Human Trafficking In Eastern Europe

An Eastern Europe Epidemic: Human Trafficking and its Victims

With a market economy that is more open than ever before, both legitimate and illegitimate businesses across Europe are benefitting (Philips). Though the drug trade is often thought of as being the most prolific illegal trade, according to security experts, human trafficking has recently surpassed the drug trade as the largest illegal business in the world (BBC News). Thanks to economic recession, Eastern Europe is considered to be on the brink of a “dramatic rise” in human trafficking, as its’ citizens look abroad for jobs that are unavailable in their home countries (Lowry). Trafficking is often considered to be just another term for human smuggling, which is not the case
Most people believe that those who are the masterminds in these types of crimes are doing it because they are struggling with poverty and overall economic inequality. One does not need to be a criminal mastermind to reap the monetary benefits of trafficking. All that is required is greed and an immense disregard for the sanctity of human rights and dignity. The real reasons for becoming involved are much more basic. The criminal industry that is trafficking is in fact driven by 1) slight-to-low risk of prosecution, and 2) the ability to make large profits due to high demand (Polaris Project). It is a harsh truth: sex sells and people all over the world are
Education is an important tool in this fight. Not only do those most at risk of becoming victims need to learn, the population at large needs to understand the problem as well. Someone who is working hard to educate the public is actress Emma Thompson, the force behind an artistic installation entitled “Journey”, which chronicles the harrowing experiences of a woman named Elena, a young victim and survivor of sex trafficking. The installation is made up of seven shipping containers, each one designed by a different artist to interpret a part of what Thompson refers to as Elena's "journey into hell." To avoid enduring their own versions of hell, at risk populations need to be able to recognize the types of people, propositions, and situations that could lead to them becoming victims as well. There are many programs out there whose sole purpose is to aid those who are and have been victims of trafficking. The common threads between all of them are the fact that they focus on the prevention of trafficking, the protection of its victims, and the implementation of harsher policies towards the prosecution of those responsible for the victims’ situation. In the year 2000, the United Nations held the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, sometimes referred to as the Palermo Convention because of its location in Palermo, Italy, and put forth a covenant