Preventing Sex Trafficking

and Re-Trafficking of Women

in Ukraine and Thailand

Name of Student: Angie Ng

Student Number: 12468162
Title of Course: MA International Community Development
Date of Submission: 24 August 2010

This Dissertation is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of

MA International Community Development.

1
5. CONCLUSION

This small-scale, qualitative research based on a focus group of rehabilitated

trafficking victims in the Ukraine, an expert interview there and an expert

interview in Thailand generated information that helps corroborate the current

literature on how to prevent trafficking and re-trafficking. Although these

interviews cannot be said to provide a definite answer as to why women fall

prey to human trafficking, they can offer findings that deserve further

investigation, especially within Ukraine.

One major finding was that it is not necessarily a lack of education that makes

women vulnerable to sex trafficking; instead it is the limited access to jobs for

various reasons that creates the financial need for migration. While coming

from a poor family and a lack of education are significant factors in Thailand,

Ukrainian women, many coming from well-to-do backgrounds, are highly

educated and are limited by a lack of jobs on the market. Community-based

organisations need to provide training that is relevant to the new job market and

participate in job creation and micro-financing in order to help vulnerable women

gain employment; these should be used not only in rehabilitation and

reintegration of victims but also in prevention as there is no reason a woman

should have to wait until she has been trafficked to receive services.

Another major finding was that global economic development and transitioning

to an open-market economy contributes to poverty and insecurity. While this

2
was not mentioned by the expert in Thailand, it was a key factor in Ukraine; the

fall of the Soviet system led to massive job losses. One recommendation would

be that when rich countries get what they want by opening up a market, they

should also contribute some form of financial aid to help the people in these

markets as they transition from one economic system to another. Foreign

businesses that benefit from this transition should also be expected to help

provide a cushion for those negatively affected, perhaps in the form of corporate

responsibility programmes sponsoring organisations that work in communities.

The recommendation to community development organisations would be to

anticipate these changes and work with communities that are affected.

The third major finding is that marital disruption, especially when it results in

single parenting, is another major vulnerability factor. In Thailand, having a

dysfunctional marriage can affect a woman's choices; and in Ukraine, becoming

a single mother results in an increased financial burden for women who are

already facing economic hardships. If women can have financial help with their

children and even sick parents - whether this help be provided by the

government, multilateral organisations or NGO's – they will not be as

susceptible to the promises of traffickers. Community development workers,

especially those working in women's empowerment, should note that single

parenting and/or being a carer makes women more vulnerable.

The fourth finding is that more communication is needed from organisations in

order to raise awareness in victims and potential victims. This was

3
recommended not by the experts but by the victims in Ukraine. This

communication should be tangible, in the form of pamphlets, advertisements

and flyers, preferably containing quote from survivors. Another affect of this

communication would be to decrease the demand side by enlightening men and

changing their sexual norms.

One additional point that deserves more research is the cost of trafficking to a

woman's family and society as a whole, not only in lost remittances and HIV as

documented in the literature, but also as an issue that causes psychological

distress and social effects for her loved ones and the community. This should

be especially interesting to those working in victim re-integration and community

developers working in regions badly affected by trafficking, those known as

points of origin.

The findings from this research support the current view that financial survival is

a major motivation for migration, making women who are excluded from the job

market for various reasons, are negatively affected by market transitions and/or

become solely responsible for dependants especially susceptible to being

trafficked. The findings also support the view that more communication is

needed to reach out to both vulnerable women and victims. While those

working in gender main-streaming can help decrease the demand for sex

slavery by educating potential sex customers, development workers must

recognise the needs of communities vulnerable to being trafficked and the

needs of victims and work with these communities to fulfil these needs so that

4
members of these communities are not lured by the false promises of

traffickers. Trafficking is a complex human rights and development issues, and

those working in communities affected and/or with communities of trafficking

victims need to work on the ground with the members of these communities

while also communicating globally with others in the field in order to mobilise

networks to take collective action for the emancipation of all trafficking victims,

the abolition of modern-day slavery.

5
Bibliography
Armstrong, H.C. (2008) Rebuilding Lives: An Introduction to Promising
Practices in the Rehabilitation of Freed Slaves. Washington D.C.: Free the
Slaves. [online] Available from:
www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications/free_slaves_08_0708.pdf
[Accessed 19 Nov 2009]

Banergee, U.D. (2003) Migration and Trafficking of Women and Girls A Brief
Review of Some Effective Models in India and Thailand. In: Beeks, K. and
Amir, D. (eds) Trafficking and the Global Sex Industry Landham: Lexington Books,
189-200.

