Prostitution and trafficking networks in European Union countries are
operated mostly by Russians, Yugoslavians, Ukrainians, Turkish, and Albanians.
(Roland-Pierre Paringaux, "Prostitution Takes a Turn for the West," Le Monde,
24 May 1998)
Two-thirds of 500,000 women trafficked for prostitution worldwide annually come from
Eastern Europe. (Anita Gradin, European Union Commissioner, Martina Vandenberg, "The
Invisible Woman," The Moscow Times, 8 October 1997)
Ukraine, Russia and Belarus have replaced Thailand and the Phillippines as the
epicenter of the global business in trafficking women. (Michael Specter,
"Traffickers’ New Cargo: Naive Slavic Women," New York Times, 11
January 1998)
An increasing number of Eastern European women are in prostitution in Japan.
(Roland-Pierre Paringaux, "Prostitution Takes a Turn for the West," Le Monde,
24 May 1998)
Methods and Techniques of
Traffickers
Women trafficked from Ukraine and Russia say pimps take away their passports until they
pay their 'debt' for travel, sometimes as much as $15,000. (Global Survival Network,
Vladmir Isachenkov "Soviet Womem Slavery Flourishes," Associated Press, 6
November 1997)
Traffickers find their victims through newspaper ads, posing as employment, marriage,
modeling or tourist agencies. (Vladmir Isachenkov, "Soviet Women Slavery
Flourishes," Associated Press, 6 November 1997)