Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-10T07:54:54.432Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Contrasting Policy Approaches to Human Trafficking in Eurasia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2021

Laura Dean
Affiliation:
Millikin University
Get access

Summary

Natasha's body was thrown in the courtyard of the casino, where everyone would notice, for edification. On their way to work, the other girls witnessed what awaits the disobedient. This young woman from the Chelyabinsk region of Russia was killed for refusing to work as a prostitute. She repeatedly tried to escape but she was detained and returned to the owner, even the most severe beatings could not break Natasha. Eventually she was beaten to increase fear and make the rest of the girls submissive. This tragedy, like dozens of similar stories, has been widely publicised because the Egyptian government decided to ban the recruitment of dancers and tour guides from Russia. Due to this ban, the girls who knew Natasha were resold by the owner to another country. ‘Girls are fools, so they fall into a life of prostitution’ or ‘They know very well where and why they are going’. These are the two most popular opinions [in Russia] that allow the state to avoid a solution to this burning problem (Chistoserdova, 2003).

This story about Natasha, published in the Chelyabinsk Worker, a weekly socio-political newspaper in central Russia, demonstrates the prevalence of human trafficking in Russia, the lack of empathy by some in society, and the muted response by the government to this growing problem. The story reveals how countries failed to adequately respond with policies while push and pull factors from other destination countries largely facilitated migration flows. It also demonstrates the stereotypes of human trafficking victims from Eurasia. It exemplifies the lack of policy making in a masculine political environment due to victim blaming in Russia. Is it possible to move from heart-wrenching stories like this with victim stereotypes to policy documents and solutions? Today, most countries in Eurasia support anti-trafficking initiatives through some combination of policy tools on the international, regional, and national levels. This chapter examines the evolution of human trafficking policy in the region as a whole and the types of policy tools countries have adopted in Eurasia. A typology was also created for these different human trafficking policy approaches that categorises 132 different laws and policies on human trafficking in Eurasia.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×