Elena Tiuriukanova
Legitimizing migration space: migrant women's labor,
trafficking and illegal migration (problems in conjunction)
The
international migration is an integral part of modern world economy. The
interrelations between migration and global economic development are the
subject of complexity – these are two processes not only mutually provoking,
but also mutually challenging each other. On the one hand, the global changes
are accompanied by intensification of international migrations; on the other
hand, it is recognized, that "people are less mobile, than money, goods or
ideas: they always belong to any state, are dependent on the passports, visas,
residence permits and market conditions of work ". The development of
migration today is extremely contradictory.
Contradictions
between the receiving and sending countries, as well as between national
interests of the states and human rights of the individuals become aggravated
today. The established scheme of international migratory relations can not be
recognized as effective one, because it results in spread of the conflicts and
discriminative practices concerning some groups of migrants (women, in the
first instance) and some countries. Migration policy of the receiving and
sending countries is formed for the large extent by a "trial and
error" method. It is paradoxical, but fact, that the basic lesson, which can be
taken from the accumulated international experience in the field of migration,
is that in modern democratic society based on liberal tradition, there is no
tool to ensure effective migration relations. The inefficiency of
today's international migration is resulted in huge illegal migration
consisting of cheap and deprived labor, significant and most vulnerable part of
which is represented by women. No one state can confirm that it has developed
an effective instrument for combating illegal immigration. These illegitimate, but,
nevertheless existing in vast volumes, migrations, practically represent
irrational form, in which the idea of freedom of movement displays itself
today, turning thus to its quasi-form.
1. The recent features of migration development
For the
second half of ÕÕ century the nature and the structure of international moving
have undergone the significant changes that are important for understanding of
today's reality and the extent to which we can control migration flows. Bellow
is the brief review of occurring processes.
v
Because of
internationalization of economy, on the one hand, and inequality of countries'
development, on the other hand, labor migration has got unprecedented
socio-economic and political meaning in the contemporary world, having turned
really in a global phenomenon. Today all countries are involved in an
international labor exchange. According to the ILO estimations, there are 120 -
200 million of only legal labor migrants in the world, as compared to 75
million in 1965. A difference in a standard of living and economic
opportunities in the different countries - basic driving force of such
migration. In 1995 hourly wages in the industrial sector made up $ 0,25 USD in
India and China, $ 0,6 - in Russia, $ 2,09 - in Poland against $ 17,20 in USA,
$ 23,66 - in Japan, $ 31,88 - in Germany.
The
economic inequality and difference in the life standards between countries
forms trajectories of migrations, raising directed migration flows. The basic
directions of movings make up a global migration scenario, in which various
countries and regions play the role. In migration theory and practice countries
are classified by receiving, sending and countries of transit. However recently
this model loses the clearness due to growing number of countries which can be
attributed to two or even to all three groups. A classical example of such
"shift of roles" is represented by countries of southern Europe
(Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey), and also Russia, which turn to be the countries
with double sending/receiving migration status.
v
Steady labor
migration for some last decades has resulted in segmentation of the labor
market in receiving countries and allocation of kinds of work, which migrants
are mainly engaged in. These are not prestigious workplaces with heavy working
conditions and low payment, which do not require high qualification. Migrant
women are engaged basically in sector of entertainment, including sex-industry,
public service and domestic work. Feminization of migration of flows is
considered by experts as characteristic feature of the newest stage of
international labor migration development. In many respects it is connected
with structural changes in the world economy due to global economic
restructuring in post-war period: relative decrease of production oriented
sector of the world economy and growth of service oriented sector, in a broader
sense called service economy. The increasing domination of service sector in
the employment structure forms migration challenge of the industrialized
nations to the less developed countries - constantly growing need for female
migrants to be engaged in unskilled work in services. The sex - industry (including
sex-tourism) became a component of global "service economy". This is
well-organized and globally controlled highly profitable business practically
not knowing the national borders. Spheres of sexual and so called near-sexual
services provide today potential female migrants from donor countries with the
biggest part of migration opportunities.
