Trafficking in women and girls for prostitution; international organized crime; Nigeria, European Union countries, southeast and eastern Europe - the Balkans, Albania, Ukraine, etc. How are women and minors trafficked across international borders with no awareness from authorities?

(This is text of the original letter which was significantly edited by the Herald Tribune.)

I am writing regarding Anita Botti’s June 1 article on the international trade in human beings, which targets mainly women and girls. Having worked
in the Balkans since 1997, I strongly encourage the international public and policymakers to look more closely at this grave matter Ms. Botti addresses.

International prostitution trafficking is not a "stand alone" problem; it is linked to other illegal trade, including drug trafficking. Until recently, however, trafficking in human beings received much less attention than other related activities. If trafficking in human beings is not addressed effectively, it and a host of other activities will only grow worse.

Here in Europe, I have seen Nigerian women from West Africa and women from eastern European countries working as prostitutes, usually in very sad
situations. I will never forget seeing African women in western Europe, lined up on roadsides, standing, and sitting on chairs, waiting for hours for “clients”, and even waiting by the road in the rain.

Recently there was a news report of an African woman, also in Europe, who managed to escape her captors and flee to local police. Partially
blind, it was reported she had been working as a prostitute in an attempt to earn and save money for an eye operation.

How are women trafficked across international borders? What are immigration procedures at national points of entry? For most of us, when you
arrive at a national border through an airport, or by car, for example, you usually must present your own valid passport and sometimes a visa for the
country you wish to enter. Is it possible in some places for individuals to bring groups of foreign women across national borders without this practice
raising suspicion? Is it possible for one man (or woman), holding numerous passports for a group of women, to arrive at a border with the women, and
have a collection of passports successfully processed for entry, with few or no questions and no investigation? After being brought into foreign
countries, the women never see their passports again; they remain confiscated by the persons running the prostitution rings. This creates
further complications for the women as they have no documentation.

Southeastern Europe also has an international prostitution trafficking problem. One of the trade's favorite targets is women and girls from Europe’s poorest country – Albania. Some are kidnapped, while others accept what they are told are “offers” of “legitimate” work in foreign countries. They
are transported abroad, then forced to work as prostitutes.

Next door to Albania, in Kosovo, there is now a population of thousands of women and girls who were the unfortunate victims – but also survivors –
of ethnically motivated mass rapes. Published reports say the World Health Organization and the U.S. Government's Centers for Disease Control estimate the affected population to be as high as 20, 000 persons, reported to be over 4 percent of Kosovo's population. Many now suffer social exclusion for having been raped. Most are young women, including teenagers, between 15 and 40 years of age, with their lives ahead of them.

Without a new kind of help, what future do these women and girls have? Sadly, some who have been
interviewed say they have no future. In the absence of help, it seems only too plausible that these women and girls comprise a near-perfect high-risk group for further gender-based exploitation, including international organized prostitution which is already present in the region.

To date there are far too few resources for assisting these female victims/survivors in and around Kosovo. What is needed in this case is
international public awareness - plus immediate action - that produces humanitarian and social intervention by the international community
cooperating with the work of local groups such as Sevdije Ahmeti's Centre for Protection of Women and Children in Pristina.

Lacking that, these women and girls are an easy and accessible target for the regional and
international “trade in human beings”.

Marian E. Douglas