Reintegration Support Critical for Ukrainian Trafficking Victims
While on their way home after an early evening walk in the park, two Ukrainian girls, Alisa and Natasha (names changed), were kidnapped by a trafficker, who transported them to Moscow. The girls were subjected to extreme physical and verbal abuse and were sexually assaulted over the course of their long trip to the Russian capital. Once in Moscow, the girls were to work as prostitutes for the trafficker, who ran his extensive prostitution network with the help of family. However, after one of the trafficker’s relatives got jittery about employing the young girls as prostitutes–she was fearful of being arrested and separated from her own small child—he returned the girls to the Ukrainian border but not before forcibly assaulting them once more.
Alisa and Natasha, vulnerable and defenseless, were made to cross the border through a deserted field on foot in the dead of night. After wandering into a village where they asked for directions to the nearest highway, the already weary girls trekked another several hours before they stumbled across a group of women. The women listened to the girls’ shocking story and housed them until they gained the strength necessary to go to the police.
Trafficking in human beings has assumed serious proportions in recent years and has become a modern migration and human rights challenge demanding a strong, comprehensive, and coherent response from governments, private sector, civil society and the international community at large. An estimated 100,000 Ukrainians have been sold into slavery since 1991. The majority of trafficking victims return to Ukraine wracked by uncertainty, vulnerable and often unsure of their next step. In light of the staggering scope of human trafficking, it is imperative that reintegration programs for trafficking victims provide comprehensive assistance capable of alleviating their fears and easing the transition back into normal life. Through directed funding efforts, USAID/Ukraine aims to ensure the sustainability and efficacy of reintegration and rehabilitation programs run by partner NGOs of the International Organization for Migration Mission in Ukraine.
Alisa and Natasha received comprehensive assistance through Women’s Informative Consulting Center, a Zhytomyr-based NGO, with USAID support. The girls were given allowances for education, clothing, and food to help support them, especially in the early stages of reintegration. Alisa and Natasha were also given medical and psychological assistance to heal the wounds inflicted by their horrific experience. Finally, the girls received legal consultation and were provided with a lawyer from Kyiv to represent them in court where the traffickers, who were apprehended by the authorities, were tried and found guilty of their crimes.
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