v
For the last
10-15 years perceptions about a role of women in migration have changed
dramatically. Traditionally during long time it was explicitly or implicitly
presumed, that an absolute majority of "independent" labor migrants are men. Women were considered as
"dependent" or "secondary" migrants who have no
their personal goal but just follow the family or the husband. Since 1980 international
communities began to undertake the steps to make migrant women and their
problems visible on a social level and open for social (including migration)
policy. It was initiated under the influence of feminist ideas and women's
movement. The Expert Group on International Migration Policy and Status of
Migrant Women was organized by the UN Population Division and the first meeting
of this Group was conducted in 1990. This meeting appeared to be a key point
for the development of gender sensitive approach to migration issues. Its basic
result consists in ascertaining that women represent, alongside with male
workers, key "actors" in international migration, that is independent
and active participants of migration processes.
Thus, at
the highest international level the myth that female migration has basically
the "secondary" character, and women do not initiate migration, but
only follow the husbands was destroyed. Even the special term has appeared
identifying migrant woman as "unattached
migrants " (that is independent - "not attached" to a
husband or to a family).
The
statistics confirms, that women's participation in international migration
approximately is equal to men's one. According to the census data of the main
receiving countries, women make up 48% of all migrants. And, there are some
sectors in the labor market, where migrant women make up an absolute majority
of population, as it is, for example, for entertainment industry.
v
The growth of
population mobility (as well as it is in case of goods, finance and
information) leads to the necessity of the essential shifts in
state/governmental management of these processes. The contradiction between
transnational character of economic and social processes and institutes, on the
one hand, and national concept of
management of these processes and institutes, on the other hand, becomes more
and more obvious. This contradiction is expressed in, so-called, crisis
of management. Just as governments lose millions dollars of the annual
taxes due to internationalization of economy and the growth of international
financial transactions estimated hundreds millions dollars daily, it
begins also impossible for the state to keep the control above the population
movement. It results in huge growth of illegal migration. According to
the American Service of Immigration and Naturalization, the number of illegal
migrants in the USA in 1996 estimated as 4.6 up to 5.4 million. In Russia, by
our estimation, there is more than 3.5 million of illegal labor migrants. Women
because of the various reasons, which will be explained bellow, are
concentrated on an illegal pole of migration.
v
Steady migration
flows during some time result in establishing migration networks, which connect
immigrants in the receiving countries with the country of origin. These
networks reduce costs and risks of migration, and support migration flow, even
when the objective forces, which excited migration weakened, or factors, which
constrain migration (for example, restrictive immigration policy), strengthened.
The development of new information and communication technologies, ways of
money transfer and modern transport promotes the growth of such networks. For
migrant women these networks are especially important, as women more often have
to use informal channels of migration. Such networks also restrain the ability
of the national states to control migration.
v
It is necessary
to mention one more important moment, inherent for the newest period of
migration development. The discussions about migration issues have shifted to a
human rights context that affected the nations' policy in this field (though
probably in more declarative way). The discrimination practices in relation to
migrants, though is still used in the countries of democratic tradition, but is
exposed to criticism from the human rights organizations and liberal political
movements. The migration more and more frequently becomes a trump in political
games and distribution of power. The right parties quite often use
"migration card", playing on disapproving attitude of a part of
population to the immigrants.
2. Migrant women's labor as a major factor of discrimination
The reasons
of marginalization of female labor migrants lay in the objective economic sphere.
They can be explained, first of all, by the specific character of work, which
migrant women do and consequently by their role in economy of host societies.
Let's consider a position of migrant women in the international labour market.
A specific international
division of labor has appeared in the labor markets of the main industrialized
countries as a result of double - national and gender – segregation of workers.
Some specific niches filled mainly by migrants are allocated. Within these
niches the typically female sectors of employment are formed, representing the
most discriminative, informal and criminal segments of migrants' employment.
