CHERNIVTSI, Ukraine – For years, Elena, a mother of two children, was one of many women in Ukraine suffering from domestic violence. But when she decided to try and find a new way of earning an income, her troubles grew far worse.

A neighbour told her about a man who was offering to pay her 1,000 Euros a month to work as a housemaid in Germany. For a battered woman living in a town where the average monthly income is 63 Euros, the work sounded to go to be true. And it was.

After a long, clandestine journey which involved riding in a sleek, expensive car out of the Ukraine, being forced to walk through a forest at night, and crossing a river on a rickety boat, Elena found herself in Germany – but not working as a housemaid as planned.

Instead, she wound up in a house on the edge of a town where she and her friend were forced to have sex with dozens of men.

Her ordeal ended three months later when the German police raided the brothel. She was arrested, sent to a women's prison, and then deported back to her home.

Elvira Mrushkovska, the director of the local NGO "Suchasnyk" says stories such as this one are not atypical. She has handled more than 100 similar cases. Eventually, Elena registered with the regional employment centre, which works in partnership with the NGO, and is now looking for a legitimate job. Between August 2004 and March 2005, some 3,500 victims of trafficking or potential victims were given counselling or advice by the region's employment centre offices.

Trafficking for forced labour exploitation in Europe

Beyond trafficking for commercial sexual services, there is a clear need to better understand the different forms of trafficking in Europe.

Albania, the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine are important source countries of trafficked victims. In all four countries, a comparatively large share of the population lives below the international poverty line and the need to earn a little money can lead to unexpected, terrible consequences, including sex slavery and human trafficking. But at least one-third of the victims are trafficked for economic purposes other than sexual exploitation.

A German study ( Note 2), published along with the ILO's global report on forced labour, describes 42 cases of forced labour, including forced sex work, exploitation of domestic workers, seasonal work in agriculture, construction work, catering, the funfair trade, and meat processing. The majority of cases were from Central and Eastern Europe, with a high proportion of Polish seasonal workers.

Overall, the German research findings point to a small number of severe cases of exploitation, but widespread forms of coercion that do not involve outright physical violence or constraint. While more than half of 827 registered victims of forced sex work experienced physical violence according to the Federal Criminal Police Office, violence was the exception in other economic activities.

A similar study on the Russian Federation ( Note 3) found that coercion is part of an average job experience for many migrants, rather than an outcome of a deliberate trafficking or deceptive recruitment strategy. Victims tend to migrate on a voluntary basis. The circle of deception closes in at a later stage in the destination area; first, documents are withdrawn and wages left unpaid.

Victims are then subject to coercion, restriction of movement and physical abuse. Passports are held by employers in over one-fifth of all cases. 18 per cent of victims in Moscow stated that they were working as bonded labourers: their "debt", which had to be refunded to the employer, usually exceeded one month's wage by a considerable amount. Another 16 per cent of interviewed migrants in the Russian capital affirmed that they were threatened with punishment if they tried to leave their present employers.

The study on France ( Note 4) focused on clandestine Chinese migrants. Many migrants leave China with a friend or relative who makes the initial contact with the "snakehead", the smuggling or trafficking agent, and advances money. Sometimes the fee is increased during travel, and migrants may be held in detention en route until their debts have been paid. In the destination place, 15-hour workdays are common, as are examples of physical restraint.

While the report stresses the need for clear legislation against forced labour, the offence of forced labour is not identified as such in existing criminal law in several European countries. Many of these countries, however, have either adopted new legislation to criminalize the offence of human trafficking, or are now in the process of developing such legislation. France adopted comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation in March 2003, while in Germany, recent amendments to the Penal Code include separate provisions for the offences of trafficking for sexual exploitation and for labour exploitation.

"In such cases of trafficking, improved law enforcement must always be part of the solution. But it is unrealistic to believe that law enforcement alone can eradicate problems … a number of factors are tempting producers to cut costs to the maximum by placing the burden on the workforce", says Roger Plant, main author of the global report on forced labour.

Together with other specialized agencies, the ILO has assisted governments and the social partners in drafting or broadening the scope of National Action Plans against Human Trafficking in Albania, the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. Assistance is being given on formulating a policy on "safe migration", and in ensuring that national employment plans benefit actual and potential victims of trafficking in Albania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

---

Note 1

Note 2

Note 3

Note 4 - Gao Yun, V. Poisson, Le traffic et l'exploitation des immigrants chinois en France, ILO, 2004.