Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Baltic States

Book excerpt: Human trafficking has emerged as a major problem across the world. The three Baltic States have got their share whilst going through an adjustment period after the ending of the Soviet era and re-establishing their independence. A common feature was the lack of new work opportunities that hit women more than men in the transition to market economy. Women of ethnic minorities are also over represented among prostitutes and trafficked women. In general the lack of work opportunities for women has made many take the opportunity to work in the sex industry either at home or abroad. Some start voluntarily and some are decieved by traffickers with false promises of other work and later forced into commercial sex. From the migration viewpoint certain social and economic trends arguably contribute to the rise of irregular migration and trafficking. The first part of this book looks at the legal aspects of trafficking in women in the Baltic States whilst the second part looks at reports of the sociological research conducted in the Baltic States on this aspect.