Croatia is primarily a transit country, but also a country of origin and destination for trafficked women. Women from Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and other countries are reportedly trafficked through Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro to Croatia, and from there onto France[1], Italy[2], Spain and Switzerland[3]. Women are transported through the country by truck or boat.
In the early 1990s, the only trafficking route was from Hungary to Zagreb, where women worked in prostitution on the outskirts of the city. In the later half of 1990s, new routes from Bosnia opened up to include tourist towns along the Adriatic coast (Split and Dubrovnik) and places frequented by SFOR military personnel[4]. It is reported that victims are sold to Croatian traffickers at “collecting centers” located in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. One such center is the “Arizona market”, a huge unregulated market situated outside of Brcko (Bosnia-Herzegovina) near the border between Croatia and Serbia-Montenegro, and similar market also exists in Bihac, near Bosanski Petrovac (Bosnia-Herzegovina).[5] The general economic climate in Croatia has been much more favorable compared to the rest of Southeastern Europe. Poverty, lack of education, lack of equal opportunity and gender inequality do not have a great influence on the trafficking infrastructure. According to a study, 73 percent of the Croatian population is aware of organized prostitution involving foreign women in Croatia. Cases of child prostitution have also been reported. Among the most affected regions is Slavonia, with the largest percentage of people who have heard about child prostitution (15.6 percent).[6] Although illegal immigration is one of Croatia’s biggest problems, there are no visible ties between illegal immigration and trafficking in women. In 2000, the police registered 24,000 illegal migrants crossing the border into Croatia, double compared to 1999.[7] However, there is no evidence that any of the women or children might have been victims of trafficking.[8] So far, there has been only one reported case of alleged attempt for baby trafficking. A British doctor was detained under a suspicion of trying to coerce Croatian women to give up their children.[9]
Trafficking in Croatia is done primarily for the purposes of prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation, such as mail-order brides, forced marriages and marriages of convenience, military prostitution (peace-keeping forces), and refugees.
Croatia’s Criminal Code does not define trafficking as a distinct offense. The cases of trafficking may be prosecuted under an article of Criminal Code that prohibits “establishment of slavery and transport of slaves,” punishable between 1 and 10 years in prison.[10] The code adopts a broad definition of what constitutes a criminal offense in this regard; included are buying, selling, or mediating in the purchase of a person or inducing someone to sell his/her freedom. Additionally, the Code criminalizes the aforementioned acts relating to the sale of a minor for the purposes of adoption, transplantation of organs, exploitation by labor, or “other illicit purposes,” which is punishable by imprisonment of at least 5 years.[11] The code also criminalizes “illegal transfer of persons across the state border” and an attempt to commit this offense, which is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to 1 year.[12] Similarly, the Code criminalizes “international prostitution”[13] (i.e., procuring, luring or enticing another person to offer sexual services for profit within a state outside the one in which the person resides or is a citizen). Punishment takes the form of imprisonment, which ranges from 3 months to 3 years. The penalty increases in range from 6 months to 5 years if force, threat, or deceit is used to coerce a person into prostitution[14] and from 1 to 10 years if the victim is a minor.[15] The fact that the victim has been previously engaged in prostitution is irrelevant for establishment of criminal liability. Recently, the legislature has also adopted a novel approach that provides for criminal liability of anyone who purchases sexual services from a woman in prostitution, if the customer has the knowledge that the woman is being trafficked. Also prohibited is pandering, which the Code under Article 196 defines as organizing or assisting another person in offering sexual services.[16] Punishment for the offense is imprisonment of 3 months to 3 years.[17] The punishment is increased to 6 months to 5 years, if the offense is committed by force, threats to use force or deceit,[18] and to 1 to 10 years if this offense is committed against the minor.[19] Again, the fact that the person has been previously engaged in prostitution is irrelevant for establishment of criminal liability. Although not considered a criminal act under Croatia’s Criminal Code, prostitution is an offense against the country’s law protecting public peace and order and is regulated by the law on Misdemeanors and Crimes. Under Article 12, the law punishes prostitution by a fine (up to DM 200) or imprisonment for up to 30 days.