Natasha Trade: Transnational Sex Trafficking

• NCJ Number: 186186
• Journal: NIJ Journal Issue: 246 Dated: January 2001 Pages: 8-15
• Date Published: January 2001
• Author(s): Donna M. Hughes
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Journal
• Grant Number(s): 98-WT-VX-0032
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This article examines trafficking of women for use in the global sex industry.

Abstract

Trafficking of women for global prostitution rings has become an epidemic in the former Soviet Union as a result of economic hardships and increased global communication technologies. Ukrainian women are currently the most sought after nationality, and an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 Ukrainian women were trafficked in the 1990's alone. The United States is one of the recipient countries and, as a result, has passed legislation to help combat the importation of women. The article focuses on the trade originating in Ukraine, and examines the scope of the problem, factors that create a climate ripe for trafficking, traffickers' methods, and the people who profit from the trade in women and girls. It includes strategies to address the trafficking problem and discusses the potential role of policymakers, researchers, and law enforcement officers in the United States. The article concludes that this country's policies and laws need to change to recognize the victimization of women who have been trafficked into prostitution. In most cases, they are treated as criminals and/or illegal immigrants when they are actually victims of violent crimes and are desperately in need of medical, legal, and social services. In addition, more research is needed to support a new understanding of prostitution and the trafficking of women, instead of relying on old rationales based on sexist judgments of women's lives and experiences. Notes