These niches mainly include:
·
entertainment
industry (dancers in restaurants and clubs, striptease actresses, etc.),
·
public services
(lowest personnel of hotels, bars, fitness-centers, etc.),
·
domestic services
(nurses, house workers, care of children, aged and sick people),
·
sex-services.
The
marginal position of migrant women is mainly connected with the character and
the historically formed status of their work.
These kinds
of work female migrants usually engaged in, traditionally was not recognized and de facto is
not recognized now as an equal by its social and economic meaning to other
kinds of work. Some types of service work, according to the well-known feminist
thesis, shift from the private sphere of activity to the public one, having
kept the low social status, typical for private home work. In the poor families
this work is carried out, as a rule, by female members of the family. In the
middle class families in the developed countries this work is frequently done
by wage worker – usually by migrant women. In the process of structural changes
in employment models of middle class women in the industrialized nations, work
of female migrants from the "third world countries" turn to be an
instrument that helps to support and to develop egalitarian gender models in
host societies.
The thesis
that the work, which is usually done by migrant women, represents the work
"of the lower rate" and one of the most non-prestigious spheres of
employment may be confirmed by migrant women's wages. According to the data of
our sample survey, in the group of low-paid labor migrants (up to USD 500 per
month) the ratio of women and men makes up 3:1, while in the group of highly
paid migrants (more than USD 1000 per month) this proportion changes to the
opposite one: 1:3 (1 woman per every 3 men) (see diagram).
Distribution by sex in the groups
of low-paid (right) and
highly paid (left) labor migrants
Source: ISESP RAS
Occurring
devaluation of types of work, which migrants are engaged in, besides the
objective economic dimensions has also subjective expression. This is a
negative social image of migrant women – kind of stigma - based on a
stereotype, that they usually do not-prestigious, socially blamed work, that is
sex – employment, for example.
3. Female migration as a "zone" of
social risk: trafficking in women, prostitution and migration
The
specificity of female labor migration is connected not only with existence of
typical sectors of migrant women's employment and not prestigious character of
work, but also with some other moments. These are:
·
the flexibility
of working conditions, which use to be hardly regulated in contracts,
·
individual
("hired-by-piece") character of work (as compared to the team-work of
construction workers, for example)
·
socio-demographic
features of migrants (young and very young age, incomplete education)
·
strong latent
motives (marriage, emigration).
Due to all
these moments female migration as a whole may be recognized as a
"zone" of high risks and mass violations of the human rights. Especially
it concerns marginal employment, including sex-employment itself, and
so-called, near-sex-employment, which frequently appears to be associated with
sex-services (dancing, striptease, "consummation" – special “girl” in
a bar to make clients to spend more
money, escort-service, model business, etc.). The stigma, which exists in
public consciousness in relation to the prostitution can be referred also to
the near-sexual employment. According to the data of our study, for 26 % of the
respondents these kinds of employment practically merge with prostitution and
sex-exploitation.
The distribution of answers to a question:
"Whether the offers for dancers, "hostess" in a bar or
girl for
"consummation" abroad actually mean the sex-work?
|
Always |
26 |
|
Frequently |
53 |
|
Sometimes |
18 |
|
Never |
- |
|
Hesitate to answer |
3 |
"Sex excluded" means migration
breakdown ?
The
described spheres of risk provide the majority of migration opportunities for
women from less developed countries. The majority of firms offering
work abroad for women, do not really exclude sex-service. Underground (not
licensed – for Russia) firms openly offer sex-employment, the official
organizations do offer the same but under various "labels" hiding the
real offer. As a rule, in the published announcement of work abroad in
entertainment services we can read: "Sex excluded". However in
reality if woman wants to work outside of "intimate services" and
excludes for herself sex-employment, the range of possible variants of
migration for her is narrowing dramatically.
In the
international migration industry migrant women for a long time have played a
role of cheap providers of various services, first of all, sexual and
near-sexual, occupying the most marginal niches in the labor markets of the
receiving countries. By estimations, there are about half a million of foreign
prostitutes working in Europe. In Germany and Italy three of four prostitutes
are visitants, in Holland – one of two. According to the data of the IOM,
recruiters of illegal migrants annually earn from 5 to 7 billions USD. The
considerable part of this money come from sex-trade. It is well organized
international criminal business on traffic of the women from one country to
another with the purpose of sexual exploitation.