Banfield, G. (2004) What's Really Wrong with Ethnography? International

Education Journal. 4(4), 53-63. [online] Available from:
http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/iej/articles/v4n4/banfield/paper.pdf
[Accessed 15 Aug 2010]

Batstone, D. (2007) Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade – and
How We Can Fight It. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Broderick, P. M. (2005) Identifying Factors in Human Trafficking. Boca Raton:

dissertation.com. [online] Available from:
http://www.bookpump.com/dps/pdf-b/1122837b.pdf [Accessed 15 Mar
2010]

Brunovskis, A. and Surtees, R. (2007) Leaving the Past Behind? When victims of
trafficking decline assistance. Vienna: Fafo and NEXUS Institute [online] Available
from: http://www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications20040.pdf [Accessed
19 Nov 2009]

Creswell, J. W. (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed-

Method Approaches (2nd Ed). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. [online]
Available from:
http://books.google.ch/books?id=nSVxmN2KWeYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=
methodology&hl=en&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=met
hodology&f=false [Accessed 20 Feb 2010].

Farley, M., Cotton, A., Lynne, J., Zumbeck, S., Spiwak, F., Reyes, M.E.,
Alvarez, D. and Sezgin, U. (2003) Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine
Countries: An Update on Violence and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Journal
of Trauma Practice, 2(3-4), 33-74. [online] Available from:
http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/pdf/Prostitutionin9Countries.pdf
[Accessed 11 Jun 2010]

Gallagher, A. (2003) Human Rights and Human Trafficking in Thailand: A

6
 Shadow TIP Report In K. Beeks and D. Amir ed Trafficking and the Global
Sex Industry Landham: Lexington Books, 139-164.

HumanTrafficking.org (2009) Thailand. Washington D.C.:

HumanTrafficking.org. [online] Available from:
http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/thailand [Accessed 26 Nov 2009].

HumanTrafficking.org (2010). Combat Trafficking: Prevention. Washington

D.C.: HumanTrafficking.org. [Online] Available at:
http://www.humantrafficking.org/combat_trafficking/prevention [Accessed 31
May 2010].

IOM (2007) IOM Handbook on Direct Assistance for Victims of Trafficking.

Geneva: IOM. [online] Available from:
http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/publi
shed_docs/books/CT%20handbook.pdf [Accessed 19 Nov 2009]

INTERPOL (2009) People Smuggling. Lyon: INTERPOL. [online] Available

from: http://www.interpol.int/Public/THB/PeopleSmuggling/Default.asp
[Accessed 21 Aug 2010]

INTERPOL (2010) Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation. Lyon:

INTERPOL. [online] Available from:
http://www.interpol.int/Public/THB/Women/Default.asp [Accessed 21 Aug
2010]

Kiryan, T. and van der Linden, M.N.J. (2005) Trafficking of migrant workers from
Ukraine: Issues of labour and sexual exploitation. Geneva: International
Labour Organization. [online] Available from:
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---
declaration/documents/publication/wcms_082022.pdf [Accessed 10 Feb 2010]

Kristof, N.D. and WuDunn, S. (2009) Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Kumar, R. (2005) Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners

(2nd Ed). London: SAGE Publications. [online] Available from:
http://books.google.ch/books?id=x_kp__WmFzoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=m
ethodology&source=bl&ots=mPr9C57c_6&sig=atUAj45RB631aBuEKX4Qsby
yK-I&hl=en&ei=eal-S9H-
LYPymwOPiuSTDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCA
Q6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false [Accessed 20 Feb 2010].

Lacey A. and Luff D. (2007) “Qualitative Research Analysis”. Sheffield: The

NIHR RDS for the East Midlands / Yorkshire & the Humber. [online] Available
from:

7
 http://www.rds-eastmidlands.org.uk/resources/doc_download/8-qualitative-
data-analysis.html [Accessed 26 May 2010]

Laczko, F. And Danailova-Trainor, G. (2009) Human Development Research

Paper 2009/51 (Trafficking in Persons and Human Development: Towards a
More Integrated Policy Response). New York: UNDP. [online] Available from:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2009/papers/HDRP_2009_51.pdf
[Accessed 19 Nov 2009]

Ledwith, M. (2005) Community Development: A critical approach. Bristol: The

Policy Press, University of Bristol.

Lisborg, Anders (2009). Re-Thinking Integration – What do returning victims

really want & need? Evidence from Thailand and the Philippines.
Bangkok: UNIAP. [online] Available from: http://www.no-
trafficking.org/reports_docs/siren/GMS-07_rethinking_reintegration.pdf
[Accessed 10 January 2010].

Patton, M.Q. (2002) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (3rd Ed).
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc.

Prets, C. (2006) Strategies to prevent the trafficking of women and children

who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Brussels: International
Organization for Migration (Belgium). [online] Accessed from:
http://www.belgium.iom.int/document/sipade3.pdf [Accessed 10 Feb 2010].

