Trafficking in women; big business and is carried out on a large scale. A trader who receives 300 euros a day for a woman who fatefully stands behind the windows, how can this happen? How can women be treated like this? And what laws are there to protect these women?
Trafficking in women is the trade in women, usually for sexual purposes. They are often women who have been taken to another country by a trafficker with an excuse or promises. For example, by telling these women that they can work as an au pair or housekeeper. When they arrive in the country of destination, they have to work in prostitution and see little or nothing at all of the money they earn. They are simply sold as slaves. They are threatened, beaten, raped and locked up by their owners. The girls and women are often too scared to escape and the authorities fail to provide assistance. Easy targets for trafficking young women are because they are doing poorly economically or because they have previously been physically abused. They dream of a better life and the traders seize this by offering the women work in the west. The dictionary defines the concept of trafficking in women as follows: All actions that have the direct aim of placing a woman in a state of dependence on others, in order to hand her over to prostitution.
The extent of trafficking in women
Trafficking in women is widespread worldwide. Every year, more than 200,000 people are trafficked for the sex industry from the Balkan countries and Russia alone. Exact data on the extent of trafficking in women are not available, as trafficking in women is illegal and therefore only part of it is visible to the Justice Department. It has been estimated that between 500,000 and 700,000 women in Europe have been trafficked for the sex industry and are currently working as sex slaves in Europe. Worldwide there are estimates between 700,000 and 2,000,000 women are trafficked.
In the Netherlands, according to figures from the report of the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, 3,500 women are victims of trafficking in women, which is known to the police, the judiciary and aid organizations. These women are often brought to the Netherlands with false promises and forced to work in prostitution under poor conditions. Half of the victims come from Eastern Europe and Russia. Although these figures may actually be much higher, because it is illegal and therefore not all is known, it is clear that this is an international problem of impressive proportions.
In the Netherlands, STV (the Foundation Against Trafficking in Women) registers the number of reports from (suspected) victims of trafficking in women . They register the victims who fall under the so-called B9 scheme and have filed a report. The B9 scheme makes it possible for foreigners who are (possible) victims or witnesses of human trafficking to temporarily legally reside in the Netherlands during the investigation and prosecution and thus remain available to the police and Public Prosecution Service.
The interests of women and traders
The main reason for being a trafficker is the money. A prostitute earns about 300 a day, the traffickers quickly become rich as the women receive very little of their proceeds. In addition, the chance that a trader will be caught is quite small. This is because the women often make their crossing to the Netherlands in a legal manner. The traffickers arrange tourist visas for the women through so-called travel agencies. The women stay in the Netherlands longer than they are actually allowed to, but because they have disappeared for some time, they can no longer be traced. Since it is difficult for the police to track down the constantly changing 06 numbers, trade routes and windows. Sometimes it happens that a trafficker is caught, but almost always this trafficker is acquitted after a statement from his prostitutes, who are too afraid or forced to tell the truth.
The main reason for women to go abroad is their financial situation. In the country of origin, women are undervalued and earn little money. The West, on the other hand, seems like a place where dreams can come true and where people earn enough money to support themselves and their family. Because of this view, the women fall for a trafficker’s lies. A trader promises a good future with money and a job, the woman thinks of a better life and goes for it. Once we arrive in the Netherlands, the truth emerges and the trader’s story turns out to be incorrect, but it is already too late. The women do not work in the catering industry or as au pairs, but end up in prostitution. The women have to repay large debts because, according to the trader, the visa, ticket and passport cost them a lot of money, among other things. In addition, the women are often forced, so they no longer dare to resist. Going to an agency entails great danger, because if the trafficker finds them again, they are abused and immediately put back behind the windows. Due to these dangers, there is little to no real chance for the women to escape from this harsh and bad situation. The age of the women only makes the chance of escape more difficult. They are young women who often do not yet have the stability and mental strength to go against the traffickers.
What is the government’s policy and what are the laws regarding trafficking in women?
Trafficking in women appears to be very profitable and is increasingly linked to international criminal organizations. Trafficking in women is so profitable because the punishment for it is relatively low and the profit margin is high compared to, for example, trafficking in narcotics. The European Commission now wants to increase the penalty for trafficking in women. In addition, the requirements for granting temporary residence permits should not differ so much from one Member State to another. The permits must be more strictly controlled. Trafficking in women is a serious human rights violation. In the Netherlands, trafficking in women falls under the criminal provision in art. 273a of the Criminal Code. The Criminal Code indicates that trafficking in women occurs when someone is exploited through coercion, extortion, fraud, (threat of) violence or another act. There are currently several interest groups that fight against trafficking in women. They practice prevention by informing target groups, distributing warning leaflets and showing video films. They also try to make people aware of the seriousness of trafficking in women. They also provide support and assistance to victims.