The recent
wave of "Russian" (Russian-speaking would be more precise)
prostitution in the West, which had a broad resonance in western mass media,
simply speaks about appearance of our women on a world migration arena. They
came after similar sex-waves from Philippines, China, Colombia (60s-70s), and
then Poland, Bulgaria, Romania (second half of 80s). In 1997 175 thousand women
and girls were sold from Central and Eastern Europe, including countries of
CIS, in the developed countries of Europe and America. Exit from isolation of Central and Eastern Europe, including former
USSR, has initiated new re-division of western sex-markets.
In spite of
the fact that traffic in women have already drawn for a long time attention of
the international organizations the comprehensive definition of this phenomenon
has just begun to be developing. Because of the complexity of the phenomena and
also absence of a universal usage of the word "trafficking", there is
a substantial inconsistency in counting the numbers of trafficked women in
different countries, as well as in understanding and addressing the phenomena.
4. Traffic in women: Definitions and Key Points
1.
IOM definition.
"Trafficking in human beings is defined by IOM as: “The illicit engagement
(by recruiting, kidnapping, selling, etc.) and/or movement of migrants, either
within national or across international borders, whereby intermediaries
(traffickers) obtain economic or other profit by means of deception, coercion
and/or other forms of exploitation under conditions that violate the
fundamental human rights of migrants" .[1]
2.
The draft “Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children” (supplement
to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime) definition:[2]
Trafficking in persons means the recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the treat 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the
exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual
exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
The
other relevant definitions are:
(a)
“Slavery”
shall mean the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the
powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised;
(b)
“Forced
labor” shall mean labor or services obtained through force or the threat of
force, or by the use of coercion, or through any scheme or artifice to defraud,
including debt bondage;
(c)
“Servitude”
shall mean the status or condition of dependency of a person who is
[unjustifiably] compelled by another person to render any service and who
reasonably believes that he or she has no alternative but to perform the
service;
(d)
“Trafficking
in persons” shall include the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring
or receipt of any child, or giving payments or benefits to achieve the consent
of a person having control of a child. This being done with the aim of using,
procuring or offering a child for slavery, forced labor, servitude,
prostitution or for the production of pornography.
(e)
“Child”
shall mean any person under 18 years of age.
These definitions
make explicit reference to a range of forms of power and domination, which
vitiate consent, such as coercion, debt bondage, abuse of authority and threats
and deception.
These
definitions of trafficking in human beings like any others contain a number of key
moments, which arise some misunderstanding:
·
First of all the
purpose of traffic – to get financial or other benefits. In this all approaches
are uniform.
·
The sphere of
trafficking is determined widely than only sex-exploitation, but as
exploitation of any labor resulted in human rights violation. Trade in people
and slavish work are considered as very similar and tightly linked notions,
widely used in the international documents, national legislations and mass
media. Narrower treatment of trafficking in women as forced prostitution is also frequently used.
·
The concept of
trafficking in human beings differs from the notions of illegal migration and smuggling
of people through national borders. The first concept assumes also the
usage of legal channels for trafficking, as frequently namely legal channels
are used by criminal groups.
·
It is necessary
also to note, that traffic in people is global process referring not only to
women, but also to children and men. However the scope of women' exploitation for
commercial profits is much more significant.
·
The basic
stumbling-block in the definition of trafficking and at the same time key
moment of discrepancy in understanding of this phenomenon is the question about
voluntariness and coercion in relation to both migration
and work, and also about exploitation of "sold" people. It is not
agreed yet what does exploitation mean, where it begins, and where comes to an
end? If woman pays thousand dollars to be
forwarded to another country and to get work (including sex-work) there,
whether she can be considered as a victim of exploitation or trafficking?
