NCJ Number
200267
Journal
Trends in Organized Crime Volume: 6 Issue: 3/4 Dated: Spring/Summer 2001 Pages: 30-36
Date Published
2001
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study examined legislation and law enforcement practices in Ukraine intended to counter trafficking in women and children for the purposes of sexual exploitation, responses that have thus far been ineffective; the author suggests prevention possibilities and intervention opportunities.
Abstract
Data sources for this study included interviews and questionnaires, information and statistics collected by various legal and scientific agencies, legislation, and law enforcement practices. Based on these data, this paper provides a general overview of the scale of the trafficking problem and a profile of the victims of trafficking. Further, it describes the methods of recruiting victims, the regions of Ukraine from which most women are trafficked, and the characteristics of the traffickers. The study also examined the availability and effectiveness of existing legal instruments. Criminal groups are apparently responsible for most of the trafficking of women and children in Ukraine. These criminal groups are of various sizes and structures and are both nationally and internationally based. Those who receive and exploit the trafficked women and children are part of the organized network that forces the women and children into servicing "clients" and participating in pornography and sex-service industries. Various economic, social, and political conditions have contributed to Ukraine's being a focal point of such trafficking. Government instability, political conflicts, and the perception that government does not have the ability to protect victims or prosecute criminals have undermined any efforts to counter the trafficking in women and children. The future coordination of relevant agencies is critical in the identification of victims and the prosecution of traffickers and their networks. Enhanced coordination must be achieved through an information exchange network among passport services, tourist firms, and visa departments, as well as border checks of women and children who are leaving Ukraine to go abroad. There must also be thorough investigations into those firms and organizations that render services for immediate job placement, training, or delivery of marriage announcements, as well as state institutions that are involved in the formulation of corresponding documents necessary to travel abroad. 13 references