Ⅰ. Introduction

Considering current global trends and latest developments in human trafficking, this paper analyzes human trafficking in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and studies women in Korea who are trafficked from those countries and exploited in prostitution.
In this paper, human trafficking in is examined. It also looks into the legal sanctions against trafficking in human of countries. This paper divides the subject countries into 3 groups; Russia and the Western CIS Countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova); Southern Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan); and Central Asian Commonwealth (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).
Unfortunately, there is no in-depth study or official data on human trafficking and prostitution in Korea from those countries until now. This paper closely studies human trafficking and prostitution in Korea from Russia and CIS. Compared to the other studies which mainly focus on Russian prostitute in Korea, this study suggest to deal with social issues relating to prostitution of trafficked women from other countries based on field survey of their conditions.

Ⅱ. Definition of human trafficking and forms of human trafficking in Russia/CIS

There are little differences in definition of human trafficking among regions, nations, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), European Police Office (Europol), international organizations and NGOs. In addition, the definition is different in treaties, resolutions and legislations depending on the purposes of interpretation of trafficking in human beings such as combating crimes, stopping illegal migration or protecting human rights.
The widely accepted definition of human trafficking comes from the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (also referred to as the Palermo protocols as UN protocol, 2000). The protocol defines the crime of trafficking in human beings. It provides, "Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs... The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth [above] shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth [above] have been used. Definition of human trafficking in the protocol is come under criticism that it only focuses on crimes or means used by trafficking offenders. Despite critique, given the fact that there is no an authoritative interpretation of human trafficking internationally accepted, the definition in the protocol becomes the touchstone in interpreting human trafficking.
Russia, signing the Palermo protocols on December 12, 2000, revised its penal code in 2003. The revised code has articles which make human trafficking as well as trading women and minors for the purpose of sexual exploitation illegal. Before 2003, only the half of nations out of 12 CIS revised the criminal code to contain articles that criminalize human trafficking illegal. 4 countries followed the suit from 2003 to 2006. After 2006, one more country amended its criminal code. By November 2008, only one nation, Turkmenistan did not legislate against trafficking in human beings.
As definition of human trafficking says above, it through a use of force or coercion includes the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, forced pregnancy or begging, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs, sham/forced marriage, illegal adoption, child Pornography, etc. However, this paper mainly examines human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Primarily women and children are trafficked across the world. According to a publication by International Labor Organization in 2005, women and girls account for about 80% of the detected victims.

Ⅲ. Cause of human trafficking in Russian/CIS

Main 3 causes of human trafficking in Russian/CIS could be summarized as follows.
First, many former socialist nations face economic crisis in transition from the centrally planned system to the open market economy. Under economic crisis, most people experienced reduction in income and became trapped in poverty.
Second, introducing the open market system led to fiscal deficit and collapse of social safety net. Social unrest caused increase in crimes (organized crimes) which led to expansion of the sex industry and shadow economy.
Third, moral relativism, materialism and desire to spend prevailed in the Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS. Many women in the countries seek an easy way to make money and engage in prostitute.
It is notable that the number of women trafficked for sexual exploitation increased at a rapid pace and at the same transnational sex trafficking following the borders and international transportation network. Women who are trafficked into the sex slave trade from Russia, CIS, and the Eastern Europe, called as “Natashas", are now exported to the world.
What drives people to move to other countries in modern economy includes gap in standard of living, wage gap and opportunities to find a job. One of the main drivers behind massive labor migration in CIS is economic crisis. Most of countries in the CIS block suffer from economic problems such as unemployment and poverty. In this conditions, a major of people have no hope of finding a job in their country. For example, Russia reported wage growth in 2000, but there are still wide wage gap between Russia and other western countries. That explains the reason of growing economic migrants.
Migration, caused by economic difficulties including poverty or wide income disparity, sometimes leads to human trafficking. Transition from the socialist planned economy to the market economy gave rise to a new set of difficulties such as growing conflict, unemployment and poverty, collapse of social safety net. GDP of those countries concerned is clear evidence of widening economic disparity among people.
Besides income inequality, gender inequality is another main driver of labor migration. Usually women get lower wages than men even if they find a job. As a result, increasing number of migrant women become victims of human trafficking.
Massive illegal immigration (illegal entry, illegal residents, illegal employment) are highly likely to lead to crime. Transnational organized crime makes great profits by facilitating illegal entry of individuals and illegal employment brokerage.
Human trafficking for sexual exploitation of women and children, part of organized crime, has been prevailed across the world with holding relatively low risk and high profit potential. Human trafficking, depicted as modern slavery, is a serious crime, but only a handful of offenders are prosecuted and punished. In addition, protection of victims and their rights still leaves much to be desired.
Even though Russia and CIS see human trafficking as an organized crime at a national level, the link between victims and organized crime network has been hardly located. In these countries it is hard to identify the link because of involvement of close relatives of victims in trafficking, close connection between corrupt officials and criminal organizations as well as victims themselves who don't want to report for fear of reprisal.
For the past 2 decades, authoritarian political elite have controlled national resources and reshuffled government structures in order to maximize their special interests. Corruption prevails in the administration and the judiciary. Close connection between politics, economy and criminal organization has been pointed out as a major obstacle to development of politics and economy in the region. Women are forced into a corner because of their lower socioeconomic status, sexual violence against them, subordinate relationship, financial difficulties and lack of hope for the future.

