Preventive - informative campaign against
trafficking in girls and women in Baltic States
(Lithuania and Estonia)
Duration 11 months - 01.10.2002-01.09.2003
Participants
Dr. Dalia Marcinkeviciene, Head of
Lithuanian Women’s NGO “Praeities Pedos”
Gedimino pr.46-6, 2600 Vilnius, Lithuania
Phone/fax: +370 2 49 77 26
e-mail: dmarcinkeviciene@takas.lt
Jüri Kalikov, Head of
NGO AIDS Information and Support Center in Tallinn (Tugikeskus)
Kopli 32, EE 14502 Tallinn, Estonia
Phone/fax: + 372 64 131 65
e-mail: tugikeskus@hotmail.com
Responsible organisation/Administrative body
Lithuanian NGO “Praeities Pedos”
Project leader
Dr. Dalia Marcinkeviciene
While dealing with the problem of trafficking our NGO “Praeities Pedos”
continuously faced the question how to try to stop the continuously expanding
prostitution and trafficking in women and girls in Lithuania. Having gone
deep into the essence of the situation, the experience of other countries
and having assessed what is being done in this field in Lithuania the members
of our organisation realised that the nature of the fight against trafficking
itself should be changed, i.e. work should be carried out not only with
victims of trafficking themselves (even though it is extremely important)
but also with the society and with young people. Therefore, our NGO was
the first in Lithuania who initiated information-preventive campaigns (“Informative-preventive
measures against trafficking in women and girls in Lithuania”, 1999 April-May,
2000 September-October, 2001- 2002) on a wide scale in secondary schools.
For this purpose NGO “Praeities pedos” prepared an information package,
viz. we made a preventive documentary “Girls” about the trafficking in women
mechanism in Lithuania (30 min.), prepared the articles for publication
in main newspapers of Lithuania, published preventive fliers. For the same
purpose we edited the study “Trafficking in Lithuania”, 1999, 105 p. Secondary
school teachers themselves started inviting us to meetings with students.
It is difficult to discuss quick and obvious results; however, there were
some girls who dared to tell the officers in border control posts that they
were taken away to be sold.
It is our deep conviction that only constant preventive actions with
regard to teenagers, by using visual aids, may start producing results after
certain time. Meanwhile, visiting Lithuanian schools today with the documentary
“Girls” produced by us as well as in discussions with students the only
response that we very often receive is frivolous laughter of the students
upon uttering the word “prostitution” and irony with regard to victims of
trafficking in women. What does that say? That means that the overall majority
of teenagers in Lithuania, i.e. potential victims of trafficking in people,
and the same future traffickers, perceive prostitution as extremely piquant
adventure and quite decent source to earn for living. That also purports that
these children first of all learn about prostitution from TV, which frequently
makes this problem sound piquant, or from newspapers that often depict victims
of trafficking in women with a higher or lower degree of humour. That also
shows that most probably these teenagers hear the same humour and piquancy
from their teachers and as often as not from their parents. And, eventually,
that testifies that preventive activities against trafficking in women and
girls carried out by several non-governmental organisations in Lithuania
have not reached the major part of Lithuania yet.
However, there are no statistical data, how many girls and women left
on their own free will or were deceptively taken abroad to work as prostitutes.
Analysis of this problem is based on statistical data about missing and
deported persons (in 1998 205 women aged under 30 were missing from Lithuania
and 176 were found; the same year 221 women were deported from foreign countries
to Lithuania). Still there are no methods for calculation of women sold abroad.
Our NGO “Praeities Pedos” assumes on the basis of conversations with secondary
school teachers that extent of women trafficking is much higher. According
to teacher’s allegations, on average 2 girls leave illegally to foreign
countries. There are about 600 secondary schools in Lithuania, so it might
be presumed that about 1,200 girls leave abroad each year. Lithuanian media,
the Internet is full of proposals to women inviting them to work in the
field of services. According to the date of Jüri Kalikov (the Head
of NGO AIDS Information and Support Center (AIDS-i Tugikeskus) the 26,5%
of girls who are working as prostitutes in Estonia are also less then 18
years old, 46,4% - - from 24 to 30 years old. On the other hand, prostitution
has another social root in post-communist countries. It is some special,
a very strongly erotised image of women in our societies. Even in preventive
leaflets prostitutes are portrayed as beautiful, sexual and attractive women.
Because of that, many of young girls are eager for model carrier and luxurious
life style. In this case a woman’s body is treated as a means to earn money.
But nobody warns them that in many cases this is the first step to prostitution.
