BRAMA, Feb. 23, 2000, 3:00pm EST

Advancing the cause of women while trafficking of women from Ukraine accelerates

Oksana Horbunova (La Strada) File photo, 1999

Washington, DC – Trafficking of Ukrainian women for the purposes of prostitution is on the rise, according to Oksana Horbunova of "La Strada," a non-governmetal organization based in Kyiv. Last week Ms. Horbunova attended a 5-day series of conferences in Washington called the "Vital Voices Inititiative." Vital Voices is a U.S. government sponsored global initiative which implements Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s commitment to promote the advancement of women as a U.S. foreign policy objective. This initiative enjoys the active support of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The list of topics covered at the conference ran the gamut from violence against women to business and professional problems faced by women around the world. The goal of these conferences is to build partnerships, develop global contacts and network support groups. The overall purpose of Vital Voices was encapsulated by Hillary Clinton in 1997 at the first such conference held in Vienna, Austria: "We are here to advance the cause of women and to advance the cause of democracy and to make it absolutely clear that the two are inseparable. There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard. There cannot be true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own lives."

Oksana Horbunova, who works full-time at assisting the victims of traffickers, is always vigilant about bringing awareness to forums such as this one about the growing problems of women in Ukraine. At a round table discussion with Secretary of State Madeleine Allbright, she spoke about the anti-trafficking legislation in Ukraine and updates on related events in the country since their last meeting in Austria in 1997. Ukraine's Parliament adopted an anti-trafficking law in March 1998, and since then there have reportedly been 17 cases brought before the courts. Only one of those has been prosecuted so far, and although it resulted in a guilty verdict, the punishment was inconsquential. According to Ms. Horbunova it was "a mere fine," and hardly more than a slap on the wrist.

In addition to participating in the Vital Voices Conference, Ms. Horbunova attended Congressional hearings where trafficking bills are being debated. Senator Paul Wellstone (D - MN) addressed the senate floor yesterday regarding legislation that was introduced to the Senate last year. There are several bills in both houses of Congress under consideration as anti-trafficking legislation. The current status of the bills can be found at the "Thomas" Library of Congress website: http://thomas.loc.gov/ by typing the word "trafficking" in the search window.

Ms. Horbunova met separately with representatives of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in a meeting arranged by Melanne Verveer, First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff. According to Ms. Horbunova, tentative plans for a workshop and roundtable between Ukrainian and U.S. government officials are currently under discussion. The meetings are expected to take place in Kyiv, Ukraine this June.

The trafficking issue is most poignant when speaking about the victims. Ms. Horbunova recounted a story of a recent (January 2000) rescue of six young Ukrainians from Montenegro, Yugoslavia.

According to Ms. Horbunova, a Serb and his Ukrainian wife who live in Montenegro invited a group of seven Eastern Ukrainian women to work in Yugoslavia as waitresses. But instead of tending tables at a restaurant, the seven were "sold" to a nightclub owner in Podhoritsa upon their arrival in Montenegro. Over the course of a few weeks’ time, forced to live in the cellar of the club, the women were fed once a day and were expected to service local "clients" with sexual favors. It was pure luck that one of the clients was carrying a mobile telephone which one of the women found an opportunity to use for a call to her family in Ukraine.

The mothers of the victims turned to La Strada for help. La Strada contacted Ann Jordan of the International Human Rights Law Group, who in turn called Congressman Christopher H. Smith (D-NJ). Mr. Smith, who has proposed trafficking legislation in Congress and is active in this sphere, appealed to the Prime Minister of Montenegro for support in tracking down the girls and to arrange for their rescue. A raid of the club was organized by local police, and the women were released to the care of the Consulate of Ukraine in Montenegro. Ironically, some of the policemen who took part in the raid were also clients of the club owner who had imprisoned the women. The Consulate arranged and paid for their transportation back to Ukraine and, once in Kyiv, the much needed medical attention and emotional support after such a frightful ordeal was provided by the dedicated staff at La Strada.

This story is unfinished, however, as one of the women is still missing. It should have been a recovery of seven rather just six, but one woman was "sold" and moved to another location before the rescue operation was executed. We were told that this seventh victim was sold to another trafficker in Albania just prior to the raid. She is thought to now be somewhere in Italy.

According to Oksana Horbunova, the frequency of the cries for help have increased dramatically in the last year. The overwhelming number of calls that they respond to at La Strada are becoming difficult to juggle with their other responsibilities. The costs associated with treatment of the victims including medical aid and transportation have exceeded the budget, and operational costs have become all but impossible to meet. Funding for La Strada is still provided in part by the parent organization in Europe, but the Kyiv office must rely on independent sources of income in order to continue their work. For more information about La Strada and its activities, please access the website: http://www.brama.com/lastrada/

– H. Krill, Brama

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