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Friday, 26.04.2024, 08:05
The study defines a new concept of "exploitative sham marriages" and proposes recommendations for their reduction
One of the
major activities to achieve the project objective was a joint research covering
five countries, i.e., Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ireland and Slovakia, which
took place over a 20-month period. At the start of the project, national
meetings were organised to discuss sham marriages and their links to human
trafficking, leading to the creation of expert groups and multidisciplinary
teams of practitioners to discuss the issue of trafficking in human beings at
the national level.
HESTIA
project team defined a new concept, "exploitative sham marriages",
and concluded that the phenomenon is closely linked to human trafficking for
forced sham marriages. It was found that the phenomenon is to a large extent
essentially gender-based, where most of the potential victims are women
originating from EU countries while the majority of the third country nationals
involved are men.
„In all of the five countries studied, the researchers
identified different forms of exploitation which have taken place in the
context of sham marriages concluded between female EU citizens and male third
country nationals. Some of the identified cases included very clear elements of
force, coercion, deception and exploitation, and even human trafficking,” noted Minna Viuhko, lead researcher of the European Institute for
Crime Prevention and Control of the United Nations (HEUNI).
HESTIA project
team has stated that human trafficking is a crime where the collection of data is impaired
not only by the hidden nature of the crime but also by the wide scope of
definitions and concepts that might be applicable. The project utilised a pilot
methodology developed and applied by HEUNI for exploring human trafficking for
forced labour. This methodology is based on collecting information from a large
variety of sources and incorporates both qualitative and quantitative
information sources.
Based on
the research guidelines provided by HEUNI, between February 2015 and September
2016, the project partners in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ireland and Slovakia
carried out empirical research on the situation in their country, altogether
conducting 72 interviews with experts from different areas and victims of
exploitative sham marriages. Having summarised the national reports by all
countries, the experts came to several conclusions. The main are:
· human trafficking is criminalised in
the national laws of all five countries;
· there is convincing evidence that
the methods of recruitment for exploitative sham marriages and for human
trafficking are the same: the victims are lured with false promises and fake
job offers and opportunities;
· in most cases the victims began to
become aware of the reality of the situation only in the destination country;
· all the research reports identified
various forms of exploitation, and different methods of control. Threats and
psychological control, sexual and physical violence, financial control, and
economic violence were used to control the women.
The
findings and recommendations of the project research at the EU level are aimed
at strengthening the political systems of the EU Member States, international
cooperation, and assistance to victims, training of different professional
groups, increasing the level of awareness, as well as conducting further
research on the issue of human trafficking and collection of data. The full text of the report is available on
the following website: http://www.trafficking.lv/en/the-study-defines-a-new-concept-of-exploitative-sham-marriages-and-proposes-recommendations-for-their-reduction/135
"The
project research report not only clearly identified links between human
trafficking and sham marriages, but also provided the basis for the development
of training methodologies", emphasised Lāsma Stabiņa, National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator (MoI) and
Manager of the HESTIA Project. "For all the participating countries, the
project was the first attempt to systematically evaluate and address
exploitative sham marriages and their links to human trafficking. We are
pleased that we have been able to develop an information platform which is
based on knowledge and arguments, so that the EU Member States could proceed
with an in-depth evaluation of the situation and instruments for action in
their countries enabling them to take effective measures against the phenomenon
of sham marriages and human trafficking".
The plans
are to present the project results, conclusions and recommendations at a
meeting of the European Union Informal Network of National Rapporteurs or
Equivalent Mechanisms on Trafficking in Human Beings in December in Brussels.
To increase
knowledge and awareness of professionals from different areas about
exploitative sham marriages and their links to human trafficking, a series of
workshops developed by the NGO "Shelter ‘Safe House’" were organised
this September and October for future animators in all five countries.
In Latvia, five two-day training seminars were held from 14.09 to 18.10, where knowledge and practical skills were gained by 184 professionals of different areas from all over Latvia: social workers, employees of family courts, libraries, educational institutions, extra-familial care institutions, state and local police officers, prosecutors, and NGO activists. Altogether, 58 Latvian provinces were represented. Already today the participants of the workshops are sharing the information obtained with their workforce and initiating reflection on the human trafficking issue in their provinces by both organising awareness-raising events themselves and preparing publications for their local newspapers and informing the population of their provinces, towns and parishes throughout Latvia.
The participants will proceed with
educational work until 30 November of this year.
With the
purpose of informing about human trafficking risks, a preventive campaign is
launched in Latvia during which billboards will be placed in Riga and an
informative video on human trafficking issues developed by Latvian advertising
agency GO!AHEAD will be distributed on the internet. To watch the video and
find out more about the preventive activities of human trafficking, visit the
national information resource devoted to the reduction of human trafficking and
current developments in Latvia at: www.cilvektirdznieciba.lv.
*The
Project is coordinated by the Ministry
of the Interior (Latvia). Project partners: NGO "Shelter ‘Safe House’" (Latvia), NGO "Living for Tomorrow" (Estonia); NGO "Caritas Lithuania" (Lithuania); Immigrant Council of Ireland (Ireland); Ministry of the Interior of Slovak Republic (Slovakia); European Institute for Crime Prevention and
Control of the United Nations (HEUNI) (Finland). Associated Project
partners: The State Police (Latvia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Latvia), Department
of Justice and Equality (Ireland).