The Manitoba Women's Advisory Council held a Lunch and Learn session today which featured three professional women from the Ukraine who spoke about trafficking in the Ukraine and what they are doing to curb this horrible situation. The women Luba Maksymovych, Halyna Fedkovych and Iryna Trokhym of the West Ukrainian Centre "Women's Perspectives", Lviv Ukraine, shared information and sought collaboration from Canadian women's groups. The trafficking problem is so huge they cannot do it alone. These women all worked in a non profit organization that helped to educated women on trafficking, what they had to look for before embarking on a job quest. The venue was packed to capacity by mainly service providers and women from non-profit organizations in the city.
Thought some of their English was not that great it was easy to understand them. One woman said she was shocked to find out in 1998 at a conference in Finland she was asked why there were so many young girls from Ukraine prostituting in Finland and where there were lots of prostitutes in their country. She said that because of poverty, women are seeking genuine employment to help feed their children and despicable traffickers prey on them.
She said they teach women never to give up their passports and to always have a return ticket, to check their work agreements carefully before leaving. She said they are making some headway.
Violence against women in the Ukraine is also rampant and until recently, it was considered a matter for the family and there was no law to protect women. Even the police in the Ukraine did not take women's complaint seriously. The session was enlightening in the fact that what is happening to women in Canada is not special to Canadian women but it is something that affects women everywhere in the world. This is more need for women to band together on a global scale to fight for equity, safety and respect.


Facts on Human Trafficking
Number of people trafficked worldwide: 600,000 to 800,0001
Number of people trafficked within the United States: 14,500 to 17,5002
It should be noted that these statistics vary based upon the source, with some sources having the number of individuals being trafficked in the millions.
Average enslavement: 2-5 years (some victims are enslaved for more than 20 years) 3
Common forms of human trafficking: Agriculture, domestic service, mail order brides,
prostitution, sexual abuse/exploitation of children, and sweatshops.4
Top cities for trafficking: According to the report Freedom Denied: Forced Labor in California released in February of 2005, 80% of the documented human trafficking cases in California occurred in San Diego, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.5 Routes for trafficking: The Trans Border Institute documents that many victims are trafficked into Mexico from other countries and from within Mexico, into California; from California they are either trafficked within the state or to other parts of the United States. Trafficking is more prevalent on the West Coast of the United States than on the East Coast.
Victims’ County of Origin: While trafficking has been documented in almost every country,the top three countries of origin of human trafficking victims are Thailand, Mexico and Russia. There is evidence of reverse trafficking, with Americans being trafficked from the United States into Mexico and abroad.6
Tactics used by traffickers: Withholding of legal documents, threats and acts of physical harm to victim and victims’ family, rape, kidnapping, isolation and confinement, denial of medical care, manipulation and psychological abuse.
Number of traffickers in 2004 who have been convicted by the Federal Government: 437
Other assistance for victims: Victims may be eligible for a T-visa, which allows them to remain temporarily in the United States. After 3 years, the victim may be eligible for permanent residence status if he/she meets the following conditions: 1) he/she is of good moral character,
2) he/she has complied with any reasonable request for assistance in the investigation during the 3 year period, and
3) he/she will suffer extreme hardship if he/she is removed from United
States.8
1 United States Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, (TIP), June 2004
2 Ibid.
3 Turning Pain Into Power: Trafficking Survivor’s Perspectives on Early Intervention Strategies, March 2005, Family Violence
Prevention Fund
4 Freedom Denied: Forced Labor in California, February 2005, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley
5 Ibid.
6.San Diego Task Force on Human Trafficking
7 Report on Activities to Combat Human Trafficking, Fiscal Years 2001-2005, United States Department of Justice
8 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rescue and Restore Project