[20] The same law prohibits practicing prostitution on one’s premises and promoting prostitution[21] and under Article 7 punishes a provider or mediator of prostitution with up to 30 days of prison or a fine of up to DM 350.[22] A number of other laws can be used to prosecute traffickers. Thus, Article 279 of the Criminal Code criminalizes money laundering as a separate offense. Croatia also has a separate law “On Prevention of Money Laundering,” which imposes mandatory reporting requirements on a wide range of credit and financial institutions, as well as casinos, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, and dealers in some high value goods. In March 2002, Croatian parliament adopted the national program for combating corruption, calling for strengthening of the rule of law and the efficiency of the criminal prosecution of corruption. Further, Croatia’s Constitution forbids forced labor or any form of slavery. The Labor Law (No. 758/1995) set the minimum age of employment at 15 years, and children between 15 and 18 may work only with the written permission of a parent or legal guardian. Further, children under the age of 18 are prohibited, under Occupational Safety and Health Act, from working overtime, at night, under dangerous labor conditions, or in any other job that may be harmful to their health, morality, or development. As far as actual action taken to combat sex trafficking in Croatia, little has been done because the government fails to recognize it as a real problem within the country due to the absence of evidence or victims.[23] “It has to be stressed that, in contrast to other countries in the region, there is no evidence that trafficking in women is a problem in Croatia. To date, there have been only a few victims identified and supported, but neither have any efforts have been made to expose any evidence of organized trafficking that might exist.”[24] In 2002-2003, only 13 cases of trafficking in persons have been registered by the authorities in Croatia.[25] While the police are committed to working against organized crime, their commitment to treating sex trafficking as a specific issue is non-existent. Croatia signed “The Agreement on Co-operation to Prevent and Combat Trans-border Crime” with SECI and is a member of the Adriatic Sea Initiative.[26] The lack of funds and training, corruption within the force and the absence of a clear and decisive plan of action are cited by some officers as the main obstacles to being efficient at their job.[27] “The IOM report points out that since prostitution in small towns and villages can hardly escape police attention, the lack of police action should be questioned and addressed. Police officers interviewed for the report either marginalized trafficking as an artificially created problem or called the known cases the tip of the iceberg.”[28] The government has also done little in the areas of prevention and raising awareness of trafficking. It should be noted, however, that the Ministry of Interior has been designated to coordinate anti-trafficking activities in Croatia, and the National Coordinator on Trafficking has been appointed in July 2001.[29] The working group has drafted the national action plan on anti-trafficking measures; however, this was done without any input from NGOs. The government also does not provide protection to victims of trafficking. Trafficked victims are usually arrested by the police and border control officials as illegal migrants or persons involved in a crime of international prostitution; they are not screened as potential victims of trafficking, but are automatically punished in accordance with the national laws governing these offenses. Illegal migrants are fined US$ 25 and given 24 hours to leave Croatia. If they are caught for the second time, they are detained by the authorities and deported.[30] However, if there is a suspicion that a foreigner is a minor, he/she is referred to a local Social Welfare Center and provided some assistance. In addition, a case has been reported recently, which suggests the reversal in the trend towards criminalizing the behavior of victims of trafficking and their deportation. On September 9, 2003, the National Committee for the Fight Against Human Trafficking has issued a statement that “a 22-year-old Russian woman, who had been ‘bought’ by a Croatian citizen in Banja Luka and who had been forced to work as a prostitute, was being allowed to stay in Croatia temporarily.”[31] According to the report, the woman was first arrested in Zagreb at the end of August and her right to remain in Croatia has been revoked by the police; however, the police was later ordered to treat the woman as a victim of trafficking, which entitled her to temporary residency permit, as well as accommodations, medical, legal, psychological, and social assistance.