [accessed 20 December 2010] 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 Her ‘home’ in Human trafficking on the rise in Russia The Russian News & Information Agency
RIA Novosti, en.rian.ru/russia/20050629/40815589.html [accessed 20 December 2010] The official said
her predecessors had focused mainly on the sex trade, whereas she was
determined to extend her position's scope to other related issues, such as
the trafficking of people into forced labor. She also stressed the importance
of addressing the problems of forced marriage and trafficking in human organs Russian Officials Surprised At Reports Of
Human Trafficking Helsingin Sanomat,
16 March 2005 www.hs.fi/english/article/1101978846177 [accessed 20 December 2010] Fresh arrests at Vaalimaa border crossing - "The problem for the
officials is that the illegal border crossings take place legally." He says that there are always people who
will help in the acquisition of genuine travel documents. It is only after
the borders are crossed that the activities become illegal. Authorities Turn Blind Eye On Far East Agence France-Presse AFP, [accessed 20 December 2010] “Young women sought for very well paid job
in Russian Girls Eager To Work Abroad, Despite
The Danger Of Sex Trafficking Pravda, 31 March 2005 english.pravda.ru/society/stories/31-03-2005/7977-slaves-0/ [accessed 20 December 2010] It is really
difficult for such girls to escape when they reach Human Trafficking In US Gets Tackled - US toll-free number
1-888-222-5673 Aljazeera.net, 15 February 2005 -- Source:
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3C7CB369-17E6-40FA-9681-F08B05F8D658.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] Russian-speaking
women trapped into sexual servitude in the "I just saw a
babushka (grandma) wearing a billboard, marching up and down the streets of
Moscow saying 'Great jobs for sexy girls in Chicago'," Engel told a
forum at the Johns Hopkins Paul Nitze School of
Advanced International Studies to discuss the problem. International trade Engel described Russian
websites with one advert in English reading "cheap women, you can fit
three in a room, they'll serve 10 men a night" and another in Russian
saying "great jobs overseas, have your own apartment, don't pay for
anything". Cards are being
printed with the US toll-free number 1-888-222-5673 and other information in
Russian on them. Few Human Trafficking Cases Registered in
2004 Carl Schreck, The
www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/few-human-trafficking-cases-registered-in-2004/224809.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Only 25 cases of
human trafficking and slave labor were registered last year, but an Interior
Ministry official said this was only the tip of the iceberg and understaffed
police forces and hesitant victims were hindering prevention efforts. Anti-trafficking
organizations said last year that some 50,000 women and children from Russia
and other former Soviet republics are sold into slavery in the United States
every year. Other destinations include Turkey, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the
Netherlands and China. Dyomin said the police force did not have enough officers
to deal with the problem, and that victims were often scared to turn to the
police for help. "These factors make the job significantly more
difficult," Dyomin said. Seduction, Sale
& Slavery: Trafficking In Women & Children For Sexual Exploitation In
Jonathan Martens, Maciej
‘Mac’ Pieczkowski & Bernadette van Vuuren-Smyth, International Organization for Migration
(IOM), www.iom.org.za/Reports/TraffickingReport3rdEd.pdf At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The major findings
may be summarized as follows: Russian and
Bulgarian mafias traffic Russian and other Eastern European women on South
African visas fraudulently obtained in Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 6 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Not Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/russia [accessed 27 June 2012] Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/russia [accessed 20 December 2010] Stop Violence Against Women – Country Page The Advocates for Human Rights, January
2009 stopvaw.org/russian_federation.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Library of Congress Call Number DK510.23
.R883 1998 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rutoc.html [accessed 20 December 2010] ILO: 4 Million Enslaved in Anatoly Medetsky,
The www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/ilo-4-million-enslaved-in-russia/232490.html [partially accessed 20 December 2010 -
access restricted] A report published Thursday
by the International Labor Organization said that 80 percent of an estimated
5 million illegal immigrants in New Forced Labour in International Labour Organisation (ILO)
News, 4 March 2004 www.ilo.org/public/english/region/eurpro/moscow/news/2004/304.htm [accessed 11 September 2011] The Russian chaotic
market and corruption among officials result in serious marginalisation
of labour migrants and the emergence of new forms
of forced labour and slavery-like conditions.
