European Commission

Prevention of Human Trafficking in the RF

THE PROJECT IS FINANCED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND CO-FUNDED BY THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
AND SWISS GOVERNMENT

Geographical coverage: Russian Federation: Moscow region, Republic of Karelia, Astrakhan’

Implementation period: March 2006 – August 2008
BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
The project foresees comprehensive measures
contributing to enhance the capacities of the Russian
Federation in the main following trends: policy advice,
prevention measures; cooperation with law
enforcement and establishment of referral
mechanisms as well as assistance to victims.
Trafficking in human beings is recognized by the
governments of Europe and the CIS as one of the
most pressing challenges related to irregular
migration, violation of human rights and trans-border
organized crime, facing European and Asian
communities. The 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report
by the US State Department’s Office to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking in Persons estimates that
approximately 600,000 – 800,000 persons are
trafficked annually across the globe 1 . In 2001,
European Commission indicated that 120,000 women
and children were annually brought illegally into
Western Europe and exploited mainly in the sex
industry 2 . IOM estimates that up to 500,000 women
are illegally forced to work in the sex industry in
Europe 3 .
The estimates above suggest that thousands of
Russian women and girls may be annually brought
into the countries of Europe, as well as South-East
Asia and the United States. At the same time, Russia
itself is a major destination and transit country where
women from the former Soviet Union territories,
including Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the countries of
1http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2005/46606.htm
2 Report on Europe Against Trafficking in Persons Conference,
October 2001, Berlin,
http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2001/12/1919_en.pdf
3http://www.iom.ipko.org/Counter_trafficking/Sitrep_May_2003_En
Central Asia and others are exploited by trafficking
networks. Experts believe that in Moscow alone the
commercial sex industry exploits 80,000-100,000
persons, followed by some 20,000-30,000 in St.
Petersburg. In Moscow, 88.5% of this group are brought
from CIS and non-CIS countries and rural parts of
Russia. Up to 20-25% of this group are minors 4 , who
may be infallibly considered as victims of trafficking. The
scale of the practice is reflected IOM’s data, generated
from the IOM Counter-Trafficking Module database: the
number of trafficking victims assisted by IOM in returning
from Russia to Ukraine alone - over 375 since 2001- and
the fact that IOM statistics show the highest rate of
minors among women trafficked from Ukraine and
Moldova to Russia, as compared to other countries of
destination.
As Russia is a major destination country for labour
migrants from the Central Asian and other countries,
most of them employed illegally, the rates of trafficking
for labour exploitation are considered to be high by
experts. According to an ILO report, some 20-24% of
labour migrants working on the Russian territory are
subjected to various forms of coercion that may be
construed as elements of trafficking. Based on these
findings, and considering that the number of labour
migrants staying in Russia is conservatively estimated by
the Federal Migration Service at 3.5 million, the scale of
human trafficking for forced labour and related forms of
exploitation into the Russian Federation may be
estimated at 700-840,000 5 .
The Russian Government is increasingly demonstrating
commitment to combating irregular migration and cross-
4Analysis of the Situation and Institutions in the Field of Commercial
Sex Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and Counter-CSEC Acitivies
in Russia, ECPAT, 2003
5 Forced Labour in Modern Russia. Unregulated Migration and

glish.pdf Human Trafficking, ILO, Moscow, 2004


border crime, including the trafficking phenomenon, in
cooperation with the governments of destination and
source countries. In December 2000, Russia signed
the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized
Crime and the Protocols thereto, including the
Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in
persons, especially women and children, which was
ratified by the Parliament of Russia in the spring of
2004.
In December 2003, the President of the Russian
Federation signed a decree enacting a set of
amendments to the Criminal Code which provided a
basis for the criminalization of trafficking in persons
(Article 127-1), exploitation of slave labour (Article
127-2), engagement in prostitution and procuring
prostitution (amended Articles 240 and 241). The
amendments were submitted to the Parliament by the
Administration of the President and were largely
derived from a draft Federal Law to Combat
Trafficking in Human Beings (initiated and developed
in 2002-2003 by an Inter-Agency Working Group
under the auspices of the Legislative Committee of
the State Duma). Besides, the new Federal Law of 20
August 2004 “On state protection of victims,
witnesses and other parties to criminal proceedings”
enacts a set of state-guaranteed security measures.
However, as the comprehensive draft Federal Law
has yet to be further upgraded and put to a debate in
the Russian parliament, Russia still lacks special
legislation that would address a whole range of
trafficking-related problems, most importantly, the
issues of victims protection and assistance. According
to a report currently being prepared by UNICEF with
the participation of other UN agencies and IOM, victim
protection and assistance remains the weakest
component of the Russian counter-trafficking
response 6 .
WHAT THE PROJECT ENVISAGES
The overall objectives of the project are as follows:
The main objective of the project is to combat
trafficking in human beings in the Russian Federation
as a country of origin, transit and destination – by:
6
Inventory and Analysis of the Current Situation and Responses
to Trafficking in the Russian Federation, UNICEF, draft
European Commission
Policy advice component: Improving the
legislative framework and the State policies regarding
human trafficking, including the national capacity to
assess and measure this phenomenon in Russia.
Prevention component: Strengthening the
capacity of the relevant law enforcement agencies to
combat human trafficking; raising awareness amongst
the risk group, general public and relevant
Russian authorities, NGOs and diplomatic missions of
foreign states.
Reintegration component: Building the
capacity of the national authorities and local NGO
networks to protect and reintegrate victims of trafficking.
Specific objectives
Policy advice component
• Estimate the scope of the trafficking
phenomenon in the Russian Federation,
including the number of the involved
Russian victims, those from CIS and non-CIS
countries, through a baseline study in three
sample regions of Russia (regions of origin,
transit and destination, respectively), with a
special focus on the trafficking trends involving
the EU countries.
• Develop a set of methods for measuring,
assessing and analyzing the human trafficking
phenomenon in Russia to be used as a model
for further research.
• Enhance the capacities of the Russian
authorities and NGOs to conduct basic and
applied research of the human
trafficking phenomenon, using the
recommended research model.
• Contribute to upgrading the Russian legislation
referring to trafficking in humans through an
expert review of the existing and draft legislation
and developing recommendations using EU
consultancy and best practices.

