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38JURISPRUDENCE
THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING SITUATION IN
UKRAINE: NGOs' PERSPECTIVE
Kaidanovych T.
PhD candidate Senior lecturer at the Department of Law Polissia National University Staryi Blvd, 7, Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine, 10002
Abstract
In the light of COVID-19 pandemic international community raises concerns about its impact on the human trafficking situation worldwide. This paper seeks to address human trafficking situation in Ukraine during COVID -19 pandemic and examine the role, effectiveness and impact of NGOs that work in the field of human trafficking prevention and combating. We undertook this study as a part of our PhD research and aiming to evaluate current trends and approaches in combating of human trafficking via NGO's perspective. The aim of our research is to highlight NGOs' experience of working with human trafficking victims and provide recommendations for further preventative measures.
Keywords: human trafficking, NGO, crime prevention, COVID-19 impact, international organized crime, labour migration, cyber crime, civil society.
Human trafficking is considered to be one of the most shameful phenomenon of the XXI century. Modern society with its new technologies, new order of maintaining peace and prosperity is still unable to leave derogatory activity such as slavely and human abuse behind. Thousands of legislative acts, governmental and non-governmental institutions were created to face this problem but unfortunately it is still not enough. Every single country in the world is affected by this crime more or less. Ukraine is not an exception.
COVID-19 pandemic has changed our ways of life irrevocably. On one hand a great number of people got an opportunity to work from home, hence the risk of getting in trouble reduced, the value of the Internet and technology rose up giving more opportunities to people to make a living without leaving their safe homes and supportive family environment. On the other hand, abilities of governmental institutions and police forces became limited due to constant on and off lockdowns, number of non governmental organizations ceased to exist without proper finacing and inablity to commini-cake with human trafficking victims, however international organized crime adapted fast to the new circumstances and transfered its operations to the Internet sig-nifically.
A lot of national and international researchers addressed COVID-19 related issues of human trafficking, mostly focusing on the consequences of the pandemic, inefficiency of police and governmental structures, lack of resourses and diversion of the states' attention to the medical issues, but very few have researched how COVID-19 effected NGOs' that work in the field of human trafficking combating, prevention and reabilitation of victims. Today we'd like to provide you with an insight into the real situation with human trafficking in Ukraine during COVID-19 pandemic via the prism of NGO's activities and share their experince and further recommendations to combat human trafficking in the COVID-19 and the post-COVID-19 environment.
Current research is based on the continuous and longstanding cooperation of the authour with the WICC
(Women's Information Consultative Center) NGO dedicated to the prevention of human trafficking and rea-bilitation of its victims and the Ukrainian Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (hereinafter the Coalition). Presented material was collected during regular meetings with NGOs' specialists, victims, regulatory authorities and analysis of internal NGO's reports. International paradigm of the key international actors' activity in the field of combating of human trafficking was examined and compared with resercher's own findings.
Based on the reseaved data, the COVID-19 pandemic did not create fundamentally new ways and problems for the spread of human trafficking, but exacerbated existing and complicated the work of countering institutions, so the hidden shortcomings of the system became more apparent. Analysis of the activities of NGOs to combat human trafficking during the pandemic allows us to identify key trends, challenges and propose new adaptation mechanisms to combat the problem.
The loss of employment and economic insecurity as a result of COVID-19 will increase the number of vulnerable people desperately searching for work and economic opportunities in the foreseeable future. It is estimated that global hours worked could drop by 10.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 305 million full-time workers. Estimates suggest that COVID-19 will push 49 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 [7, p.7]. The same trend remains in 2021.
The global economic downturn and the sharp increase in unemployment in many parts of the world will likely increase cross-border trafficking in persons from countries experiencing the fastest and longest-lasting drops in employment [8, p.]. Inevitably increased labour migration will put additional pressure on the migration regulatory authorities and law enforcement institutions worldwide. This situation will create a demand for cheap workforce, hence the spike in human trafficking should be expected. As long as the Internet
is currently the most common way to search for employment additional measures need to be implemented to reduce cyber crimes and raise awareness about potentially suspicious job offers and risks associated with them.
Ukrainian NGOs drew our attention to a spike in 2020 in the number of complaints of victims of human trafficking. This is due to the rapid increase in the incidence of COVID-19 and the need to impose strict quarantine restrictions worldwide. In this regard, there was a mass return of workers and citizens of Ukraine from abroad, especially in January-March 2020. The figure increased by 3 9% compared to 2019 [2], and from May 2020 to January 2021 began to decline gradually. This is due to the closure of borders, restrictions on the mobility of citizens and the general shock of sudden changes in the world.
