BRAMA, Aug 12, 2003, 9:00 am ET
Press Release
IOM Combats Trafficking in Women from Ukraine
The third of five training seminars on the use of mutual legal assistance and extradition treaties is bringing together prosecutors and representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Services of Ukraine, judges from the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kirovograd, and Luhansk areas, as well as officials from Kiev.
The two-day seminar that began yesterday is being held by IOM, the General Prosecutor Office of Ukraine (GPO), the American Bar Association, Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Winrock International, a non-profit organisation.
The seminars are aimed at instructing prosecutors and investigators from the General Prosecutors Office and other Ukrainian law enforcement bodies on the use of mutual legal assistance and extradition treaties.
In addition, speakers from Switzerland and the Czech Republic will discuss the practical aspects of the mutual legal assistance and extradition procedures that exist between their respective countries and Ukraine. Sessions on investigative techniques used in combating money laundering, a criminal activity often inextricably intertwined with human trafficking offenses, are also being held.
The average trafficked woman from Ukraine is under 25 years of age. Facing difficult socio-economic conditions and massive unemployment, Ukrainian women seek unskilled, low wage employment abroad. Many of them are unaware of the conditions that await them. Traffickers deceive the women with false promises of help and services. Once firmly trapped within an irregular migration environment, they become vulnerable to abuse, including bonded labour and forced prostitution, threats against their families, and confiscation of their earnings.
In Ukraine, traffickers often use the cover of an employment recruiter to arrange documents and travel across one or more international borders. From the initial recruitment to arrival in the country of destination, traffickers may sell the women a number of times.
Trafficking networks are able to operate with relative impunity for a number of reasons: fear on the part of victims to speak out, inadequate legislation including absence of provisions to prosecute the traffickers, lack of appropriate mechanisms to enforce existing laws, as well as statutes that criminalize prostitution which may make the victim vulnerable to prosecution.
IOM is working with national NGOs to provide protection and reintegration assistance to victims of trafficking returning to Ukraine. So far, IOM Kiev has organized the return and reintegration of over 800 victims of trafficking, mostly from Turkey, the FYR of Macedonia, Russia, Italy, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina and Poland. IOM and its partners maintain regular contact with the victims in order to monitor their reintegration process and to determine whether they or their families have been threatened.
An IOM Rehabilitation Centre was opened in Kiev on 8 February 2002 in cooperation with the ICG, and Ukrainian health authorities. The staff includes a general practitioner, a gynaecologist and a psychologist, plus support staff including nurses and cooks. If necessary, patients also receive specialized treatment, including psychiatric care and dental services. The Centre also includes a cafeteria and a small classroom, where the staff conducts group therapy sessions, gives lessons on reproductive health, and counsels victims to identify realistic employment goals and the vocational training necessary.
IOM's NGO network consists of 17 partners that cover most of the territory of Ukraine. The majority of NGOs in this network have been active in combating trafficking in Ukraine for several years. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency finances the IOM contribution to the counter-trafficking seminars.
For more information, contact Fred Larsson, IOM Kiev iomkiev@iom.int Tel: 380.44.568.5015.
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