| Population: 10,662,087
Population Growth Rate: –0.739
Birth Rate: –12.20 births/1,000 population
Life Expectancy: total population—Serbia: 72.39; total population—Montenegr 75.46
Literacy Rate: NA
Net Migration Rate: Serbia: 6.26 migrants/1,000 population; Montenegr –29.18 migrants
Unemployment Rate: 30%
Gross Domestic Product per Capita: US$1,800
Religions: Orthodox 65%, Muslim 19%, Roman Catholic 4%, Protestant 1%, other 11%
Languages: Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%
Ethnic Groups: Serb 62.6%, Albanian 16.5%, Montenegrin 5%, Yugoslav 3.4 %, Hungarian 3.3%, other 9.2%
Capitals: Belgrade (Serbia), Podgorica (Montenegro) |
Serbia is a country of origin and transit for the trafficking of women and children. Ten years of conflict, isolation, and sanctions by the international community have created conditions for criminal networks to take advantage of women and children in increasingly vulnerable situations within this country that dominates the reconstituted Yugoslavia.[1] In July 2001, three Serbian men from the village of Strezov were apprehended in Moldova for their involvement in trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The men were charged with recruiting and trafficking women from Moldova to Belgrade, where they would sell them for DM 1,200 (US$538) each.[2] Serbian prostitution rings engaging in human trade on a larger scale purchase women from eastern European traffickers and then sell them to Albanian traffickers. Most of the women trafficked through these networks are smuggled into Kosovo.[3] Documented trafficking routes run from Ukraine through Belgrade into Kosovo,[4] from Hungary through Belgrade into Kosovo,[5] and from Romania through Belgrade into Kosovo.[6] Trafficking also occurs between Serbia and Montenegro and other parts of the former Yugoslavia[7] and between Serbia and Italy.[8] Prostitution is legal in Serbia and Montenegro. The Criminal Code prohibits engaging in illegal transport of others across borders “for lucrative purposes.” Punishment for the trafficking offense is imprisonment for 6 months to 5 years.[9] The code makes it a crime for anyone to recruit, induce, incite, or lure a female into prostitution. Punishment for the offense is imprisonment for 3 months to 5 years.[10] An enhanced penalty of imprisonment for up to 10 years is imposed in cases where the woman lured into prostitution is underage or where she is led into prostitution by force or threat.[11] The constitution provides that “free choice of occupation and employment shall be guaranteed”[12] and that “forced labor shall be prohibited.”[13] Serbia and Montenegro has ratified the United Nations (UN) Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Serbia and Montenegro has signed the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. However, it has not 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 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.
[1] International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, “A Form of Slavery: Trafficking in Women in OSCE Member States: Serbia,” July 2000, <http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/>. [2] “Serbia: Investigation for Human Trafficking,” Aimpress Press Review, 24 July 2001. [3] Adriatik Kelmendi, “Kosovo Prostitution Racket Flourishes,” Institute for War and Peace, 28 March 2001. [4] Ibid. [5] Ibid. [6] Ibid. [7] Ibid. [8] Ibid. [9] Article 249(2). Article 249(1) also criminalizes crossing or attempting to cross the border by force of arms, by violence, or without proper permit as part of an organized group. [10] Article 251, titled “Intermediation in the Exercise of Prostitution.” [11] Article 251(2). [12] Article 54. [13] Ibid.
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