The study examined a wide range of data and identified different
elements of violence – from deception and blackmail to abduction - that are
already present in the migration and employment in Russia. In the process of
work the wide-spread forms of exploitation of migrants are: compulsion to
work extra-time without pay (62%), highly intensified work (44%), lengthy
wage delays (39%), compulsion to perform work for which consent has not been
given (38%), compulsion to work without pay (24%), compulsion to provide sex
services (22% of polled women), psychological violence, threats, blackmail
(21%), restricted freedom of movement - being kept locked up all the time or
for some time (20%). Such cases are now so wide-spread in the country that
they are not perceived as marginal or unlawful practices, but as a normal
state of affairs. Aid Group Alleges Massive Child-Trafficking
in Radio Free Europe/Radio [accessed 20 December 2010] An aid group says
more than 30,000 children and teenagers go missing every year in Leonid Chekalin, who heads the organization Children are
Russia's Future, gave the estimates at a news conference in Moscow late
yesterday. He said 190 child-trafficking networks have been uncovered in the
past five years. htsc Monitoring the ECPAT International, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] REGIONAL
CONSULTATIONS - RUSSIAN NATIONAL
CONSULTATION ON THE COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN - Don Hill, AsianSexGazette,
August 6, 2004 www.asiansexgazette.com/asg/central_asia/centralasia01news35.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] "We are not
happy with what is going on in Israeli Minister Blames Russian Mafia for
Human Trafficking Crisis MosNews, 18.08.2004 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 11 September 2011] He said that the
mafia had transported women to Russian president seeks stronger penalties
for human trafficking Anti-Slavery International, Trafficking
news monthly, January 2004 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] On 27 October, President
Vladimir Putin submitted to Parliament a number of amendments to the Russian
Criminal Code which seek to introduce a maximum prison sentence of 15 years
for those convicted of trafficking. The maximum penatly
will be reserved for cases where the trafficking offence has caused severe
damage to the health of the victim, or any other grave consequences; posed a
threat to the lives and health of many people; or been committed by an organised group. Trafficking in Anti-Slavery International At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11 September 2011] CASE STUDY: SERGEY'S
STORY
- Sergey is 27 years old and from On arrival in
Spain, Sergey was picked up by a person from the "agency" who took
his passport. He was taken to Portugal and forced to work on a construction
site without pay for several months. The site was surrounded by barbed wire.
Without his passport he was afraid that the Portugese
authorities would arrest him. One day Sergey managed to escape and begged his
way to Germany. Because he did not have a passport the German authorities
arrested him. He stated the police beat him and took away what little money
he had before deporting him to Russia. Vladimir Radyuhin,
The Hindu, www.hindu.com/2004/05/31/stories/2004053102791400.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] After the break-up
of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia’s Willing Sex Workers Find
Enslavement Abroad Anastasia Lebedev,
News and photos from the Moscow News, 22/04/2004 www.waytorussia.net/news/2004-04/women-foreigners.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Through the Inostranets weekly, a paper geared toward Russians
looking to find employment abroad, the institute polled women who already had
job offers and were preparing to leave Supplying Women for the Sex Industry:
Trafficking from the Prof. Donna M. Hughes, University of Rhode
Island, 7/12/2004 www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/supplying_women.pdf [accessed 20 December 2010] INTRODUCTION - The Nyet to Trafficking Prof. Donna M. Hughes, National Review,
June 18, 2003 www.nationalreview.com/articles/207249/i-nyet-i-trafficking/donna-m-hughes [accessed 20 December 2010] For the last two
years, Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation: The
Case of the Prepared for the International Organization
for Migration IOM by Prof. Donna M. Hughes, June 2002 www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/russia.pdf [accessed 20 December 2010] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - There are a
multitude of reasons why the trafficking business thrives in Many women have few
choices because they have become impoverished and find themselves devoid of
options for jobs or means of survival. This is the plight of many women in
poor rural and remote areas in Russia or those attempting to survive urban
poverty. For others, such as
the new groups of street children and orphans which did not exist in Russia
ten years ago, they are recruited at an early age, virtually sold into
slavery, and may never know another way of life. This is true for countless
young Russian girls and boys, some as young as 12 years of age, who may later
become a part of criminal syndicates themselves and perpetuate this
phenomenon. In this way, more and more people without options are lured into
sub-human and degrading conditions, often for the rest of their lives. - htsccp Galina Stolyarova,
Radio Free Europe/Radio www.rferl.org/content/article/1096513.html [accessed 20 December 2010] According to a
recent survey conducted in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, as many as
70 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 30 would like to leave the
country to find work abroad. Visa restrictions, however, make it almost
impossible for young women to gain legal working status abroad, leaving them
only one option -- buying visas from so-called "employment"
services who force them into prostitution and slavery once they cross the
border. In this second of a two-part series, Galina Stolyarova
reports for RFE/RL that economic and social conditions in Russia have allowed
the women-trafficking trade to flourish. Forced Labour In The Elena Tyuryukanova,
International Labour Organization ILO, www.ilo.org/public/english/region/eurpro/moscow/info/publ/russian_s.pdf [accessed 20 December 2010] [page 107] APPENDIX I
- INTERVIEWS WITH VICTIMS OF
FORCED LABOUR [page 116] CASE 6 - A 17-year old man from Novosibirsk in
Russia was kidnapped and coerced into construction work. The interview took
place in Omsk I am from Novosibirsk.
At present I live in Omsk because I do not want to be traced. I am seventeen.
Half a year ago they kidnapped me. It happened as follows: I was going home,
a foreign car approached me, and they put a sack on my head, drew me into the
car and then injected me with something.
I remember nothing. I do not even remember how they took me away. It
seemed as if we were flying or if it was a car, it was shaking. It was dark,
like a bunker - they covered me up with something. I only came to when we
were somewhere in the East. They watched. There
were no hand-cuffs, but guards with guns were present, and a supervisor with
a stick was there. If somebody fell, he beat then until they stood up and
collected the things that they had dropped. There were ten of us. We were not
allowed to speak. They kept us in pairs, even at night we weren’t allowed to
speak. The supervisors walked around to check that nobody was speaking. All
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Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
Torture in [Russia] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Russia Street Children in [Russia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Russia] [other countries]