Belarus Girl

The Peoples� Republic of China is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. A significant number of Chinese women and children are trafficked internally for forced marriage and forced labor. Chinese women are at times lured abroad with false promises of legitimate employment and then trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to destinations throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America, while Chinese men have been trafficked for forced labor to Europe, South America, and the Middle East. A large number of Chinese men and women are smuggled abroad at enormous personal financial cost and, upon arrival in the destination country, are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation or other forms of exploitative labor to repay their debts. They often face exploitative conditions that meet t ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Mideast, European and Asian Students Observe American Democracy

An Afghan girl was concerned how the outcome of the U.S. election might affect further progress in her country, where the U.S. was instrumental in overthrowing the repressive Taliban regime. "Women now have the right of studying, of voting, of working," she said. "What happens in America will be very important for Afghanistan." ...

Some saw the impact of the election in global terms. "America is such a powerful nation so it [the U.S. presidential election] is important not just for America but for every country," said a girl from Armenia, a participant in the FLEX program. ... [Read More]

Europe and Eurasia

In May, U.S. funding through IOM helped create the Special Division for Combating Kidnapping, Trafficking in Persons and Racketeering under the Combating Organized Crime Department of the Ministry of Interior. The Division has dedicated five officers solely to the investigation of TIP cases. Since the establishment of this division, fourteen cases of human trafficking have been investigated and criminal proceeding instituted, as compared with none in previous years (when trafficking was prosecuted under different crimes). This funding is also linked to the successful prosecution in September of Tajikistan's first TIP trial, involving a woman who adopted a girl solely for the purpose of trafficking her to the UAE and Turkey for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The girl escaped, and the woman was charged with exploitation for prostitution, trafficking in under-aged people, organization of rape, pandering, and document fraud and sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment and property confis ... [Read More]

IV. Country Narratives: Europe and Eurasia

Azerbaijan is primarily a country of origin and transit for trafficked men, women, and children for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Azerbaijani, Russian and Central Asian women and girls were trafficked from or through the country to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Turkey and Pakistan for sexual exploitation. Men were trafficked to Turkey and Russia for forced labor and boys were trafficked internally for begging. Women and girls, some from orphanages, were trafficked internally from rural areas to the capital city for sexual exploitation. ... [Read More]

Lithuania

The country was a source, transit point, and destination for trafficking in women and girls. Women were primarily trafficked to Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Poland. Women from Ukraine, Russia (Kaliningrad district), Belarus, Latvia, and the domestic countryside were trafficked to the country's major cities and to Western Europe, although the numbers reportedly decreased due to lowered earnings in the country and more effective border control. According to Europol, every year approximately 1,200 Lithuanian women fell victim to human trafficking or left the country against their will. Four girls under age 18 were reported as victims of trafficking in the first 8 months of the year; three were trafficked in the country and one to Germany. ... [Read More]

Country Narratives -- Countries H through P

Nepal is a source country of women and girls trafficked primarily to India for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and debt bondage. Nepali women traveling to the Middle East in search of work have been put into situations of coerced labor and other slave-like conditions. Internal trafficking also takes place in Nepal. Women are trafficked from rural areas to cities for commercial sexual exploitation and children are placed into debt bondage or other exploitative child labor by their impoverished parents. An ongoing Maoist insurgency has used violence to wrest control of remote areas from the government; many trafficking victims originate from those areas. The insurgents have forcibly conscripted girls and boys. ... [Read More]

Women's Rights - First Lady Remarks at Vital Voices Democracy Initiative in Reykjavik, Iceland

We are working to stop the trafficking of women and girls, becausewhat does an abstract political proposition called democracy mean tothe one million girls who are lured from home with the promise of jobsand security and instead wake up in a nightmare, trafficked like drugsacross national lines and sold into prostitution? ...

Think of the two women who addressed us earlier, Tatjana and Elena.They are here with energy and enthusiasm which was clearly conveyed intheir words. They are not alone, because they stand in the wake ofmany who have come before. I was told that Tatjana got a great deal ofhelp from her grandmother and her mother, who never had theopportunities she is enjoying, but nevertheless encouraged her tofollow her own dreams. Isn't that what we want for our daughters andour sons? Isn't that what this journey we are on is really all about?At the end of the day as we look back on an individual life, or thelife of a country, we count how far we have come by many differentmeans. We look at our accomplishments, we admire our art and ourculture, we certainly enjoy the successes we might have. But perhapsthe most telling way is whether generation after generation we havemade the journey less difficult and dangerous for our children. Thereare so many women who have explored new lands, risked their lives ... [Read More]

Working for Women, Worldwide: The U.S. Commitment

In Cambodia, with U.S. funding, the National Democratic Institute sponsored "Women in Politics" conferences, while the local NGO Women for Prosperity held public forums with female candidates on "Women in Politics," which were taped and later broadcast on local radio stations. The Girl Guides Association built the capacity of girls and young women for self-reliance, self-esteem, and assistance to their own communities, including training focused on rights and responsibilities, democracy, and the culture of peace. The "Mobilized to Develop Women" program used U.S. funds to provide advocacy and legal-rights training to disadvantaged women, with emphasis on women's rights and rule of law. ... [Read More]

I. Introduction

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A similar source of demand for the trafficking of young women is a consequence of widening gender gaps in densely populated India and China. In China, this gap is due in part to the one-child policy, while in India, it is due to the perception that a girl child is an economic liability. Foreign girls and women from Burma, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam reportedly are trafficked into China as forced brides, concubines, and prostitutes. Sources in India report a similar pattern: the trafficking of girls from West Bengal and Assam to the more prosperous states of Punjab and Haryana, which have the most acute gender gaps. ... [Read More]