Some years ago most of experts would answer “No”. It was accepted that a
criterion of identifying a concrete action as trafficking should be existence
of any violent actions, constraint or
deceit. For "decoding" the notion of exploitation the concrete forms
of human rights violation are usually introduced:
·
Ø
physical and
psychological violence,
Ø
threat,
Ø
withdrawal of the
documents,
Ø
debt bondage,
Ø
forced labor,
Ø
restriction of
freedom of movement,
Ø
deceit,
Ø
infringement of
the labor contract (under-pay, increased duration of working day, unacceptable
working conditions)
Ø
and others.
Trafficked
women's conditions of work
|
Ðåãèîíû
âûåçäà |
Central Europe |
Eastern Europe + CIS |
Developing countries |
|
Passport
taken away |
54 |
75 |
33 |
|
Restriction
of movement |
71 |
61 |
24 |
|
Working
hours: 13 – 18 |
10 |
8 |
3 |
|
Forced to
work without a condom |
- |
2 |
3 |
|
Physical
violence |
46 |
27 |
27 |
|
Victim's
family threatened |
- |
2 |
6 |
|
Number of
cases |
28 |
36 |
33 |
Source: STV,
1995[3]
Some years ago it was commonly accepted that it is important to make a
distinction between people, who are forced or tricked into being trafficked for
prostitution, and those, who choose to migrate for this particular work.
Nowadays people, who voluntary choose to migrate for sex-work, but are then
subjected to exploitation, are also classified as trafficked persons and the
human rights violations suffered by these people are to be taken on the equal
basis with forced workers. If, according to IOM definition, traffic implicitly
assumes either forced migration or forced work, the CATOC definition assume an
opposite understanding. Article 3 ( b) dots the i's and cross the t's:
The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended
exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be
irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been
used.
Accordingly, the sex-trade, should not be associated only with coercion into prostitution and
sex-exploitation of migrant women "against their will".
The discussions concerning attitude to voluntary prostitution have begun just after adopting the UN Convention
for Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others (1949), which recognized that prostitution always assumes exploitation of women. Accordingly, all
women, engaged in sex-work, were considered as victims of exploitation. There
is not distinction between forced and voluntary prostitution done in the
Convention.
With our point of view, it is necessary to make a difference between
criminal/judicial understanding and definition of traffic in people and social
aspect of the issue. Examining female migration in risky spheres of employment as a social problem (not with the view
of criminal punishment, but with the view of possible measures of social
policy), it is impossible to found on a principle of "constraint" and
to be limited only by consideration of the cases of violence. Anyway in many
cases sex-work is kind of "forced
willingness" - choice in conditions, when there is no other choice
under mass poverty, unemployment and frustration. So it can be treated as
normal voluntary labor only relatively.
Application of a "principle of constraint" to the
international definitions of trafficking as a problem-building point actually
get trafficking out from social context and convert it into criminal issue.
Besides, it narrows number of migrant women requiring the special programs of
human rights protection, limiting it by those migrants, who were involved in
prostitution by force. At the same time because of weakness of a legal basis
and expansion of shadow relations in the sex-industry and in migration, women
voluntary working in this sphere no less need special protection, than those
who was coerced into prostitution by force.
There are some other reasons not to limit a problem only by the cases of
violent treatment. First, the traffickers receive the same profits selling
"voluntary" sex-workers and those who was forced to work. Secondly,
by our estimation, number of so-called "volunteers" is much higher,
than victims of the open violence concerning either sex work or migration in
general. Third, the human rights violation of voluntary migrants may be not so
severe, but they are considerably more mass.
The complexity of the analysis of traffic in women is in its connotation
to such universal social problems, as illegal migration and prostitution. The
decisions of these problems as one know are not found yet within world liberal
tradition.
5. Migration and prostitution
Prostitution is integrally connected with migration. As this profession
is considered "scandalous" and has rather short "life",
women prefer to be engaged in this business far from their houses. Upon
finishing this work they wish, as a rule, to return home and to start
"normal" life. The best destination for migration with the purpose of
sex-employment is the big city, megalopolis, where sex-market is wider and it
is easier to keep anonymity. This forms the directions of migration flows in
the countries of exit: from the periphery to metropolitan cities, and therefrom
- abroad.