• Contribute to the improvement of the existing
State policies on human trafficking through
an expert analysis and developing
improvement recommendations, based on
EU best practices; prepare recommendations
for a National Plan of Action to Combat
Trafficking in Human Beings.
• Promote inter-agency cooperation at the
federal and regional governmental levels for
the purpose of creation of a sustainable
consultative process
• Enhance cooperation between the
governmental authorities and the NGO
network.
• Build effective coordination and cooperation
mechanisms between IOM, Delegation of the
European Commission to the Russian
Federation and other Donor agencies
involved in the prevention and combating of
trafficking in human beings through
participation in joint activities and
complementary project design and planning.
Prevention Component
Awareness raising:
• Increase the awareness of the trafficking
perils among “high-risk” groups, minors and
the general public through information
dissemination campaign.
• Raise the awareness of the trafficking
phenomenon among the relevant Russian
governmental agencies, NGOs and other
caregivers and concerned entities.
• Provide the personnel of the Russian
diplomatic representations abroad and the
consulates and embassies of EU countries
with effective tools and skills for prevention of
trafficking crimes and assistance to victims of
trafficking.
• Ensure professional and responsible
coverage of trafficking-related issues by
mass media and create a dedicated pool of
journalists.
European Commission
Addressing the social problems underlying the
trafficking phenomenon:
• Contribute to the improvement of the
employment prospects for victims of trafficking
and “at-risk” persons through research of labour
markets in the selected regions and
engagement of the local authorities in
developing effective employment
strategies for “high-risk” groups.
• Increase the awareness of the employment
opportunities among “high-risk” groups in their
regions.
• Promote legitimate labour immigration through
the establishment of information centres for
migrants in cooperation with the authorities.
• Enhance the capacities of the Federal Migration
Service through awareness-raising sessions for
the officials and personnel of the federal and
regional offices.
• Promote alternative income-generating
opportunities for “high-risk” groups in the
selected regions through the involvement of
complementary initiatives carried by the
International Labour Organization.
Capacity building activities for law
enforcement and judicial authorities:
• Upgrade the capacities of the law enforcement
authorities to effectively prevent, detect,
investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes
through diversified training, sharing of EU and
international best practices and exchange visits
to EU countries, involving high and mid-ranking,
as well as field officers of the police (Ministry of
Interior) and prosecutors (Prosecutor General’s
office).
• Promote institutionalisation of law enforcement
personnel training on the various aspects of
trafficking crimes prosecution through the
introduction of appropriate training modules in
the law enforcement education system.
 European Commission

• Support the law enforcement agencies’

access to on-line information resources;
improve the technical base for the
exchange of information and communication
among the federal and regional structural
units dealing with the investigation and
prosecution of trafficking-related
crimes.
• Promote international operational and judicial
cooperation between the Russian law
enforcement authorities and their
counterparts abroad, particularly, in the CIS
and EU regions.
Reintegration Component
• Establish a model facility for the rehabilitation
and subsequent referral of trafficking
victims, offering a comprehensive
inventory of rehabilitation services
(Rehabilitation Center in Moscow) for
Russian citizens returning from countries of
destination as well as CIS and non-CIS
national – victims of exploitation on the
territory of Russia.
• Upgrade the capacities of the federal and
regional governmental authorities and NGOs
to assist the various groups of trafficking
victims in the
return/rehabilitation/reintegration through
specialized training, using methodologies
developed by IOM and other institutions.
• Further inter-agency cooperation and
coordination in assisting victims of trafficking
through the establishment of sustainable
referral mechanisms in the selected regions
with participance of governmental agencies,
NGOs and international organizations.

For further information:

International Organization for Migration
12, 2nd Zvenigorodskaya str. 123100, Moscow, Russia
tel. +7495-797-87-22
fax.+7495-253-35-22
www.no2slavery.ru