Strategies to Combat and Prevent Trafficking

13:28 | Labels: Moldova

Strategies to Combat and Prevent Trafficking

Prostitution is illegal, but the crime of trafficking of women for sexual enterprise is not recognized under Moldovan law.

The government has expressed its belief that the trafficking of women for the sex industries is not a phenomenon that affects Moldova, regardless of the number of Moldovans who leave the country on a regular basis.

When the state is motivated to fight trafficking, laws are enacted and legislation ratified to facilitate criminal justice system cooperation, and research is conducted to highlight the causes of trafficking.

All of this can contribute to reducing the number of women trafficked for the purpose of sexual enterprise, but without a solid legal base, judicial responsibilities, and governmental accountability, attempts to fight this form of trafficking are futile

Effective Approaches

At present in Moldova, nongovernmental agencies seem to be doing most of the advocacy and educational work regarding the trafficking of women.

Agencies such as International Center for Women Rights Protection and Promotion, La Strada, work diligently on the issue of trafficking in women.

La Strada Moldova forms one part of the La Strada Network, which comprises nine organizations implementing the La Strada Programme of Prevention of Traffic in Women in Central and Eastern Europe.
La Strada Moldova works to educate people about the dangers of traveling abroad for work and about the realities of prostitution and café employment, to prevent trafficking of women, to facilitate media contact and political lobbying, to assist in the safe return of trafficked women, and to provide social assistance and the reintegration of women who have been trafficked and returned home.

The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental body with offices worldwide that assists people in migrating safely.

The International Organization for Migration is also involved in education and prevention campaigns concerning the trafficking of women and works to assist in the safe return of trafficked women to their home countries or to third countries for the purpose of resettlement.
Within each of this agency’s programs are units that advocate the legal creation of funding for telephone hotlines, information media campaigns, programs to support education, and victim assistance measures such as community reintegration, resettlement, educational training, and medical and psychological care.

Unfortunately for countries such as Moldova, limited acknowledgement of the problem from its national government makes funding of these programs a constant battle.

Support is sought elsewhere, and along with the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe8 and other European bodies and national governments,

such as those in Belgium and the Netherlands,
such programs persevere as Eastern Europe melts its borders with a growing influence from the European Union.