Everest International Model United Nations

Committee: UN Women
Country: Russian Federation
Agenda: Combating Trafficking in Persons and
Exploitation of Female Migrant
Domestic Workers

Trafficking in persons is defined as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or

receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of
abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or
of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation". Russia is a source, transit,
and destination country for women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. It has been
ranking Tier 3 in US Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report since 2013.
The major cause for trafficking of women is a desperate economic situation, which impacts
the availability of satisfactory employment for women more severely than men. Women
become victims of trafficking when they seek assistance to obtain employment, work
permits, visas and other travel documents. Traffickers prey on women's vulnerable
circumstances and lure them into crime networks through deceit and false promises of
decent working conditions and fair pay. Women answer job advertisements for positions
abroad such as dancers, waitresses, and nannies, only to find themselves held against their
will and forced into prostitution and sexual slavery. In the destination countries, women
are subjected to physical violence, sexual assault and rape, threats and other forms of
coercion.
Russian Federation is trying its best to ensure protection for female migrant workers and
combating trafficking in persons. The government continues to operate regional migration
centers where migrants could obtain work permits directly from the government. Article
127 of the Russian Criminal Code prohibits both trafficking for commercial sexual
exploitation and forced labor. Article 127 prescribes punishments of up to ten years'
imprisonment for trafficking crimes; aggravating circumstances may extend penalties up
to 15 years' imprisonment. Russia is also a signatory to C189 Domestic Workers
Convention, 2011 passed by International Labor Organization (ILO) binding signatories to
regulations intended to end abuses of migrant domestic workers.
Russian Federation believes strengthening the laws regarding trafficking and exploitation
is a must. Due to excessive activities of traffickers, Russia hasn’t been able to upgrade its
 Everest International Model United Nations

Tier in the TIP Report. One of the major steps in combating trafficking in persons would
be to allocate funding to state bodies and anti-trafficking NGOs to provide specialized
assistance and rehabilitative care to women who are victims of trafficking. Russia
recommends all nations to change health insurance legislation, so that health insurance
could be offered to migrant workers. States should ensure coherence between migration,
labor and anti-trafficking policies and programs and protect the human rights of all women
migrant workers. The governments and UN Women should work together to assure a better
place for women.

References
Definition from Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/9/speech-ed-phumzile-gender-responsive-migration
http://www.russian-criminal-code.com
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report.pdf