Eastern Europe
With the break-up of the Soviet Union, several countries that were once protected by the Kremlin fell into political and economic uncertainty. These countries could no longer provide sufficient employment opportunities for their citizens, causing many to seek jobs abroad. Many young men were recruited into criminal organizations that survived by exploiting other “comrades.” These factors fueled the already growing practice of human trafficking in Eastern Europe, a practice that has continued into the 21st century. After studying and working in Russia, I have found three reasons that help explain why trafficking in persons is so common in this region: Lack of economic opportunities, Organized crime, and the Orphanage system.
Generally, Eastern European countries serve as source countries for women and children to be trafficked into neighboring European countries or into the United States. These populations provide a supply for three demands: sex, labor, and organs.
Sex: Human traffickers acting in Eastern Europe often recruit young women seeking employment abroad. The story is common; women willingly give their passports and other documents to men and women posing as “employment agents” who promise to find them work abroad. These women are transported to a foreign country and then sent to brothels or other holding places to work off their “travel debt.” They are forced into prostitution by threats against their lives, or the lives of their family and friends at home. Often, the women do not speak the local language and do not seek help from authorities out of fear that they will be treated as criminals. Although it is difficult to find reliable statistics about trafficking in Eastern Europe, consider that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) estimates that 50,000 young Russian women are trafficked abroad each year by organized criminal groups for forced prostitution.
In addition to job-seeking women, younger groups are also the target of sexual exploitation. Street children and orphans are two high-risk groups for trafficking, since there is almost no accountability for their well-being. These children are kept in state institutions and receive very basic educational skills, and no vocational skills. When they are “emancipated,” usually at age seventeen, they become a highly-targeted group for trafficking. Even during their childhood in state-run orphanages, traffickers will bribe the employees to take several children with them.
Labor: Although it is more rare, trafficking for labor exploitation is still a concern for several Eastern European countries. The Roma population, often referred to as “gypsies,” are perfect targets for traffickers because of their low social status in most countries. Children are used to beg, dance, play musical instruments, or even attack wealthy individuals in an attempt to make money for the group’s ringleader. (If you’ve ever traveled in Eastern or Western Europe, you probably noticed a poorly-dressed woman holding a small child begging for your spare change.)
Organs: Horror stories of people awaking to find incisions in their abdomen, with missing organs are unfortunately not entirely false in Eastern Europe. There have been recent reports of human organs being found at food markets, as well as human organs being sold on the internet. Some of these organs may have been taken from the deceased, but there is evidence that organ traffickers operate within Eastern Europe.
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