Slavs and Slavery

By Walter Kish

One of the many special interest groups that I subscribe to over the Internet is called The Natashas, run by a particularly dedicated activist by the name of Iryna Soltys.  Her mission is to expose and combat the odious perpetrators of modern day slavery, specifically those who traffic in women and children especially from Eastern Europe.  The name Natashas is derived from a book titled “The Natashas – The New Global Sex Trade” written by crusading Canadian investigative journalist Victor Malarek in 2003.

For those who thought that slavery disappeared more than a century ago, the reality comes as a real shock.  Of course, the form and practice has changed since mediaeval times when human beings were bought and sold primarily as sources of cheap labour.  Some of that still exists of course in certain third world countries, but by far the largest and most lucrative sector of modern slavery involves the sex trade.  It is then hardly surprising that an estimated 80% of current victims are women and it seems that Central and Eastern European countries are a primary source of supply.  Some two thirds of the women trafficked within the world’s sex trade come from Eastern Europe.

Ukraine is no exception. It has been estimated that since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, some half a million young Ukrainian women have been trafficked across its borders and sold into sexual slavery in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and even North America.  A US government report in 2002 estimated that some 50,000 women and children were being imported into that country for forcible sexual exploitation.  For Canada, estimates are a little harder to obtain but those that exist give a range of from 800 to 16,000 annually.

In recent months, The Toronto Star has had a series of reports on police breaking up a prostitution ring in that city run by Russian йmigrй criminals.  The prostitutes, primarily of Russian and Ukrainian origin, were tricked or coerced into coming here with promises of legitimate jobs, and once here, were forced into virtual sexual slavery.  This type of human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 billion dollar a year global business and Russian gangs are major players.

Tragically, when the authorities manage to break up such rings, the victims are often victimized again by being treated as criminals themselves.  A Canadian human rights organization, the Future Group, in a report in 2006, lambasted Canadian authorities: “Canada’s record of dealing with trafficking victims is an international embarrassment.  Canada ... continues to re-traumatize trafficking victims, with few exceptions, by subjecting them to routine deportation and fails to provide even basic services.”

Recent government initiatives are finally starting to address this unconscionable issue.  In June of 2007, new measures were introduced by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration that would allow victims of trafficking to obtain renewable no-fee temporary resident permits, receive health care and counselling services, and apply for permanent resident status under refugee, humanitarian or compassionate grounds.  Such initiatives are largely in response to the strong lobbying activities of people such as Iryna Soltys, Paulette MacQuarrie (Pawlina Demchuk) and a number of organizations such as The Natashas and the Canadian Stop The Trafficking Coalition. 

It should be noted that Ukraine and Ukrainians have been victimized by the slave trade since time immemorial.  In fact, the very term “slavery” (sklabos in early Greek or sclavus in Latin) is derived from the term referring to the early Slavic tribes who were a prime source of slaves in Mediaeval Europe and the Middle East.  In the aftermath of the Mongol invasion of Ukraine, the Tatars engaged in regular raiding expeditions into Ukraine and Russia, capturing large numbers of slaves.  They were sold in major trading centres on the coasts of Crimea such as Sudak, Caffa (today Feodosia), and Cembalo (today Balaklava), run by Venetian and Genoese traders.  Sadly, for many centuries Italian traders got very rich by trafficking in fellow Christians from the East.

Human trafficking has a long history, and it is obvious that there remains a lot to do before it disappears from being a current and very modern affliction.