Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking in Ukraine Even with the fact that law enforcement agencies from around the world have experienced significant progress during recent years, the problem of human trafficking continues to represent a threat. Ukraine is one of the locations concealing men, women, and children traffic with the purpose of commercial gain resulting from their exploitation through sex and through forced labor.

While the Ukrainian authorities go through great efforts in order to reduce and even stop human trafficking within the country's borders, criminals are experienced in this field of work and they have little to no problems escaping the law. The former Eastern bloc in general represents a location where human traffickers find it easier to recruit individuals.

Young women are one of the principal group targeted by these individuals and they are taken advantage of as a result of their poor financial condition, taking into account that most hope to get a job that pays better than at home. "Despite the barrage of warnings on radio and TV, in newspapers and on billboards, desperate women continue to line up with their naivete and applications in hand, hoping that, this time, they might just be in luck" (Malarek 9).

While it is impossible for someone to ignore the danger represented by human trafficking in Ukraine today, the reality is that some individuals who are believed to be forced to sell their bodies are actually well-acquainted with the jobs they are about to perform. The simple fact of the matter is that some are very desperate and are thus willing to do everything in their power in order to get money.

The fact that these jobs sometimes involve less work in comparison to conventional jobs further contributes to making the problem confusing, as it is very difficult for someone from the outside to differentiate between individuals being trafficked and individuals who claim they are trafficked in order to avoid being penalized by the authorities (Shuster).

In order to gain a more complex understanding of human trafficking in Ukraine, one needs to learn more information concerning the individuals who end up being trafficked and the motives for which they get involved in criminal circles. Individuals who are most likely to be exploited are poor and desperate, thus making it difficult for them to ignore the promise of rapid financial gain.

Their condition plays an essential role in obstructing their ability to understand that they are being drawn in by criminals who want to take advantage of them. Poverty is one of the principal reasons why individuals end up being exploited, as their condition makes it difficult for them to attend educational institutes in order to enrich their knowledge and get a good job. In addition to this, human traffickers also resort to kidnapping individuals in order to supply the constant demand for human trafficking.

There are thus a series of methods that human traffickers use with the purpose of attracting desperate individuals. Individuals search for a way to escape poverty and they are virtually blinded by their desperate condition. Newspaper ads promote jobs that require no qualification and practically a chance to start over fresh and in a presumably comfortable environment. "The monthly salaries reach $2,500, which, for the vast majority, is more than they would ever make in years" (Malarek 10).

Recruiters put across supportive attitudes and they typically behave as if any young woman were the perfect person for the jobs they are promoting. However, most of these women fail to understand that most of the jobs marketed do not even exist. Desperation can be an influential concept making it difficult for women to realize the threat that they are exposed to.

Criminals know no limits as they struggle to get as many individuals as possible and "some agencies have gone as far as to set up "career day" booths at universities in Russia, promising profitable work abroad" (Malarek 10). Human traffickers come from a diverse range of backgrounds and they are well-experienced in dealing with their victims, as they are always ready to use a wide range of strategies with the purpose of getting individuals to express interest in their 'business' (Gunderson 55).

While people are accustomed to the traditional image of the human trafficker as a person who promises rapid financial gain through working diverse jobs in the Western World, attitudes seen in these individuals vary. Human traffickers are, in some situations 'lover-boys' -- persons who influence young girls by using a strategy known as 'grooming'. First they win their trust and they later come to convince them to become prostitutes by making it seem like something that is not actually that bad.

These 'lover-boys' have a complex method of work, as they get girls to detach themselves from the environments they are accustomed with and eventually get them to reach a point where their 'lovers' are the only persons that they are close to. These girls practically come to believe that they are unable to have a personal identity if they do not stay with their 'lovers'.

It is virtually as if they become addicted to these individuals and have little to no chances to make it in the real world as long as they do not stay with them (Gunderson 55). Human trafficking does not only involve criminals who use recruitment agencies as a cover-up for their activities or individuals who use love as a means to influence naive girls. In some cases family members and close acquaintances can influence individuals to fall victim to their schemes.

Victims obviously find it easier to cooperate with someone close to them, as they feel that it would be less likely for the respective person to attempt to exploit them. Many women in Ukraine are apparently trafficked with their husbands' knowledge, as these individuals are attracted by the fact that they are likely to earn a lot of money as a result of this enterprise and express little to no concern with regard to their wives' mental and physical well-being.

Trust is everything when considering human trafficking and criminals thus use a series of methods meant to earn the trust of individuals they are about to recruit. In some cases women who have been trafficked return home and attempt to recruit other women in order to earn their freedom and with the purpose of financial gain.

The fact that Ukraine is in a critical condition when regarding human trafficking performed on the country's territory also made it possible for the authorities to get actively involved in one of the largest scale operations meant to bring down criminal organizations which are part of the process.

"The government of Ukraine does not condone trafficking; indeed, it has taken a series of concrete measures in order to respond to this severe problem, and can now be said to be in the forefront of the criminalization of human trafficking in Europe" (Bakker & Silvey 137). The Protocol to Prevent, Supress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children has been ratified in May 2004 and it provided the authorities with the ability to use.