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Prostitution > Trafficking in human beings 2/3

1 The causes of the reasons for departure

The causes are linked to the countries of origin and to the personal situation of the victims:

economic and political: high unemployment, poverty, no future, political instability
social: feminine marginalization, low educational level, family problems, reduced possibility of legal migration.

They can also be linked to the destination countries: (false) image of well-being and wealth, over valorization of precedent migration experiences, poor knowledge of the realities of the destination country.

2 Potential victims

They are all candidates for expatriation: they are both vulnerable (poverty, age, social status, family situation, possible handicap, debt) and courageous (looking for alternatives to their current living conditions).

Slave Trade Victim Profile according to the NGO La Strada, Moldavia, 2003:

Young women (14 - 26 years old): 83% of which 15% are minors
Rural Origins: 50%
Orphans or from mono-parental families: 50%
Single mother(s): 27%
Come from a disadvantaged environment: 80%
Living below the poverty level (30% with less than $10/month, 5% without resources, 5% survive thanks to homegrown products)
Low educational level (85% did not go to secondary school, 90% are without professional training)
Highly risky situation (80% no longer have bonds to their home country)

3 Recruitment method

The "fiancé"
The smugglers establish a friendly or romantic relationship with their potential victims in order to gain their trust and to convince them to go abroad. It's about manipulation and emotional blackmail to force these young women to become prostitutes.

Family or friends
Families entrust their children to relatives living in Europe so that they can pursue their education or find a job. This type of situation is especially true in the cases of domestic
slavery, but not only ...

Classified ads or employment agencies
Glamorous jobs and assistance in getting travel documents often hide the true nature of the work and the living conditions abroad.

Debt
Smugglers buy off the debts of their potential victims, who are thus obligated to follow them abroad and to work for them there in order to regain their freedom.

In certain cases, kidnapping

Making contact with the recruiter (La Strada, Moldavia, 2004):	Acquaintance	32%
	Friend	9%
	Parents - family	5%
	Strangers	50%

4 The trip

Travel documents used are either tourist visas or fake papers. They are generally supplied by smugglers.

Travel conditions depend on the documents of the potential victims. Travel takes place by group transportation (planes, trains, buses) or by car. Several countries are crossed.

5 The networks

There are many smuggling networks, each with its own structure, according to:

the structure. They can be very structured. In this case, they are true international crime organizations, implicated in different types of traffic, including the trafficking in human beings. But they can also be little or unstructured: groups of smugglers often composed of members of the same family.

the internal organization. They can control all or a part of the trade process.
The networks of trafficking in human beings can join forces with the clandestine immigration networks, especially regarding itineraries, falsified documents, and the abuse of vulnerable people.

6 The types of exploitation

6.1. Sexual exploitation

prostitution
the sex and pornography industry

6.2. Economic exploitation

domestic slavery
clandestine workshops
exploitation by begging
submission to unlawful activities
other forms (sports sector, sale of body organs…).

Sectors of exploitation according to the NGO La Strada, Moldavia, 2003	Sexual exploitation	82%
	Begging	5%
	Forced labor	7%
	Delinquent acts	3%
	Surrogate mothers	3%

7 Methods of enslavement

The types of exploitation are different but the enslaving process is the same:

confiscation of passport and/or all other documents
physical or "psychological" sequestration of the person
abuse of vulnerability
emotional blackmail
recourse to violence, to repeated rapes, to coercion and/or threats against the victim or members of her family.

The victim finds herself in a situation of enslavement characterized by physical and psychological control of the person, inhuman treatment, deprivation of freedom: the subject becomes an object.

8 With or without the victim's consent

The initial consent of the victim doesn't matter.

Migrants might know the nature of the work abroad (prostitution, domestic work, in manufacturing …) but they never know the living and working conditions, the methods used to subdue them, the absence of freedom which follows.