There is also one more migration related moment inherent to organization
of prostitution. This occupation is connected with regular change of a place of
work. It is known, that the owners of clubs and brothels having a constant
circle of clients, regularly change "girls" (or even exchange between
themselves), so that the clients are not bored with them. The permanent moving
does not stimulate legalization of the status of migrants.
More and more restrictive immigration policy of the receiving countries
results in reduction of legal migration opportunities and correspondingly
increases illegal migration.
For women having intention to work abroad, sex-market or near-sex services
become most accessible avenues. Being more often semi-legal (shadow) or
illegal, this sector of employment does not require from migrants legalization
of their status and, thus, stimulates illegal migration.
There is still open question: how the legalization of prostitution in
the host country may affect migration? It, probably, will slightly expand
"official" segment of migration, as the official labor relations
require legal status. However we should not overestimate these benefits, as the
host countries hardly will agree on complete legalization of guest-prostitutes,
taking into account anti-immigration feelings that are quite strong in all
receiving countries. As Netherlands' experience shows, the legalization
protects only national sex -
business. Migrants, engaged in sex-sector, as a rule, still remain "out of
the law". The legalization of prostitution, as such, probably, will not
improve the conditions of migrants, neither those who voluntary work in
sex-business, nor those who are forced to do this.
There are some basic channels for sex-trade and international transfer
of other female labor in spheres of risk. First of them is - labor migration itself, that is export
of work from the poor countries to economically advanced ones. There are some
facts showing that host countries are interested in migrant inflow to service
industry. There were several efforts to provide more legal ways for such
migration. In early 80s Japanese embassy in Philippines has introduced
so-called "visa for entertainment workers" (or “visa for dancers”),
that actually has given legitimate basis for sex-migration. Today such visas
are granted also to Russians going to Japan for work in entertainment services.
The same type of visa exists in Switzerland. In other countries tourist or
guest visas are commonly used to provide sex-migrants with legal opportunity to
enter the country.
Other channel - mixed marriages through the system of "mail ordered brides". In many
cases the bride is selected for concrete economic functions, for example, to
work at a farm or to care about children, old parents, or sick relatives of
"spouse". The false marriage is also one of the channels for
recruiting women for illegal work in sex-industry. In a number of countries the
special "visa of bride" exists that is used by traffickers to provide
legitimate basis for their business.
The third channel - tourism,
including such its version as rapidly developing sex-tourism, which represents
today the global, well organized, highly profitable industry. It is one the
most cynical displays of sex-exploitation of women from less developed
countries.
But still in spite of all complications the social problems connected
with female labor migration, should not be perceived as an "absolute
evil" and should not eliminate positive sense of migration in general.
Broadening a specter of social opportunities, migration really helps women to
achieve success. Marginalization of migrant women is a social construction,
reflecting the general gender asymmetry in social life (low social status of
women, subordinate position in the family, shift to the low-paid sectors of employment).
6. Sending and receiving
countries: resistance or cooperation
During the last decades the immigration policy of the main receiving
countries has been continuously restricting. The reasons of this are clear -
countries tried to protect their national labor markets from inflow of
"undesirable" migrants.One of the consequences of such policy is the
huge waves of illegal migration, which has overwhelmed the most of receiving
countries.
The permanent shortage of the national workers in not prestigious mass
professions is the chronic symptom of the postindustrial countries, as well as
increased demand for highly qualified intellectual labor. Migrants used to be
attracted mainly in these two sectors of the labor market.
