|
Russia’s Willing Sex Workers Find Enslavement Abroad
By Anastasia Lebedev
April 22, 2004
At a recent press conference, Elena Mizulina, the head of the Interdepartmental
Workgroup in charge of preparing a bill against human trafficking, was reported
to have announced that 92% of all Russian women who go to work abroad wind up
as victims, sold into sex slavery. In its work, the workgroup relied on
research by Russia’s Institute for Social and Economic Problems of the
Population.
Moscow News called the institute for clarification and learned that the figure
actually refers to the percentage of female victims of human trade. Instead,
the institute’s Elena Tilyukanova, also a member of the workgroup, gave Moscow
News a much more startling figure — as many as 25% of young women leaving
Russia for work abroad say that they would work as prostitutes “if it paid more
money” than their current job offer.
Unlike “the gimp” in Pulp Fiction, most sex slaves are not kept fettered in
dungeons. Neither are they kidnapped against their will in the still of the
night. What happens in most cases, Tilyukanova explains, is that women leave
Russia to work in the entertainment industry, as dancers or waitresses — or on
a tourist visa, intending to illegally provide sex services — and then find
themselves dependent on their employer, who refuses to pay them until they have
worked off travel and visa costs.
There are currently 600 firms licensed by Russia’s Federal Migration Service to
find employment abroad for Russians; women go through these firms to obtain
employment as au pairs, entertainment industry employees, caretakers,
babysitters, etc. The women leave for a wide range of countries, Tilyukanova
explained — primarily, the south of Europe (Turkey, Greece), or any country
with a large Russian community, such as Germany, Israel, or the U.S. Through
the Inostranets weekly, a paper geared toward Russians looking to find
employment abroad, the institute polled women who already had job offers and
were preparing to leave Russia. The poll ran twice, revealing the same result —
25% of young women (5% of all women) leaving Russia were prepared to become sex
workers if it earned more money. Unfortunately, since prostitution is illegal
for migrants even in countries where it’s legalized, that means involvement
with the underworld. Once they are absorbed into the shady illegal sex trade
network, there’s a good chance they’ll find themselves in conditions they
hadn’t bargained for. They are threatened, held responsible for travel costs,
and in general are kept ignorant about their legal options.
The workgroup used its findings to prepare a bill that has not yet been passed
by the Duma, although portions of it have been passed, such as the amendments
to the Criminal Procedure Code. For the first time, human trafficking was
defined as a crime and punishment was stipulated. Prior to these amendments,
the Criminal Code only listed the trafficking of minors as a crime. Some
experts, however, believe that the law about minors should have remained a law
in its own right, rather than becoming a clause in the new law, because it may
be harder to prove exploitation of children under the new law.
International experts were involved in the writing of the bill, which has been
deemed by the international community as one of the most progressive bills
intended to fight human trafficking, Tilyukanova says. Other parts of the bill
establish protection for the victims of human trafficking and call for the
dissemination of information about the criminal practice. Currently, NGOs in
Russia offer some help to victims and also to women who are seeking employment
abroad and want to ensure their safety.
The U.S. Department of State subdivides all countries into three tiers, based
on their commitment to combat human trafficking; after the workgroup culminated
its efforts in the writing of the bill, Russia was moved from the lowest Tier 3
to Tier 2. The Duma has not yet scheduled a hearing for the rest of the bill,
but Tilyukanova is hopeful — at least the issue has finally been addressed by
the government. The idea to curb human trafficking in and out of Russia has
long been suggested to the Russian government, but this year steps are finally
being taken to protect all those who suffer.
Copyright 1999-2004, AsianSexGazette.com. All rights reserved. No
content may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission.
Please contact us via the link below for re-print and syndication policies.
|
|
 |
