The number of women trafficked annually ranges anywhere from 200,000 –500,000 Most women end up as sex-workers in Western countries

1. Human Trafficking and Consequences
Summary
Each year, millions of women, men and children around the globe fall prey to human traffickers
whether for sexual exploitation, forced labor, domestic work or other purposes, both within and
beyond the borders of their country. This phenomenon has taken on such proportions that it can
be described as a modern form of slavery The increased globalization and technology that
coincided with the beginning of the trafficking of Russian and Slavic women has meant the
fourth wave is unprecedented in its scope and size and all the more difficult to combat. In Turkey
and Israel, the number of Russian women working in the sex industry is in fact so high that
“Natashas” issued as slang for prostitutes.3Accurate data on the problem of sex trafficking is
hard to collect and verify, resulting in varying numbers. From Newly Independent States (NIS)
and CEE the number of women trafficked annually ranges anywhere from 200,000 –500,000 that
number estimates suggest around 50,000 of those women come from Russia.5While not all
trafficked women are forced into prostitution, the majority are. The number of women subjected
to the extremely brutal, violent and coercive world of forced prostitution is staggering and
unacceptable.
Unreliable and inconsistent data on the number of individuals trafficked is attributable to
multiple factors. The illegal and clandestine nature of the industry makes obtaining reliable data
nearly impossible. Most victims choose to remain silent instead of reporting the crime. Some
governments are reluctant to cooperate. Finally, different definitions of trafficking (including
who should be identified as a victim) are used and there isa lack of a unified methodological

2. approach to generating data. It is likely that most of these estimates are also well below the real
numbers.
No region in the world remains untouched by sex trafficking, though the degree of involvement
varies based on the region and the time period. The extent and overt existence of official
collusion, corruption and criminality have intensified in Russia as a result of the transition. High
and low forms of criminality converged. Similar to its origins in Soviet times, ROC has replaced
the state in providing things like employment, protection and security. During democratization,
power vacuums emerged as a result of the decentralization of state power. This has resulted in
what many refer to as a criminal-syndicalist state.
The trafficking of women for sexual exploitation has a strong history in many areas of the world
and has most recently infiltrated Russia with fervor. Since the early 1990s Slavic women from
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and former Soviet states have constituted what is known as
the fourth wave of sex trafficking of women. The first wave consisted of Thai and Filipino
women, the second wave consisted of Dominicans and Colombians, and the third wave consisted
of the Ghanaians and Nigerians. Following the end of the Soviet Union, Russian women have
been trafficked to over 50 countries and this is the fourth wave of human trafficking.
There is no “general” experience or framework. Each situation is unique through a multitude of
factors, and recognizing this uniqueness is key to understanding how human trafficking works
and how to combat it. Attempts to summarize the trafficking experience more often than not
muddle and set back attempts to combat it. The increased globalization and technology that
coincided with the beginning of the trafficking of Russian and Slavic women has meant the

3. fourth wave is unprecedented in its scope and size and all the more difficult to combat. In Turkey
and Israel, the number of Russian women working in the sex industry is in fact so high that
“Natashas” isused as slang for prostitutes. Accurate data on the problem of sex trafficking is hard
to collect and verify, resulting in varying numbers. From Newly Independent States (NIS) and
CEE the number of women trafficked annually ranges anywhere from 200,000 –500,000.4Of
that number estimates suggest around 50,000 of those women come from Russia.5While not all
trafficked women are forced into prostitution, the majority are. The number of women subjected
to the extremely brutal, violent and coercive world of forced prostitution is staggering and
unacceptable. Figures on the scope of trafficking specifically in CEE are just as varied as global
estimates. Interpol and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report
that each year 4-7 million Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) citizens are trafficked, most
of whom are women and children (Shelly et.al 2010). The U.S. State Department reported more
than 100,000 women were trafficked from Russia; this is regarded as the fourth wave of human
trafficking. Additionally, extreme violence is used to condition the woman and break her until
she submits to prostitution. The level of violence in sex trafficking is horrendous, appalling and
inescapable. This includes but is not limited to gang rape, mutilation, torture, frequent beatings
and even murder. Post-Soviet Russia has experienced deep poverty, but so have countless other
nations. So the question arises why has Russia developed a sex trafficking problem while other
countries with similar circumstances have not? The deeper structural causes go well beyond
economic factors. It was the former Soviet Union which gave birth to the most impacting facrots
and legacies.

4. Human trafficking has been subjected to certain so called waves. The first wave began during the
late19th to the early 20th centuries, nearly five decades and resulted in a set of laws and
subsequent government policies towards human trafficking. Just like most of government
policies, these policies were also forgotten. Then came a second wave of human trafficking,
nick-named 'white slavery'. While the first wave began with human slaves being trafficked from
Thailand and Philippines to Europe and America, the second wave saw these bonded labors of
slaves and sex workers come from Dominican Republic and Columbia including Sudan and then
the third wave took place. In the third wave of trafficking, the human slaves, mostly women sex
workers and children were trafficked from Ghana and Niger to be exploited in Europe and
America. It was the former U.S.S.R from where the fourth wave began countries of Central and
East Europe which includes Russia (Stoecker, 2000: 58). Most of these were young women who
were trafficked for wealthy businessmen of Japan, China and the prostitutes were diverted to
Europe and US (Stoecker, 2000: 59).
In 1850 it was difficult to capture a slave and then transport him/her to the US. Today, millions
of people around the world are potential slaves since thanks to globalization, transport is much
easier, people can travel easily and for less money, so distances are shortening. An average slave
in the American South in 1850 cost the equivalent of 40,000 US dollars in today's money; today
a slave costs an average of 90 US dollars (Krisztina S, 2002). Trafficking in human
beingsfunction just as any market, it is driven by demand and supply. Since there is a huge
supply of people willing to take the risk for a promising new job offer, it decreases their price, so
today's slaves are cheaper because of the supply. It is almost impossible to say if there has been

5. an increase or decrease in trafficking in human beings due to its hidden character. There are no
exact data, just estimations. Just as in the case of number of people being trafficked, it is also
difficult to say, how high profits traffickers are gaining. Only estimations exist, no precise data.
It is not enough what the European Union and the Member States are doing currently (Kay R,
2002). They need to invest more into the fight against trafficking, they need to improve their
approach and set up more effective tools. The response needs to be not just reacting (reacting on
facts and situations) but also proactive. Among the most important national elements of fighting
trafficking in human beings is establishing national anti-trafficking rapporteurs whose main
role should be the coordination of all relevant policies and the preparation of the anti-
trafficking strategy. Even though, the 1993 Council Recommendation has already called for it,
only two Member States have established these bodies.
The intertwinement of factors is crucial to understanding sex trafficking. One factor is just as
significant as another in causing sex trafficking, but none would suffice on their own to cause
trafficking. ROC and patriarchal attitudes are extensive and multidimensional. Identifying these
Soviet legacies as the primary causes of sex trafficking implies something greater than the
individual factors. Organized crime and patriarchy have become more powerful and
institutionalized in post-Soviet Russian society and shaped a context which is so disadvantageous
to women that in the desperate attempt to escape this oppressive society, women become victims
of sex trafficking.
References
Horváth Zoltán [2005]: Kézikönyv ay Európai Unióról, HVG-Orac Lap- és Könyvkiadó Kft.,
Budapest: 36.o

6. Kay, Rebecca. Liberation from Emancipation? Changing Discourses on Women’s Employment
in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia.” Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics
18 (2002): 51-72
Locher, Birgit [2007]: Trafficking in Women in the European Union - norms, advocacy-
networks and policy-change, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften: pp. 76-77
Száraz, Krisztina [2002]: Applying US lessons in Slovakia, S.T.E.P. Edition Spring 2002,
Newsletter of the American Institute for Full Employment, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA:
p. 16
Shelley, Louise, and Sally Stoecker, eds. Human Traffic and Transnational Crime: Eurasian and
American Perspectives.United States: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010: p. 26
Stoecker, Sally W. “The Rise in Human Trafficking and the Role of Organized Crime.”
Demokratizatsiya 8 (January 2000): 1-19.

7. Kay, Rebecca. Liberation from Emancipation? Changing Discourses on Women’s Employment
in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia.” Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics
18 (2002): 51-72
Locher, Birgit [2007]: Trafficking in Women in the European Union - norms, advocacy-
networks and policy-change, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften: pp. 76-77
Száraz, Krisztina [2002]: Applying US lessons in Slovakia, S.T.E.P. Edition Spring 2002,
Newsletter of the American Institute for Full Employment, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA:
p. 16
Shelley, Louise, and Sally Stoecker, eds. Human Traffic and Transnational Crime: Eurasian and
American Perspectives.United States: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010: p. 26
Stoecker, Sally W. “The Rise in Human Trafficking and the Role of Organized Crime.”
Demokratizatsiya 8 (January 2000): 1-19.