Katrina had left her hometown Smolensk four years ago after graduating from the
local university. She was among about 50 other women from Russia, Ukraine and
Belarus aged 18-30 who were taken to Thailand by an agent promising good
income.
"Given the financial pressure from the family, I decided to go notwithstanding
the consequences," Katrina (not her real name) told IPS. "When I arrived in
Bangkok, I was enslaved, sometimes beaten and forced to sleep with different
men throughout the night." It took her more than three years to get away.
Hers is the kind of story becoming increasingly more familiar in Russia,
according to research by the Russian non-governmental organisations group, The
Angel Coalition. The coalition comprising 61 groups was set up in 1999 to fight
increased trafficking of women from Russia and other ex-Soviet states.
The Coalition cites studies from the United Nations, the U.S. State Department
and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to say that
more than 500,000 women from the former Soviet Union have been trafficked to
more than 50 countries in the past 10 years.
The group says that as many as 80 percent of the women trafficked were ensnared
by criminal gangs. It said Ukraine and Russia are the largest source of
trafficked women.
"The trade is secretive, the women are silenced, the traffickers are dangerous,
prosecution is rare, and few agencies have the staff and adequate finance to
rescue them," the Coalition says.
The scale of trafficking has been increasing, with Moscow becoming the primary
transit point, director of The Angel Coalition Oleg Kouzbit says.
"Few of these countries have laws to prevent trafficking or to prosecute
traffickers, and these criminals are free to operate with impunity," Kouzbit
told IPS.
The Coalition sharply criticises the Russian government for failure to take
decisive action against the growing problem, even though the government is
enacting new legislation to curb such trafficking.
"We are confident we will be able to provide the government with the
information it needs to formulate a comprehensive programme to abolish the
trafficking of women and children in Russia," Kouzbit said. "Russian women have
suffered enough exploitation. They do not deserve to become (prostitutes) of
the world."
The Angel Coalition set up a rehabilitation project and staff training
facilities earlier this year in partnership with 'Women and Children First',
the MiraMed Institute, and similar non-governmental organisations with some
funding from the Sweden-based World Childhood Foundation.
So far the St. Petersburg Psychological Crisis Centre has served as a model and
training centre for many NGOs helping trafficked women. It has rehabilitated
more victims than any other shelter in Russia and continues to develop
innovative strategies to attempt successful reintegration of victims into
society.
Many women are being driven into prostitution also by low income. The Moscow
Centre for Gender Studies said in a report that the average monthly wage of
women in 2004 was 6,929 roubles (230 dollars).
Beyond low income it says a lack of social awareness is a major hurdle to
overcome. The problem is little publicised because the victims are usually too
ashamed to lodge a formal complaint. Gangsters often threaten them into
silence.
Kouzbit estimates that no more than two percent of women make complaints to the
police on their return, and then the police are reluctant to investigate them.
In the face of growing criticism over inaction, the interior ministry has set
up a unit for border checks to stop human trafficking and commercial sexual
exploitation of women. The Moscow city government has set up a commission to
prevent human trafficking and prostitution.
"The commission is looking to secure strong criminal laws against trafficking
and prostitution," coordinator of its interdepartmental legislative working
group Tatyana Kholshevnikova told IPS. Legislation to toughen laws against
women trafficking is due to receive its first reading in the duma (parliament)
next month after drafting by a 20-member working group.
"In Moscow and all over Russia we have not been able to combat this problem
because we don't have a well-defined law against the trafficking of women," she
said. "Now, we are drafting an excellent anti-trafficking law and proposed
revisions to the criminal code that will make trafficking of women a major
crime."
Inter Press Service