[32] Moreover, on October 1, 2003, the parliament has passed the Law on Witness Protection, which defines, as a condition for granting protection, circumstances in which life, health, freedom, or property of a witness are threatened.[33] Croatia has ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention (105) on the Abolition of Forced Labor; the ILO Convention (182) to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor; the United Nations (UN) Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; and signed the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. However, Croatia has not ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography or the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Under the Stability Pact, the Republic of Croatia signed a “Partner agreement for the preparation of the National Action Plan on the Permanent Stability in the Field of Asylum, Migration, Border Control and Surveillance of the State Border” with the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Germany, the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Austria and Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia. Croatia’s Ministry of Justice department has set up a working group on the Preparation of the Alien Law and Asylum Law that will make it possible to develop provisions for protecting victims. As part of a regional program, UNIFEM is supporting the local NGO, B.a.b.e., in the gender assessment of Croatian legislation.[34] [1] “Big Increase in Eastern European Prostitution in Strasbourg,” Agence France Presse, 5 April 2000. [2] “Croatia - Trafficking in Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation - A New IOM Report on Trafficking of Women and Children in Croatia Sheds Light on the Extent of this Practice and Underlines the Need for the Authorities to Take Appropriate Action to Counter this Phenomenon,” BRAMA Press Release, 15 June 2002, http://www.brama.com/news/press/020615iom_trafficking.html [3] Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Report from Conference organised in Stubicke Toplice in May 2001. [4] “Croatia - Trafficking in Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation - A New IOM Report on Trafficking of Women and Children in Croatia Sheds Light on the Extent of this Practice and Underlines the Need for the Authorities to Take Appropriate Action to Counter this Phenomenon,” BRAMA Press Release, 15 June 2002, http://www.brama.com/news/press/020615iom_trafficking.html [5] “Croatia - Trafficking in Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation - A New IOM Report on Trafficking of Women and Children in Croatia Sheds Light on the Extent of this Practice and Underlines the Need for the Authorities to Take Appropriate Action to Counter this Phenomenon,” BRAMA Press Release, 15 June 2002, http://www.brama.com/news/press/020615iom_trafficking.html [6] UNICEF, UNHCHR, OSCE, ODIHR: “Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe”, http://www.unicef.org/sexual-exploitation/trafficking-see.pdf [7] Ministry of the Interior statistics, “Illegal migrations in the Republic of Croatia” , Zagreb, March 2001. [8] UNICEF, UNHCHR, OSCE, ODIHR: “Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe”, http://www.unicef.org/sexual-exploitation/trafficking-see.pdf [9] “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing – No Way to End Sex-Trafficking”, National Review Outline, October 9, 2002 [10] Article 175. [11] Ibid. [12] Article 177. Punishment for the offense is a fine or imprisonment for up to 1 year. [13] Article 178(1). [14] Article 178(2). [15] Article 178(3). [16] Article 196(1). [17] Ibid. [18] Article 196(3). [19] Article 196(7). [20] Article 12. [21] Article 195. [22] IOM, Sex Trafficking in Croatia. An Assessment Study” Zagreb, September 2001. p. 49. [23] UNICEF, UNHCHR, OSCE, ODIHR: “Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe”, http://www.unicef.org/sexual-exploitation/trafficking-see.pdf [24] UNICEF, UNHCHR, OSCE, ODIHR: “Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe”, http://www.unicef.org/sexual-exploitation/trafficking-see.pdf [25] Roundup on Crime and Corruption in Croatia: 1-30 October 2003, Global New Wire – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 30 October 2003. [26] IOM, Sex Trafficking in Croatia. An Assessment Study” September 2001. p. 49. [27] IOM, Sex Trafficking in Croatia. An Assessment Study” September 2001. p. 49. [28] IOM, Sex Trafficking in Croatia. An Assessment Study” September 2001. p. 49. [29] Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe, p. 120. [30] Ibid. p. 118. [31] Russian Victim of Human Trafficking Finds Refuge in Croatian Capital, World News Connection, 9 September 2003. [32] Ibid. [33] Roundup on Crime and Corruption in Croatia: 1-30 October 2003, Global New Wire – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 30 October 2003. [34] UNICEF, UNHCHR, OSCE, ODIHR: “Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe”, http://www.unicef.org/sexual-exploitation/trafficking-see.pdf
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