Report criticises Russian law on trafficking

A report funded by the Canadian government, and supported by six UN agencies and the International Organisation for Migration has concluded that Russia’s legislation against human trafficking is inadequate to deal with the problem. In Russia human trafficking is regarded primarily as a matter of women being sent across borders into sexual exploitation. Although this does happen in Russia, the majority of trafficking victims are sent both internally and transnationally into forced labour. The report gives the example of Chechen workers being attracted to Moscow in search of better wages, but ending in forced labour situations. Construction, light industry, tourism and entertainment  in particular are low cost low protection industries in Russia and may employ between 60% and 80% migrant workers. Russian police “regularly rescue citizens from Central Asian and former Soviet republics from slavery and labour exploitation in Russia,” the report says. The report criticises the law against trafficking in Russia saying that it is too vague, it deals in stereotypes of trafficked women and ignores internal trafficking in a country which spans 11 time zones. It also claims that the way the law is phrased does little to protect children.