In recent years, trafficking in women has been a much-discussed issue in the media. The brothel ban was abolished at the end of 1999 and was actually introduced on October 1, 2000. The brothel ban meant that it was forbidden to operate a brothel. Prostitution itself was never prohibited in the Netherlands. After the abolition of this law, the police must regularly check all brothels in their own municipality, the women must have their passports with them, the brothels must be hygienic and fireproof. This will certainly improve the working conditions of prostitutes. The latter is the major problem with this measure.
It is currently being investigated whether the situation for illegal sex workers has deteriorated significantly, as feared. Many fear that the traffickers who make so much money from these women will not simply give up their income.
Illegal women continue to work in prostitution, but these women end up even deeper in illegality. Hi , they have become inaccessible to emergency services and the police (who want to help them).
The solution to trafficking in women
In recent years, there has been increasing talk in the European Union about how to stop trafficking in women. The EU has been committed to this since 1996. People mainly want to take preventive measures to stop trafficking in women. To devise measures to prevent trafficking in women. The EU wants to hold information campaigns in the countries where most women come from, so that women are warned about traffickers. They also want to indirectly ensure that there is less trafficking in women by reducing the differences between rich and poor in Eastern Europe. They hope that as a result, fewer women will turn to so-called help from traffickers in desperation.
The European Forum on Organized Crime has also been established. This forum is therefore not only for the issue of trafficking in women, but for all organized crime. So far, the forum has done little to combat human trafficking.
The solution to combating trafficking in women is difficult. Stricter control will have to be maintained in prostitution. In addition, there should be laws that promote reporting on behalf of a victim . Currently, it is a great danger for a woman to report the crime and go to the police, because of the consequences it can entail. This threshold for reporting will be lower when women are confident that their report will actually make a difference. This can be created through better and more intensive assistance from aid organizations. In addition, men who are suspected of having something to do with trafficking in women should be dealt with better. It cannot be the case that after a cursory statement the trader is simply back on the street and can continue with his practices. In our opinion, deporting women who are victims of sex trafficking from the country is not a solution. The traffickers will soon smuggle new women to the Netherlands to work in prostitution. Eastern European women are easy prey for traffickers, and there is no visa requirement for the countries that will soon join the European Union. As a result, more and more women will end up behind windows in the Netherlands illegally. Eviction actions make the problem less visible, but illegal prostitution and trafficking in women then moves to more hidden forms of prostitution, such as escorting. In addition, small groups of streetwalkers will spread across the residential areas. The problem is not solved if you no longer see it. It’s time for a serious approach.
Something needs to be done about this issue. Governments will have to meet on this subject and steps will have to be taken for stricter and clearer rules regarding trafficking in women.
Experiences regarding trafficking in women
Sad but true, there are many stories of women who were victims of trafficking in women. Women who saw their lives destroyed by the consequences of trafficking in women. To get an impression of the different stories of these women, a personal story of a victim of sex trafficking is included in this article:
An example of a woman who has suffered from sex trafficking is Anna Ziverte (32). It’s been more than nine years now, but Anna will never forget how, after an exhausting thirty-hour bus journey from Riga , she found herself standing at a cold and dark central station in Rotterdam in the middle of the night. Together with her best friend and another woman from Latvia. And all three assumed that they could start working as an au pair somewhere the next day. But things turned out differently. Instead of a nice host family, the young women were given a sex club as a place of work. Under threat of a gun and a very recent photo of her two-year-old son Eddy, Anna had no choice but to do what was asked of her. She was forced to work as a prostitute
for three months . When asked how she managed to survive this period, she answers: Looking back, I don’t understand that myself. I had to work in a private house from nine in the morning to ten at night. I worked in a club from ten o’clock. I only slept two hours a night – very occasionally an extra hour in between. I was completely numb, was barely hungry, didn’t want to feel anything at all and have as little contact with home as possible. I acted like a robot, not a human. I set a goal for each client and did what I had to do. I never tried to run either. A friend of mine became rebellious and was sold on as punishment. She ended up in an Arab country. I thought it would be better to just do my job and wait for it to be over. She herself never thought that things could get so far that she would fall for this. While she was always so careful. Afterwards the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, but at the time it was really impossible to predict. It was something like when you decided last Christmas to have a nice holiday on Phuket. I was always so careful. I heard those stories, read about them in the newspaper, but of course it would never happen to me. When you enter an office space like this, you don’t expect to see people involved in trafficking in women. There were no men with gold chains, but there was a very nice woman. People can go to great lengths for money.
Anna has also written a book about how she became a victim of trafficking in women and was forced to work as a prostitute. With this book she wants to draw attention to the position of victims of trafficking in women.
In her foreword she writes: For a long time I thought that I was the only one who had been lured into a trap in such a vile way. I now know that hundreds of women become victims of human trafficking in one way or another every year. Fortunately, I was able to escape from that seriously criminal circle, but many women remain part of it against their will.