Human trafficking is twenty-first century’s modern form of slavery that concerns every Member State, every European neighborhood policy partner country and the whole EU. Trafficking in human beings is a severe violation of fundamental human rights and at the same time it is an extremely profitable business for organized crime. It can take different forms of exploitation starting from sexual exploitation and illegal adoption to forced labor, domestic work, illegal trade in human organs and begging. Human trafficking can target men and women, girls and boys of different age and nationality; it can target the obviously vulnerable and the supposedly strong population groups. Human trafficking relies on such methods as threats, fraud, deception and different forms of coercion and abduction. Over the past decade human trafficking has been responsible for increasing numbers of “deprived victims” which have reached epidemic proportions - and no country is immune.
The question to address is: How to overcome this dramatic phenomenon and what measures to take in order to diminish the number of victims in the EU in general and in the Eastern Partnership countries specifically? To find an answer to this it’s better to refer to the roots and causes of this phenomenon. Very often the root of this phenomenon lies in economic disparity, lack of opportunities and employment, poverty, gender inequality, discrimination and corruption. Nowadays unemployment is particularly affecting women who, striving to survive in their home countries, take up any job and leave their homes in search for work and better life abroad. Their helplessness becomes a weakness which can be exploited by traffickers who are selling cheap labor abroad where by force or by other coercive methods these women start working under slavery-like conditions. Trafficking has become a transnational type of crime extending from one country to another and requiring responses from a variety of legal fields: criminal justice, human rights and migration.
As a representative of Lithuania, I have to report that Lithuania has not only become a country of origin but the most important country of transit between Eastern and Central Europe as well as a destination country for women and girls subjected to human trafficking. Lithuanian women are victims of sex trafficking to Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Women form Eastern neighborhood countries are transported from these Eastern partner countries through Lithuania to Western Europe, approximately 12 % of them remain and work as prostitutes in Lithuania. Once they are entangled in the prostitution business in Lithuania, they suffer from various discriminations and sexual exploitation and are trafficked onwards to Western European countries. Over the last years Lithuania has become an important source for the trafficking in women from Eastern neighborhood countries to Western and Central European countries. The main destination countries are Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and other states. The smuggling or attempted smuggling of women to foreign states for the purposes of sexual exploitation and prostitution has become a widespread phenomenon in Lithuania. Unemployment and a lack of information and education markedly contribute to the spread of this scourge.
Nowadays the trafficking that increases the fastest in Lithuania is the trafficking in children, female minors and girls for forced prostitution and forced labor. In most cases the victims of such trafficking are street children and children from socially vulnerable families and families lacking strong emotional ties. Individuals from this target group can be “recruited” in the territory of one country - also from Eastern partner countries – and can later be transported abroad via various transit centers, amongst them Lithuania as well. Such dramatic phenomena need to be addressed by various legal and political instruments and actions.
Lithuania is undertaking various actions in order to combat all forms of human trafficking and to protect the rights of victims. The Government of Lithuania recently sustained the anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts by implementing several action plans and control programs in human trafficking as well as by increasing funds for victim care. Nevertheless, main challenges still remain in the level of this MS in particular and in the EU in general.
Lithuania as the Member State which holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU is also undertaking various anti-trafficking activities in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries. Many events with stakeholders from the Eastern Partnership countries which will focus on topic of human trafficking are scheduled in Lithuania. These events can help to build networks and to strengthen the cooperation between Lithuania and the partner countries with regard to the fight against human trafficking.
In November the Eastern Partnership Summit will take place in Vilnius. The Eastern Partnership countries have placed their hopes for the integration into the European family on this meeting. But as pointed out by many stakeholders from the European Commission, EP and European Council the most important remaining deficits of these countries are related to human rights, the rule of law, the fight against corruption - and human trafficking. These shortcomings represent big obstacles for any further progress of these countries towards the EU. To overcome these issues a lot needs to be done by the concerned Eastern Partnership countries - not only for the Vilnius Summit preparation but also with regard to further EU integration processes and a rapprochement to EU standards.
From my point of view-and this does not only apply to Lithuania and other Member States but to the Eastern partnership countries as well- in order to combat human trafficking and to ensure the effectiveness of methods against it, strong coordinated and effective actions against human trafficking between Member States and Eastern Partnership countries should be undertaken. Member States and Eastern Partnership countries should cooperate effectively with each other across borders which require the expertise, resources and efforts of many individuals and entities. To illustrate this with an example: In 2011 - 2012 the Lithuanian government collaborated with the Ukrainian government in six international trafficking investigations and this cooperation is continuing further. NGOs working in the Eastern partnership countries should continue their cooperation with the governmental authorities in the EU in the areas of human rights, employment and law enforcement which requires service provision, information sharing and advocacy. A special effort has to go to the identification of victims of trafficking among vulnerable population groups, particularly of victims of labor trafficking and of children in prostitution.
In Lithuania and in other Member States as well as in Eastern Partnership countries the main effort has to go to raising the awareness of the population in general to making the profile of the trafficking problem clear and understood. These public awareness actions should target potential adult victims of trafficking and the general population. These efforts should also be spread via various channels, for example schools and universities, and can take different forms like seminars, public lectures, discussions, distribution of brochures and diverse other anti-trafficking events. Right now Lithuania is undertaking such a public awareness action in filming a movie about a Lithuanian girl who becomes a victim of human trafficking. The distribution amongst and viewing of a movie by the general population can increase the awareness of the human trafficking problem and can contribute to understanding the flows and trends of human trafficking inside of the country as well as outside.
Adoption of the legislation against human trafficking is an effective legal instrument but further coordinated actions among Member States and non-EU countries to address trafficking in human beings need to be provided in order to put these legal instruments in practice. These coordinated actions can include the establishment of platforms, partnerships, exchange of best practices, awareness-raising campaigns and trainings among government agencies and non-governmental groups in the EU as well as outside.
Despite the implementation of different legislation targeting human trafficking, the trends and working methods of human trafficking can change and can adapt to these legal frameworks and provisions. But a better understanding of the human trafficking phenomena and an effective reaction of the population to this problem can help to diminish the flows of human trafficking. Identifying the extent of the problem in the EU as well as outside can be the key to stem the increased flows of human trafficking. In Lithuania, in the EU and outside the EU it is time to act for everybody of us on each level - local, national and European - in order to eradicate the slavery of twenty-first century, human trafficking.
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