Trafficking in Women and Children for Purposes of Sexual Exploitation: The Criminological Aspect (From Prediction and Control of Organized Crime: The Experience of Post-Soviet Ukraine, P 43-51, 2004, James O. Finckenauer, Jennifer L. Schrock, eds., -- See NCJ-204368)

• NCJ Number: 204371
• Author(s): Tatyana A. Denisova
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Transaction Publishers
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter presents a study that examined the prevalence and etiology of trafficking in women and children in Ukraine.

Abstract

Despite the fact there have been anti-human trafficking efforts in place since the 19th century, trafficking in women and children continues to thrive. Two organizations have been established in Ukraine to help victims of trafficking by attempting to locate missing women and girls and by maintaining victim hotlines. Other efforts to curb human trafficking in Ukraine have included the establishment of the Program for the Prevention of Trafficking in Women and Children, which provides for wide-scale prevention measures. This research explored the prevalence and etiology of trafficking in girls and women in Ukraine by employing a wide range of research methods, including content analysis, interviews, and survey data collected from victims of trafficking and their families and from young Ukrainian women considered to be high-risk of becoming victims of trafficking. Statistical analyses of the data revealed four primary reasons considered to be at the root of the human trafficking problem in Ukraine: (1) political instability; (2) economic instability; (3) difficult ecological accidents (Chernobyl, etc.); and (4) a low level of public morality. The analysis indicated that 70 percent of victims were enticed by promises of work, participation in beauty contests, modeling careers, affordable vacations in foreign countries, study-abroad programs at universities, and marriage services. While in some cases there was an understanding that intimate services will be required from them, most of the women and girls are unaware of the actual scale of sexual exploitation. Most victims were under 25 years of age, one-third had not finished their secondary education, about half had an intermediate education, and one in five had a higher education. Victims of trafficking share a desire to leave their countries of origin in search of work abroad. Approximately 10 percent of trafficked women and girls considered the sex trade to be a secondary income to fall back on when needed. Criminal networks appear to be responsible for the trafficking of women and girls in this country. Suggestions are made for curbing the trade in women and girls, including the provision of medical and social rehabilitation services for victims, protection from threats and punishments by criminal groups, and public awareness campaigns. Notes, references