According to the Ukrainian Coalition of Public Organizations for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings almost 150 criminal cases in human trafficking were detected in Ukraine, more than 50 traffickers were identified, and more than 100 criminal proceedings were filed. Ukraine's positive results in the fight against human trafficking are reflected in the annual report of the US State Department, where Ukraine for the third year in a row is classified in the 2nd category (ie removed from the checklist of countries where human trafficking thrives)[1]. However, the current human trafficking situation might significantly influence previous achievements.
As a result of COVID-19, many services, helplines, clinics and shelters have already closed or become restricted. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights conducted a specific survey to capture the experiences of survivors and trafficking services during COVID-19. In the survey of 397 organizations working on anti-trafficking initiatives across 102 countries, only 14 percent of respondents reported that national referral mechanisms for trafficking victims were fully operational. Trafficking survivors face significant negative impacts with regard to access to services, health and well-being, with approximately 70 per cent reporting negative impacts on psychological and financial well-being.43 Survivors reported that the pandemic had created new difficulties in accessing services. Of 94 survivors who responded to the survey, over two thirds reported difficulties in accessing medical services, 60 per cent reported challenges in accessing employment services, 55 per cent reported challenges in accessing psychological health services and 53 per cent reported challenges in accessing legal support.COVID-19 has also had a negative impact on the capacity of survivors to meet basic needs, such as safe and comfortable accommodation, food and water [7, p.9-10].
Another significant factor is the release of victims of trafficking by exploiters due to the introduction of quarantine restrictions, increased risk of contracting the virus and the potential increase in the cost of personal care and medical care for the exploited. However, it was not the anxiety of the exploited people that worried the traffickers, but their own safety and the potential threat of contracting the virus. Although we are familiar with a number of "happy ending" cases, in general the pandemic has worsened the situation of the victims, leaving them even more isolated, at risk of infection,
reduced number of sources of assistance and reduced chances of being detected and released by law enforcement agencies.
The NGO Coalition identified 8 main factors of the COVID-19 impact on the human trafficking situation in Ukraine:
• closing of borders and introduction of quarantine restrictions in the countries of destination of Ukrainian labor migrants;
• deepening economic crisis and declining demand in the internal labor market;
• psychological pressure caused by prolonged isolation and fear of contracting the virus, combined with a general feeling of anxiety and uncertainty;
• introduction of strict quarantine restrictions in Ukraine;
• cancellation of mass events;
• closing or restricting access to public institutions;
• mandatory use of personal protective equipment;
• termination of transport links [2, p.3].
Our expirience of working with human trafficking victims as a legal counsel for WICC let us sum-murise that the main reason of ending up in human trafficking situation is ecomical unstability. 98% of victims suffered from the luck of financial resources and inability to find employment that can sufficianly cover their needs. Most of the victims did not conduct a preliminary research on potential employers or conditions of work. None of the above have ever seeked an advice of governmental on non-governmental organizations about employment abroad or considered a risk of human trafficking.
In 2020-2021 victims of human trafficking that have contacted WICC reported that COVID-19 restrictions caused loss of their jobs in Ukraine, forced them into credit obligations, increased expences on medical supplies, prevented them from seeing family members. 6 out of 8 victims that we were working with in 2020-2021 found "employment" abroad via the internet, 2 persons were tricked into forced pornography via social media platforms. Hence, the Internet became the main tool for traffickers to find victims. Therefore, current approaches to human trafficking prevention and elimination need to be revised and redirected mainly to the digital space.
Analysis of the internal reports of the Coalition and WICC let us to the conclusion that the consequences of COVID-19 for the situation of human trafficking in Ukraine might be pretty severe. Most common of them are:
• increased number of complaints from trafficking victims;
• aggravation of the victims' need for social support, financial, medical and psychological assistance;
• limited capacity of NGOs to provide assistance to victims due to quarantine restrictions;
• limited opportunities for law enforcement agencies to carry out investigative and operational activity to identify crimes, criminals and victims, gather evidence, prepare cases for trial, which will result in the effectiveness reduction of the law enforcement system in combating human trafficking;
• encreased xenophobia and discrimination in foreign and domestic labor markets;
• reduction in the number of criminal proceedings and court decisions against human traffickers;
• increased level of re-victimization;
• increased victimization of the general population due to the economic crisis;
• reduction of NGOs' funding as a result of the transfer of public funds to the medical sector;
• reduction of the number of private grants and programs of IOM, OSCE, UN due to the global economic challenges, complicated migration procedures and reduction of the demand for legal migrant workers, which increases the risk human trafficking.
