Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse. The collapse of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe in 1989 and the final disintegration of the USSR in 1991 had serious consequences. Unwilling behavior from the women often resulted in threats of harm to their relatives back home, including their children, if they had any. The most harrowing story of human trafficking I've ever heard World Human Trafficking Monday September 11, 2017, 5:31 PM Julie Etchingham Presenter, ITV News at … In fact, over the years, Russia has been diplomatically praised for making some efforts, but regularly criticized for not setting up shelters or adequate psychological counseling services for returnees from trafficking situations, for not making enough convictions, and for not having a comprehensive strategy in place or formal national procedures. The state has cooperated with NGOs in busting trafficking rings, most notably during the World Cup held in Russia in 2018, the report said. Economic systems were transformed, resulting in increased unemployment and poverty, especially for women. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world. Furthermore, the international political economy of sex and male demand for prostitutes gave criminal gangs and small operators huge possibilities for their own enrichment. Sex trafficking occurs in brothels, hotels, and saunas, among other locations. Prostitution grew over the decades in big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, despite denials by the Soviet state that it existed under socialism. While human trafficking and slavery have always been an issue in most areas of the globe, human trafficking in Russia became exacerbated with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future. Women’s groups and non-governmental organizations were also active. Following Human trafficking: Irina's story. Her case was investigated by the police and is being heard in court. Now the business is flourishing and women are trafficked into cities not only from the Russian countryside, but also from Central Asia, Europe, Northeast Asia and elsewhere. In a survey conducted in June 2007, in which 1,600 citizens across 45 regions were polled, just over 43 percent of male respondents and 38 percent of females blamed the women and girls themselves for ending up in the sex trade. In 2014, the country was downgraded to Tier 3, with the fishing industry being cited as one of the major human trafficking fields. Nearly 800,000 people live as modern-day slaves in Russia, working under conditions of forced labor, debt bondage and human trafficking, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, a … A group of such women with higher education expecting to be employed in good jobs in Italy, ended up in a brothel for men with a predilection for older women. The 2013 TIP Report talks of Russia’s “minimal progress in efforts to protect and assist trafficking victims”, its “limited efforts to prevent trafficking,” and its lack of effort to “reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.”. With the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Russian Embassy, Irina was safely repatriated. Russia’s 2016 Statistics: In 2016, the Global Slavery Index reported that there were more than one million human trafficking victims in Russia. US Immigration Reform: A Mirage on the Horizon? Fear and desperation were experienced by many, some becoming drug addicts. Employment and investment patterns changed and along came new opportunities for the exploitation of those in need. Effectively trapped in debt bondage and slavery, thousands of Russian women found themselves servicing up to 30 men a night. prostitution in Russia and former Soviet Union. Evidence suggests, however, that not all cases of labor trafficking result in charges. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and ova removal. Nonetheless, various figures have been suggested. He was provided safe shelter at a hotel until further accommodations were secured. Young women in their teens and 20s were much sought after. In its worst manifestation, human trafficking is akin to modern-day slavery. Newspaper advertisements and Russian job agencies in the 1990s invited women to become waitresses, dancers, nannies, nurses, office workers or escorts abroad for attractive salaries. In 2013, 28 people were convicted under Article 127.1, where 23 given sentences ranging from between 2 and 11 years' imprisonment. The National Human Trafficking Hotline received reports of 8,686 unique cases of potential trafficking in 2017, referencing 21,644 POTENTIAL VICTIMS. Since then Russia has not adopted any other laws on human trafficking, whereas, all 14 other countries in the post-Soviet region have passed multiple laws related to human trafficking… At the same time, almost 31 percent of men and 35 percent of women recognized that the trafficked my have been duped by criminal gangs. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, mafia gangs made huge profits. How does the wider Russian public view human trafficking into prostitution? project coordinator, International Organization for Migration. Russia has developed into a major hub for human trafficking. The "madam" was with them and claimed that Irina had stolen her money. The stigma can be huge, self-image shaken and confidence undermined. The illegal trafficking of human beings is a growing international crime. If they make it back to Russia, many women are anxious about what the local community may think of them and do not wish to suffer rejection from their own families. Criminal groups have developed a brisk trade selling tens of thousands of women into prostitution. The USSR had always had a “second economy” or “shadow economy” that greased the wheels of the official one, and actors in this included criminal elements, some enjoying the label of “thieves in law” (vory v zakone). In the 1990s Russian social scientists such as Elena Tiuriukanova and Natalia Khodyreva attempted to expose the problem, educate the public and put pressure on the parliament, the State Duma, to pass anti-trafficking legislation. News from the Russian Federation of Renat's arrest following a petition by Irina's mother brought added threats and abuse. The Duma did have a working group on human trafficking, which supported a new law and worked hard to promote it. The Russian Code here defined human trafficking as: “The buying-selling of a person or other actions committed for the purpose of such person’s exploitation in the form of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of such a person.” Article 127.2 against slavery was later added. Men and women are trafficked within Russia and from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Moldova to Russia for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, including work in the construction This is because Russian politicians do not like being told what to do by the United States and often feel condescendingly “lectured at” and not treated as an equal. So sometimes, what Russians may take to be “lectures,” can backfire. Exploitation is driven Exploitation is driven by poverty, uneven development, official corruption, gender discrimination, harmful traditional and cultural practices, civil Nonetheless, 29 percent of respondents thought education programs in schools and communities were vital in trying to solve the problem; 19 percent believed that the media were useful in spreading information through newspaper articles and television programs; 32 percent advocated more convictions; 31 percent saw tighter border controls as important; and 26 percent argued for a serious attack on corruption. Human Trafficking Law: Russia only has one law that criminalizes human trafficking. What has the Russian political leadership done to tackle the problem of human trafficking? St. Petersburg has also become a lively center of child prostitution attracting some Western men to take trips there. In the end, 26 individuals were sent to prison and seven given suspended sentences. All the latest news about Human trafficking from the BBC Four people have been charged with human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation after a … The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Konstantin Dolgov accused its authors as using an “unacceptable ideological approach that divides nations into rating groups depending on the US State Department’s political sympathies or antipathies.” He added that this matched the logic of other “democratizing tools” used in light of “the alleged deterioration of the human rights situation” in Russia. Russia has developed into a major hub for human trafficking. In this international context, mechanisms of deception, recruitment, exploitation, control and abuse could thrive. Thirty-seven percent of both genders acknowledged that the women were looking for work due to a lack of jobs, but 35 percent of males and 31 percent of females considered the trafficked “in the main to be prostitutes, hoping to earn more in other countries.” A high majority of respondents had low hopes of political institutions being able to solve the problem; a pessimistic 23 percent overall felt that “no-one” could be effective in tackling human trafficking and 22 percent just did not know who could. The recent disruption of a Washington, D.C.-area trafficking ring shows the FBI's commitment to stopping human traffickers—during National Slavery and Human Trafficking … Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. There are deep-seated historical reasons why Russian leaders wish to be respected and do not like being told how to run their domestic system by outsiders. 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