Pukdeetanakul, N. (2007) Country Study: Thailand. In F. David ed ASEAN and

Trafficking in Persons: Using Data as a Tool to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 67-78. [online] Available
from:
http://www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications/lowres_20asean_20repo
rt-complete.pdf [Accessed 19 Nov 2009]

Pyshchulina, O. (2002) Human Trafficking in Ukraine and Perspective of Its

Prevention. In: International Organization for Migration (Belgium). European
Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
Brussels, Belgium, 18-20 Sept 2002, International Organization for Migration:
Brussels. [online] Available from:
http://www.belgium.iom.int/StopConference/relevantdocs/030%20Pyschulina.
%20Human%20Trafficking%20in%20Ukraine%20and%20prevention.pdf
[Accessed 10 Feb 2010]

Richie, J and Spencer, L (1994), Qualitative data analysis for applied policy
research. In: Bryman, A. and Burgess, R.G. (eds), Analysing Qualitative Data,
London: Routledge, 173-194. [online] Available from:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KQkotSd9YWkC&printsec=frontcover&dq

8
 =Analysing+qualitative+data&lr=&cd=4#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed on
28 May 2010]

Ritchie, J., Spencer, L. and O'Connor, W. (2003) Carrying out Qualitative

Analysis. In: Ritchie, J. and Lewis, J. (eds), Qualitative Research Practice: A
Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. London: Sage
Publications Ltd., 219-262.

Sacks, J. (2005) The End of Poverty: How We Can Make It Happen In Our
Lifetime. London: Penguin Group.

Shdaimah, C. (2010) Taking a stand in a not-so-perfect world: what’s a critical

supporter to do? Problem-solving courts: a brief context. Forthcoming in the
University of Maryland School of Law's Journal of Gender, Race, Class &
Religion.

Smith, B. (1998) “It doesn't count because it's subjective!” (Re)conceptualising

the qualitative researcher role as 'validity' embraces subjectivity. In: AARE
Annual Conference. Adelaide, Australia, Sept 1998, Australian Association for
Research in Education: Victoria. [online] Available from:
http://www.aare.edu.au/98pap/smi98278.htm [Accessed 15 Aug 2010]

Snape, D. and Spencer, L. (2009) The Foundations of Qualitative Research. In:

Ritchie, J. and Lewis, J. (eds) Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for
Social Science Students and Researchers. London: Sage Publications Ltd.,
1-23.

Sulaimanova, S. (2003) Trafficking in Women from the Former Soviet Union for
the Purposes of Sexual Exploitation. In: Beeks, K. and Amir, D. (eds)
Trafficking and the Global Sex Industry Landham: Lexington Books, 61-76.

UK Home Office (2010). Crime Reduction – Online Learning – Routine Activity

Theory. London: Home Office. [online] Available from:
http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/learningzone/rat.htm [Accessed
15 Mar 2010]

UNIAP (2009) Human Trafficking Background Information. Bangkok: UNIAP.

[online]
Available from: http://www.no-
trafficking.org/resources_background_response.html [Accessed 04 Dec 2009]

UNDP (2009) Human Development Report 2009: Overcoming barriers: Human

mobility and development. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

UNODC (2009) Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. Geneva: UNODC

9
 [online] Available from: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-
trafficking/global-report-on-trafficking-in-persons.html [Accessed 10 Jan
2010].

U.S. Dept. of State (2007) Trafficking In Persons Report June 2007. Washington
D.C.: US Department of State. [online] Available from:
http://www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications/2007_TIP_Report.pdf
[Accessed 11 Jan 2010]

U.S. Dept. of State (2009) Trafficking in Persons Report 2009. Washington

D.C: U.S Department of State. [online] Available from:
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/index.htm [Accessed 02 Feb 2010]

U.S. Dept. of State (2010) Trafficking in Persons Report 2010. Washington

D.C: U.S Department of State. [online] Available from:
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/index.htm [Accessed 10 Aug 2010]

Wadsworth, Y. (1991) What is Feminist Research? In M. Brydon-Miller, A.

McIntyre and P. Maguire, Bridging the Gap: Feminism and Participatory Action
Research Conference. Boston, USA, 22-24 Jun 2001, Action Research
Issues Association: Melbourne, Australia [online] Available from:
http://ggsc.wnmu.edu/gap/wadsworth.htm [Accessed 04 Dec 2009]

Whips, J. (2010) Pragmatist Feminism In E.N.Zalta ed Stanford Encyclopedia

of Philosophy. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language and Information,
Stanford University. [online] Available from:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/femapproach-pragmatism/ [Accessed 16 Aug
2010]

Yamada, K. (2007) Human Trafficking in Thailand: Data Collection and

Integration of Selected Human Trafficking Information. Bangkok: United
Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong
Sub-region. [online] Available from:
http://www.esnips.com/doc/534d64bf-a683-4efe-8dcf-a5a8f8e2315b/UNIAP-
Report-on-Data-Collation-and-Integration-of-Human-Trafficking-in-Thailand
[Accessed 04 Dec 2009].

Zimmerman, C. (2006) Presentation on the health consequences among

women who have been trafficked and their implications for services and
policy. London: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
[online] Available from:
www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/capacitytools/traffickinghealth-nov-
2006.ppt [Accessed 19 Nov 2009]

10
This dissertation was submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the MA in

International Community Development, jointly delivered by the University of

Westminster and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and it

was posted on http://forcedmigration.org.

11