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Working for Women Worldwide - Embassy of the United States

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In Eastern Europe, <strong>the</strong> desire to join <strong>the</strong><br />

European Union and <strong>the</strong> North Atlantic Treaty<br />

Organization (NATO) also has been an incentive <strong>for</strong><br />

governments to develop national action plans and to<br />

pass legislation against human trafficking. A number<br />

<strong>of</strong> countries in <strong>the</strong> region have demonstrated <strong>the</strong><br />

importance <strong>the</strong>y place on fighting this scourge by<br />

including references to <strong>the</strong>ir ef<strong>for</strong>ts in <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />

country statements at <strong>the</strong> 2003 and 2004 U.N.<br />

Commission on Human Rights.<br />

Educating people and raising awareness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

human rights problem has led to helpful research and<br />

programs to assist <strong>for</strong>mer<br />

victims. Research<br />

in Ukraine has shown<br />

that 33 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

women trafficked had<br />

previously been victims<br />

<strong>of</strong> domestic violence.<br />

The lack <strong>of</strong> jobs, <strong>the</strong><br />

need to provide <strong>for</strong><br />

dependent family members,<br />

and <strong>the</strong> lure <strong>of</strong><br />

nearby countries with<br />

higher standards <strong>of</strong> living<br />

made many women<br />

perfect prey <strong>for</strong> traffickers<br />

promising employment<br />

and travel abroad.<br />

One remedy: A<br />

U.S. Agency <strong>for</strong> International<br />

Development (USAID) project in Ukraine<br />

with Winrock International, a nongovernmental<br />

organization (NGO) working with <strong>the</strong> poor in many<br />

countries, has established trafficking prevention centers<br />

where victims can seek job training as well as crisis<br />

counseling. Similar projects have started in Russia,<br />

Belarus, and Moldova.<br />

Ano<strong>the</strong>r nongovernmental organization, La<br />

Strada, developed a handbook <strong>for</strong> telephone hotline<br />

workers. It provides in<strong>for</strong>mation on various kinds <strong>of</strong><br />

work visas, international labor agreements, job contracts,<br />

consular telephone numbers to call in Ukraine<br />

and abroad, and what to do and where to go if an individual<br />

or a family member becomes a victim. USAID<br />

has supported hotlines in many countries <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

Europe and Eurasia region, including most recently in<br />

<strong>the</strong> Kyrgyz Republic.<br />

USAID-funded training institutes have begun to<br />

focus on two o<strong>the</strong>r important groups: journalists and<br />

law en<strong>for</strong>cement. After two days <strong>of</strong> training, reporters<br />

have typically revised <strong>the</strong>ir approach to <strong>the</strong> subject,<br />

treating it more seriously and less sensationally in spite<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> danger involved. (In 2003, several journalists<br />

who had been reporting on trafficking and corruption<br />

in Uzbekistan and Montenegro were killed under suspicious<br />

circumstances.)<br />

Law en<strong>for</strong>cement training, based on a manual<br />

created by <strong>the</strong> <strong>United</strong> Nations Development Programme<br />

and <strong>the</strong> International Center <strong>for</strong> Migration<br />

Policy Development, has<br />

educated police, prosecutors,<br />

and judges on<br />

how to handle human<br />

trafficking cases and<br />

how to identify and protect<br />

victims. Training<br />

also raised awareness <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> deep link between<br />

trafficking and corruption.<br />

Programs, notably<br />

in Central Asia, have<br />

emphasized <strong>the</strong> importance<br />

<strong>of</strong> regional cooperation<br />

between governments<br />

and NGOs,<br />

and on <strong>the</strong> training <strong>of</strong><br />

border guards and consular<br />

<strong>of</strong>ficials.<br />

And, most recently, <strong>the</strong> <strong>United</strong> <strong>States</strong> is assisting<br />

Romania in developing a victim-witness coordinator<br />

program based on U.S. experience, which hopefully<br />

will lead to training modules that can be applied<br />

throughout <strong>the</strong> region.<br />

Z<br />

Above, teenage girls at a Moldovan orphanage <strong>for</strong> abandoned<br />

children. International organizations like UNICEF are working<br />

to prevent <strong>the</strong>se children, seen as <strong>the</strong> most vulnerable to traffickers,<br />

from becoming victims <strong>of</strong> this scourge.<br />

57

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