The problems of prostitution, trafficking of women and girls inside
and outside the borders become more and more serious and dangerous. It
is necessary to give a special attention to these problems in a frame of
extremely fast spread of HIV infection in last year, too. For instance,
in Estonia before year 2000 total number of HIV-positive people as nearly
100. In year 2000 - 390 new cases were founded, and only in period
01.01.2001 - 10.04.2001 the number of new infections was 420. It should
be pointed that that it is clear epidemic situation among drug users, especially
in age 15-24.
Work experience of our organisations as well as discussions with Lithuanian,
Estonian and Latvian police officers prove that the preventive-informative
activities would highly benefit from consolidation of efforts by NGO in
Baltic States. This is militated by the fact that the overall majority of
girls from Estonia and Lithuania who are sold to Western European countries
voluntarily or deceptively, go there through Lithuania. (In this case Lithuania
becomes a transit country for trafficking in women). They are accommodated
here for a while and wait for forged Lithuanian passports as the latter are
not well protected and are rather easily forged.
Our interviews with prostitutes revealed that the total majority of
these girls were not aware of and were never warned against the existing
human trafficking in Baltic countries. Otherwise speaking, our NGO’s believes
that the preventive - informative work against trafficking in women and girls
and prostitution among youth of Baltic States is most important now. Nevertheless,
sspecial programs or separate projects for the prevention and education
regarding trafficking in woman, initiated or supported by the state, do
not exist in Estonia as well as in Lithuania.
The project “Preventive-informative campaign against trafficking in
girls and women in Baltic States (Lithuania and Estonia)” offered by us
is basically a qualitatively new stage of the fight against trafficking
in women and girls, as in the course of implementation thereof, actions
and work experience of non-governmental organisations in the two Baltic
States would be consolidated for the first time, i.e. for the first time
an informative - preventive campaign would take place simultaneously in
Baltic States to reach the major risk group - Lithuanian and Estonian youth.
During the campaign a considerable part of the youth would be warned not
to seek for illegal work abroad in general, the campaign would help Estonian
girls to, get rid” of the illusion that searching for illegal work in Western
Europe through Lithuania is less dangerous and more successful. On the other
hand, the joint project by the Lithuanian NGO “Praeities Pedos” and the Estonian
NGO Tugikeskus would allow for sharing and passing of expertise to other
NGO in our countries.
The project “Preventive-informative campaign against trafficking
in girls and women in Baltic States (Lithuania and Estonia)” consists of
two stages:
Groundwork
To produce two preventive
documentaries “Legal work abroad” (20 min., in Lithuanian and Estonian).
The documentary will promote, inform and encourage girls to look for legal
ways to get employed abroad. Therefore, the documentary will actually help
girls to avoid a possibility to fall into a trap of the traffickers. The
project envisages creation of two separate versions of the documentary (for
the Lithuanian and Estonian audience), as different institutions provide
the information on legal employment opportunities in Estonia and Lithuania.
To prepare the lecture
“What do you know about trafficking in women and girls?” (in Lithuanian and
Estonian; different versions of the lecture for both countries) that would
be delivered during the informative campaign.
Duration of groundwork: eight months.
Informative campaign
It will be carried on at several levels:
meetings with senior students and teachers from Estonian and Lithuanian
provinces, as well as training-seminars in Lithuania and Estonia. We anticipate
implementing the following actions within the three months:
The essential part of the project - meetings with students and teachers
of main secondary schools in the Lithuanian and Estonian provinces (26
towns, 168 high schools). They will include demonstration of the documentary
“Legal work abroad”, delivery of the informative lecture “What do you know
about trafficking in women and girls?”. Moreover, additional meetings with
local journalists, social workers as well as police officers involved in
the work with juveniles will be arranged in the regions.
To hold two training-seminars in Lithuania and Estonia. The seminars
will be intended to pass the expertise of the Lithuanian NGO “Praeities
Pedos” and the Estonian NGO Tugikeskus to other NGO in both countries and
discuss the results of the project “Preventive-informative campaign against
trafficking in girls and women in Baltic States (Lithuania and Estonia)”;
the findings and recommendations presented by the people involved in the
implementation of the project during the seminars will facilitate highlighting
and actual reconciling of different views of public authorities with regard
to legalisation/criminalisation of prostitution in Estonia and Lithuania.
Presently, it becomes particularly crucial for both Lithuanian and Estonian
societies. Reasoned discussions will undoubtedly help to foresee the strategy
for further prevention activities. Participants of the seminar: Lithuanian
and Estonian NGO’s, journalists, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior.