The Ukraine has experienced high unemployment, especially among women, since becoming independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. As a result, many Ukrainian women have turned to sex work either willingly through mail order bride websites or against their will through human trafficking. Trafficking is often performed by organized crime groups and sends women abroad where their documents are destroyed and they face control by traffickers. While the Ukrainian government and UN are working to address these issues, law enforcement remains inconsistent in regulating the trafficking and mail order bride industries.

1. THE UKRAINE AND ME

2. ABOUT ME: My name is Abby. I have 3 children, ages 3, 18 months, and 4 months. I also have a wonderful husband. I am just starting back at school after a 4 year break and majoring in English with a Sociology minor. All 3 of my children have their Grandparents’ names as their middle name.

3. I lived in Iowa till I was 10, then moved to Minnesota and have lived here ever since. I graduated from Benson, MN in 1998 with 98 students. I stay home with my children during the day and have since they were born. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, cooking, home projects, crafts, and scrapbooking. I have been a die-hard Vikings fan for all my life.

4. About the ukraine: A former state of the Soviet Union, the Ukraine has been independent since 1991, with a current population of 47,732,079 with Kiev being the largest city and also their capital. Their population is declining by .66% as of late. The birth rate is one of the lowest at 10.21 / 1000 people and a infant mortality rate of 20.61 / 1000. The fertility rate is 1.37 children born per woman on average. The government is taking steps to increase the population by providing greater financial support and incentives to those who bear children. The literacy rate is near 100% for both sexes.

5. Though there are several different industries such as the coal, electric power, mining, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar), and excellent soil for agriculture, the Ukraine has high unemployment since the dissolving of the USSR. Of the people that have lost their jobs since 1991, 80% are women. The country is currently looking at 2/3 of their women being unemployed. Many women are either being kidnapped or lured into prostitution or the sex trade.

6. The Sex tourism in the Ukraine is the fastest growing in the world. There are male tourists that visit the Ukraine specifically to have sex with many women or to find a wife. 2/3 of young Ukrainian women want to go abroad. 70% of women that have been trafficked are often recruited to leave their country and become either dancers, waitresses, or models in other countries. When these women get to another country, their passports and papers are often destroyed or taken in order to gain control by the traffickers.

7. 65% of trafficking cases were performed by organized crime groups. Many based out of Russia. 80% of the traffickers are Ukrainian and 60% of them are women. These women are often former prostitutes who become traffickers. Women who are kidnapped for the sex trade often lose the support of their families and are not welcomed home if they escape. Often the only way out of the prostitution for these women is by deportation.

8. There are several on-line marriage sites offering Ukrainian women for marriage abroad. Many women from rural communities feel that rich men from other countries will be their ticket out of poverty. A review of 219 on-line marriage sites found 32,000 women up for marriage. The demand for Ukrainian women has surpassed Asian women in massage parlors and brothels across the world. The U.N. and the Ukrainian government have begun to address the issues of trafficking and mail-order brides but law enforcement is inconsistent and difficult to regulate.

9. Bibliography CIA – The World Fact Book. Retrieved from http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact2004/geos/up.html. The Global Post. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/russia-and-its-neighbors/090608/sex-tourism . Hughes, Donna M.; Denisova, Tatyana. Trafficking in Women From Ukraine. December, 2003. The New York Times: Traffickers’ New Cargo: Naïve Slavic Women. Michael Specter. January 11, 1998. Unicef. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ukraine_statistics.html#59 . Wikipedia. Retrieved January 18, 2010, from http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ukraine#Demographics