The Beast of Eastern Europe: Human Trafficking

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“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” – Edmund Burke
When we think of slavery today, our minds usually drift off into colonial America, where slavery was not only condoned but seen as a way of life by many. Slavery has since been banned in America, and all around the world. With that said, however, slavery still exists in all areas of the world. As a society of predominantly “good men” and women, we have done nothing – or very little – about a demon that plagues all of Eastern Europe, and whose influence spans the entire globe. These demons are the Ukraine sex syndicates that comb the countryside of former soviet nations for fresh prey. They are efficient, ruthless and brutal in each step of the trafficking process, from the recruiters to the brothel owners. They threaten, beat and rape their victims into submission. Even the local police are powerless to stop these atrocities. It is said One quarter of all women trafficked globally are taken illegally from Central and Eastern Europe as well as the former Soviet Block countries. Officials estimate that in Europe alone this affects more than 200,000 women and girls, half of which end up in Western Europe and one fourth in the United States.[1] Most end up working as enslaved prostitutes, with no chance of a bright future. With very little public awareness about the issue, little to no support and protection for victums, and barley any enforcement of anti trafficking laws, it seems that unless society at large rises up to combat the challenge there is no hope for these poor women
The Ukraine hasn’t always been a major hub for sex traffic, it has grown to rival Thailand, where sex tourism is infamous. In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Un...

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...st 15 years, but nowhere near enough to fight a multi-million dollar business such as this. Organizations such as the international justice mission, the Not For Sale Campaign, and the A21 campaign lack the funding and staff to prosecute slavers and support the freed slaves in eastern Europe. There are also individuals such as Cesare Lodeserto, founder of Regina Pacis shelter in San Foca, who have made great strides against the slave trade. The shelter has accomadated at times 600 people, many of them being eastern european prostitues and whores that escaped their captors. People like him are few and far in between. Unless people are enlighten to this ongoing plight, unless more state and internation funds are contributed to abolitionists, and unless international police forces enforce thier anti trafficking laws stiffer, there remains little hope for the sex slave.

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