NCJ Number
197779
Journal
Jane's Intelligence Review Volume: 14 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 30-32
Editor(s)
Christopher C. Aaron
Date Published
November 2002
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the trafficking of women in the Balkans.
Abstract
The author explains that approximately 500,000 women are illegally trafficked in the world each year, 200,000 of these women pass through the Balkan region. Illegal trafficking in women involves duping women in origin countries into believing they are going to work as au pairs or waitresses in Western countries. Once they relinquish control of their passports, these women are trapped and are moved from countries of origin, where the women are picked up, to transient countries where women are kept in apartments until it is time to move to a new location. The author explains that there are many aspects involved in the illegal trafficking of women: recruitment, travel, forgery, corruption of police and border guards, sale of women, and the maintenance of apartments used as storage for the women. The dominant group involved in illegal trafficking in women is ethnic Albanian. This group is responsible for as much as 65 percent of Balkan human trafficking. The author also notes that the women who are imprisoned are often reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement agencies because of the severe psychological intimidation many faced at the hands of their captors. The author explains how many of these women are sold in auctions in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Albania for as little as $1,000. They are also forced to work in bars or discos that are thinly disguised brothels. Educational programs designed to warn women of the danger of being duped are showing some promise in curbing the numbers of women imprisoned in human trafficking. International intelligence cooperation is necessary to combat this transnational crime.