The WICC NGO, with which the author constantly cooperates, reports that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people find themselves in a difficult economic situation and are forced to look for ways to earn a living, which leads to additional risks. The majority of victims (93%) among those identified by IOM in the first six months of 2021 were in labor exploitation. Three quarters of them are men. More than 80% of victims have technical or higher education. For the first time since IOM began providing reintegration support to victims of trafficking, Poland topped the list of countries where Ukrainians are most likely to be trafficked (38%), while the Russian Federation (36%) and Ukraine proper (18%) were second and third. places [5].
The Coalition analysis of the state of human trafficking in Ukraine in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, proposes to take the following measures to minimize the risks arising from changes in migration policy and curtailment of official employment programs Ukrainians abroad:
• under the conditions of quarantine restrictions, it is necessary to continue to provide constant individual online and telephone counseling for persons who intend to go abroad for employment;
• to intensify and systematically disseminate information on the rules of safe employment, entry, stay and transit in the countries to which the largest migration flows are directed;
• organize informational campaigns on new fraudulent schemes and risks of human trafficking on social networks, on the web portals of public authorities and local governments, embassies and consulates, as well as on the websites of NGOs - members of the Coalition;
• to place clear and understandable information about the rules of stay, official employment, procedures for issuing a work visa, an open list of businesses that hire foreigners on the websites of embassies and consulates;
• to resume the practice of cooperation with the migration service and the state enterprise "Document", which will issue leaflets containing the rules of safe migration and contacts of hotlines when issuing foreign passports;
• to systematically work with social services in order to detect and prevent human trafficking [2, p.9].
According to the monitoring conducted by the Coalition for January 2019 - June 2020, there have been no changes in the regulatory framework for combating trafficking in human beings at the state, regional and district levels. Only in two oblasts, Ternopil and Cher-kasy, specific anti-trafficking programs for the period up to 2020 are being implemented (expired), and no
new ones have been adopted. In other oblasts, anti-traf-ficking measures are equated to general social measures and included in regional integrated social programs. And only in four oblasts of Zhytomyr, Odesa, Poltava and Kherson the anti-trafficking components were included in the regional development programs.
One of the main components in the mechanism of human trafficking prevention is a proactive cooperation between governmental and non-governmental actors on the local/regional level and effective regional normative frame. WICC reports that the "Regional Program for the Prevention and Combating of Domestic Violence and Trafficking in Human Beings for 2021" (hereinafter the Program) in Zhytomyr Oblast has been adopted with most of the recommendations of the local NGOs on combating trafficking in human beings and is a kind of achievement in the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting the focus (especially human resources and funding) of all the government activities to the virus combating.
According to the Program, the problem of human trafficking and protection of victims of it is supposed to be solved by:
• improvement of the procedure of interaction of law enforcement bodies with other state authorities in terms of combating trafficking in human beings;
• ensuring the development and approval of criteria for the identification of victims of trafficking;
• carrying out preventive work aimed at preventing the fight against human trafficking, especially among internally displaced persons;
• further informational and educational activities to inform the public about the prevention of risks of human trafficking and the possibility of obtaining comprehensive assistance from the actors who carry out activities in the field of combating trafficking in human beings;
• strengthening coordination of work on detection and identification of victims of trafficking in human beings at all levels with a clear definition of the powers of coordination councils on combating trafficking in human beings and conducting multidisciplinary exercises at the regional and district levels on assistance to such persons;
• providing systematic training of specialists in the field of combating human trafficking;
• taking into account the new challenges of human trafficking that have arisen as a result of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine;
• ensuring the proper application of legal norms regulating the criminal law counteraction to human trafficking.
During the implementation period of the Program it is provided:
• conducting large-scale information campaigns among the population, including internally displaced persons, to prevent the risks of being trafficked and receiving assistance;
• conducting trainings for employees of state institutions in contact with victims of trafficking in human beings on the issues of identification and interaction of subjects conducting measures in the field of combating trafficking in human beings;
• strengthening cooperation between social services and law enforcement agencies in combating trafficking in human beings and providing assistance to victims of trafficking in human beings;
• providing a range of services to victims of trafficking, facilitating their employment and other activities.
