The SEE region serves as a region of origin for women and children trafficked to Western Europe, particularly the countries of Italy, Greece, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Poland. The SEE is a region of destination as well for women and children trafficked from China, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Yugoslavia. There are also cross-border trafficking routes in the region as well as internal trafficking within individual countries. The forms of trafficking that are most predominate in SEE include street prostitution, prostitution within bars and nightclubs, prostitution near military bases, child prostitution, child pornography, sex tourism, trafficking of street children for begging and stealing, and trafficking in human organs. The statistics show a problem of a considerable magnitude in every country of SEE. Some of the countries of SEE still recognize trafficking as a part of other criminal offenses. For instance, the Criminal Code of Croatia provides only for the crimes of slavery, illegal transfer of persons across borders, and international prostitution. Similarly, the Criminal Code of Bosnia-Herzegovina covers only establishing slavery and transporting enslaved people, unlawful deprivation of freedom, procuring and pandering, recruitment into prostitution, forced sexual intercourse and forging documents. Some of the countries of SEE that recognize trafficking in persons as a separate criminal offense define trafficking narrowly and require—such as the draft anti-trafficking provision in the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina—proof of financial gain or profit as a necessary element of the crime. Any effective anti-trafficking legislation should recognize trafficking as a specific crime. The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defines a serious crime as a crime for which the punishment is four or more years of imprisonment. Some laws in the countries of SEE provide for an appropriate sentence such as the 2002 Albanian law, which provides for a 5 to 15 year sentence, and the law of Macedonia which provides for at least 4 years of imprisonment. Other countries of SEE allow for the possibility of lesser sentences. The anti-trafficking law of Romania provides for a sentence of 3 to 12 years. The draft anti-trafficking law of Bulgaria provides for a sentence of 1 to 8 years imprisonment in cases of international trafficking and a sentence of 3 to 8 years imprisonment where the victim is transported across the country’s borders. A person engaged in trafficking in Kosovo may be sentenced to 2 to 12 years imprisonment in accordance with the Kosovo Regulation No. 2001/4 on the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. Since the function of criminal law is to recognize acts that constitute criminal offenses and proscribe punishments for these offense, the countries of SEE that address trafficking as a part of the criminal code do not cover prevention of the acts of trafficking or protection of the victims of trafficking. This is the case in the Criminal Code of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Criminal Code of Macedonia, as amended in January 2002, the Criminal Code of Croatia, and the Criminal Code of Albania. It must also be noted that the Kosovo Regulation 2001/4 on the Prohibition of the Trafficking in Persons, while it provides for several measures of protection of the victims of trafficking, requires that trafficked persons prove “reasonable grounds for the belief that she or he is a victim.” This requirement may be difficult to satisfy, especially since the trafficker usually conceals or destroys the identifying documents of a victim of trafficking. Any comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation should not be limited to the reform of the criminal laws of the countries of SEE. Such reforms should also include immigration law, money laundering law, labor law, anti-corruption law and other laws, as they relate to the issue of trafficking in persons. Based upon The Protection Project (TPP) study of the scope of the problem of trafficking in SEE and the legislative responses, TPP created a two-fold Capacity Building Program consisting of Training Programs and an Exchange Program to provide a Capacity Building Program for members of Parliament, ministry officials, government press spokespeople and local government officials to combat trafficking in persons in the region of Southeastern Europe (SEE), comprised of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro (Kosovo). Consequently, TPP has established working relationships with government officials and non-governmental organizations in SEE, including “ASTRA” - Anti Sex Trafficking Action (Serbia), Women’s Safe House (Montenegro), Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (Bulgaria), Nadja Center Foundation (Bulgaria), The Hearth Psycho-social Center (Albania), The Partnership for Equality Center (Romania), and the Women’s Center for Sexuality and Prevention, Research, and Combating Sexual Violence – Women’s Room (Croatia). TPP has also developed a Specialized Website Component, incorporating all relevant information about the problem of trafficking in persons and appropriate governmental responses in SEE. TPP will conduct Training Programs in Zagreb, Croatia; Belgrade, Serbia; and Sofia, Bulgaria, lasting two days in each city. Each Training Program will consist of introductory and closing sessions and five specialized sessions on the development of anti-trafficking legislation, using existing legislation to prosecute traffickers, cooperation between governments and NGOs, information sharing among governments and public awareness in presenting a case of trafficking in persons. TPP will host an Exchange Program lasting ten days in Washington, D.C. The Exchange Program will focus on the practical application of means used to combat trafficking in persons such as developing appropriate governmental responses through legislation, action plans, task forces and cooperation with non-governmental organizations. The Exchange Program is designed to provide SEE delegates with an understanding of the United States approach to the problem of trafficking. The Exchange Program will include four workshops including legislative drafting; enforcement of anti-trafficking laws and action plans; inter-agency/ministerial task forces; government and NGO cooperation; and four site visits to a local NGO working on the issue of trafficking in persons, the United States Congress, the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service. Once completed, it is expected that the program will provide participants with the necessary training for improving current initiatives, amending existing laws, enacting new anti-trafficking laws, implementing national action plans and enforcing regional measures to combat trafficking in persons.
|