Anybody in the West can hardly doubt about the contribution of migrants,
both skilled professionals and workers of mass professions, to the national
economy. However immigration policy is absolutely different in relation to
these two groups. In relation to low-qualified migrants of mass occupations The
policy is much more rigid. The migrant women are concentrated in the lower
sectors of the labor market, and consequently experience all restrictions and discriminative practices of immigration
policy. The discriminative character of this policy, covered often by liberal
"clothes", result in pushing migrants (especially women) out of the
sphere of legal regulations into informal, illegal, and frequently criminal
relations. Those "undesirable" labor migrants, which were dropped out
through visa policy and other regulations, turned to illegal channels, where
they found opportunities offered by criminal structures. They still penetrate
through borders (illegally, or as the tourists, or with the guest visa), but
find themselves already in illegal situation. Women's migration is especial
criminalized because of close connection with sex- and entertainment industry,
which widely use illegal channels to deliver workers.
The receiving countries on their part will hardly perform steps to make
immigration policy more flexible particularly concerning labor migration. The
initiative of the sending countries is necessary. And this initiative should be
very strongly determined, focused on particular groups of migrants and
particular conditions of migration (for example, short-term work), undertaken
on high enough level. Active negotiation process should be initiated between
sending and receiving countries aimed at enlarging
legitimate "space" of labor migration.
7. Fighting against sex-trade:
roles of different "actors"
The issue of traffic in women has received a wide public resonance, and
it was reflected in the activity of national governments, international
organizations and NGOs. Elimination of trafficking in human beings and
"slavery of the XXIst century" is included in the programs of actions
of many international organizations. The following basic directions of work are
to be allocated:
·
revealing and
struggle with criminal groups and traffickers organizing the international
sex-trade;
·
carrying out wide
awareness raising campaigns for women intended to migrate and other
"groups of risk";
·
rehabilitation
programs providing victims of sex-trade with help and support (irrelevantly
either they get in sex-sphere voluntary, or against their will).
The first direction is carried out basically by national law-enforcement
bodies and the Interpol. Second and third – by international organizations and
NGOs.
The basic international organizations concerning migration (IOM, ILO,
UNHCHR, Amnesty International, and others) have responded to a new wave of
sex-migration from the CEE countries: they organize international initiatives
and support national programs against traffic and associated human rights
violations.
However, if we present the international migration as an opposition of
two "counterparts": country of origin and host country, one of which
is a source migration pressure, and another one have to keep it back, - it
becomes clear, that the international
organizations basically "play at the side of the receiving countries.
Three allocated directions of fighting against traffic practically do
not concern the sphere of migration
policy as a particular goal. Some measures of direct concern to immigration
policy are proposed (for example it is offered to allocate victims of sex-trade
from the group of illegal migrants and not to apply to them the measures, which
are usually applied to irregular migrants, if they agree to testify against
traffickers). But this do not aimed at shifting existing international
migration regime into more effective relations on migration scene. Moreover a
question of further strengthen of immigration restrictions, including visa
regulations (particularly in case of young women), are discussed.
Having substantial instrumental potential of power in the world, which
could be used for influence upon migration policy of states, international
organizations have focused and practically limited their activity by awareness
raising campaigns and providing support for NGOs working with victims of
trafficking. Though they carry out information campaigns in that number for
national governments, those programs and recommendations that the international
organizations develop today to address national governments, NGO and
mass-media, as a rule, lay outside of the area of real migration policy.
Certainly, the information campaign, explaining mechanisms and essence
of the international traffic in people, is necessary, as well as scientific
researches is. But they should also be focused on the development of new approaches to challenge existing
international migration regime. Only the international organizations of
high status, firstly those working under the UN's aegis, can carry out such
purpose-oriented actions. Without it the measures against traffic in people and
exploitation of migrant labor will be a fiction, whatever the international
community do or whatever funds would be paid for this.
The authority of international organizations, their potential of
influence in the world can and should be used to turn existing migration regime
into influence migration relation of countries, with the purpose to make them
more efficient, less discriminative, to
enlarge legitimate migration space and accordingly, to narrow the sphere of
illegality and crime.
Change of international migration policy is enormously complicated task,
especially on a global scale and it requires a lot of time and efforts, but
modern crisis of migratory regulations show that it is time to change a
perspective of thinking and acting on migration issues.
ã2001,
Elena Tiuriukanova.