Even though the Program financing is approved for 2021 [4, p.9-11], no specific sum was finalized, which leaves uncertainty in the actual implementation of the proposed measures.
According to WICC as of November 2021, the following feedback was received on the effectiveness of the Program. It is reported that only 40% of the planned activities were carried out, most of the activities were limited to online conferences, round tables and counseling due to the periodic introduction of strict quarantine restrictions. A large-scale action "Walk for Freedom" was held with the participation of all participants of the National mechanism of cooperation of subjects carrying out functions in the area of counteraction to human trafficking (hereiafter the Mechanism).
However, in comparison with previous years, preventive activities have significantly intensified, more information is posted on the official websites of public authorities and local governments, regional and local media, an effective regional working group of the Mechanism has been established, and the coordination role of the Department of Labor and Social Affairs has increased [3, p.12].
The WICC notes that a number of working meetings have been held with representatives of the Mechanism on the scope and control over the provision of state-guaranteed free assistance to victims of trafficking: medical, psychological, legal, social, temporary residence for the period of rehabilitation. In particular, WICC experts focused on the effectiveness of rehabilitation of 8 victims of human trafficking, identified in 2020, receiving a range of services in Zhytomyr [6]. NGO activities include: seminars on combating trafficking in human beings in the oblast, meetings with state bodies, local governments and local communities, and training with representatives of local communities on mechanisms for identifying and referring victims of trafficking.
Our research led us the conclusion that COVID -19 seriously worsten human trafficking situation in Ukraine. Analysis of the collected information and experience working with anti-human trafficking NGOs let us propose further recommendation to influence current human trafficking situation and improve it.
Recommendations:
• simplification of procedures for international transportation of victims to countries of origin;
• increase funding for rehabilitation and reintegration measures and services for victims of trafficking;
• introduction of new programs and grants aimed at ensuring the economic stability of the victims;
• development of information-educational and training programs to ensure safe employment abroad and prevent re-victimization;
• promoting the creation of new jobs in the domestic labor market.
• strengthening cooperation of NGOs with state bodies, local self-government bodies, especially with territorial communities as the representative bodies closest to the population.
Based of the results of our research of anti-human trafficking NGOs' activity, their effectiveness, achive-ments and challenges we believe that the role of NGOs is much underestimated in Ukraine. Being a first point of contact for human trafficking victims NGOs have not just conquered people' trust and respect, but they possess unique and valuable data that can be used by government and international community to address human trafficking problem.
References
1. Official social media (Facebook) web-page of Ukrainian Coalition of Public Organizations for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Post from 25.09.2020. URL: https://www.facebook.com/stoptrafficking.org/
2. Monitoring Bulletin of the All-Ukrainian Coalition of Public Organizations for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings: The Impact of COVID-19 on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Issue 8, 2020.
3. Monitoring Bulletin of the All-Ukrainian Coalition of Public Organizations for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings: The Impact of COVID-19 on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Issue 9, 2020.
4. Addendum to the decision of the Zhytomyr Regional Council dated 24.12.2020 №28. Regional target program for prevention, combating domestic violence and human trafficking for 2021. Zhytomyr, 2020. 32p. URL:
https://zt. gov.ua/index.php/ofitsij ni-dokumenti/normativni-dokumenti/rishennya-oblasnoji-radi
5. Iryna Babenko. Walk for freedom. October 20, 2021. Official website of the NGO WICC. URL:
http://wicc.com.ua/hoda-za-svobodu/?fbclid=IwAR39piWgUNrjOmwahTo98-ixVClCItY3jsGW4NIZ3wHpNLhZGfaG4nb40v4
6. Iryna Babenko. Meeting of the regional working group on assistance to OPTL. April 16, 2021. Official website of the NGO WICC. URL:
http://wicc.com.ua/zasidannya-oblasnoyi-robochoyi-grupy-z-nadannya-dopomogy-optl/?fbclid=IwAR 135Ft-
ZNLLf9QZS_7b4TLfVVqDIQWck7FkiSYc47FEiN5 6HYq1-QjGGcY
7. Trafficking in women and girls. Report of the Secretary General from 7 August 2020, UN General assembly. p.1-18.URL:https://www.undocs.org/en/A/75/289
8. UNODC, "How COVID-19 restrictions and the economic consequences are likely to impact migrant smuggling and cross-border trafficking in persons to Europe and North America", research brief, 2020.