Ⅳ. Current conditions of human trafficking in Russia and CIS

There are wide differences in statistics publicized by government and actual numbers of victims. Usually, the number of human trafficking cases presented by law enforcement agencies is much lower than that by international bodies or NGOs. Estimated number of victims is also different depending on the bodies. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) reports the highest figures of estimated human trafficking victims. OSCE estimates that around 500,000 women have been trafficked in CIS over the past 10 years since collapse of the U.S.S.R. (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). OSCE insists that annually 50,000 women, mostly from Russia, became victims of human trafficking and were sent to aboard. According to the estimation by the United Nations, around 4 million women and children are trafficked and forced to work in the sex industry every year. The U.S government estimates that between 800,000 and 900,000 people are trafficked internationally every year, many of them women and children transported as sex workers, which is lower than the U.S estimation. And it estimated that the global market for trafficking is $7~ 12 billion.
According to International Labor Organization's (ILO) statistics, 2.4 million people are estimated to be trafficked globally each year and approximately 80% of human trafficking victims are women and girls and up to 50 % are minors. OSCE concluded that estimates of up to 120,000 women and children being trafficked into Western Europe from the central Europe each year have been made.
According to Trends reported in UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2006 and 2009), human trafficking affects every country of the world, as country of origin, transit or destination Victims from at least 2.5 million people from 127 countries have been found to be exploited in 137 States. It estimated a global annual profit of 21.8 billion euro. And worldwide human trafficking generates 60 billion euro every year. The estimated size of human trafficking market grew significantly from between 5.3~7.5 billion euro in 1998 and between 8.0~13.8 billion euro in 2002. In 1996, Council of Europe calculated that around 100,000 women and children were trafficked for prostitution from the Eastern Europe and CIS. However the figure skyrocketed. At the 2nd World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, convened in Yokohama in 2001, UNICEF estimated that around 1 million children were forced into prostitution internationally. In 2004, it said that the number jumped to around 2 million.
Now, human trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation is a lucrative business with low risk. ILO calculates that profits generated from forced labor stands at USD $44.3 billion annually. Only 12.7 billion out of the total profits are not related to sex slavery, it added.
More than half of human trafficking crimes are conducted by criminal organizations. Human trafficking networks involve in recruit, transportation, money laundry, bribing public officials, exploitation and so on. Generally, human trafficking networks for sex slavery consist of small units, affiliates and large criminal organization. Russian human trafficking units are usually composed of 2-3 members. It is concerned that criminal organizations with international network, such as Chinese triads, Russian Mafia gangs, and Nigerian syndicate, are engaging in human trafficking and sex slavery. It is notable that in Berlin, human trafficking for sexual exploitation is the most lucrative illegal businesses of gangs.
Countries involving in human trafficking are classified into 3 groups; countries of origin, transit countries and destination countries. Russia and many countries in CIS fall into the category of countries of origin. UNODC sorted countries of origin for human trafficking into 3 tier scale; Tier 3(very high) -Russia and the Western CIS Countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova); Tier 2 (high) -Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan; and Tier 2w (middle)- Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan. Russia and a number of countries among CIS are a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking.

Ⅴ. Women in Korea who were trafficked from Russia and CIS

ⅰ. Current status of women from Russia and CIS entry into Korea and stay

This paper examined overall number of women who entered into Korea from Russia and CIS. The total number increase since 2007. Women from Russia ranked first, followed by Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. From 2007 to 2010, the number of women who entered into Korea from Kazakhstan showed the fastest growing with 76.5% increase and those from Uzbekistan (53.8%) and Korean Russian women (43.2%) follow.
When it comes to types of visas, the largest number of women from Russia and CIS entered into Korea with Korea Tourist Visa which is known as C-3 visa and issued for travelers who enter Korea temporarily for tourism, sightseeing, visit family/friend or other private purposes. Furthermore, the number of people came to Korea with F-4 visa, only provided to Korean descendants, and also has grown thanks to the immigration policy that gives preferential treatment to Korean resident abroad. In particular, the number of Korean Russian women with F-4 visa surged from 2 in 2007 to 1551 as of August, 2011. The total number of women who came to Korea with E-6 Visa (Arts & Performance) dropped except those from Ukraine partly because the Korean government has tightened entry visa regulations on women from Russia and CIS.
Overall number of women from Russia and CIS who stay in Korea gradually grows. There has been a noticeable increase in the total number of women from Uzbekistan staying Korea by 71.3% between 2007 and 2010 and has recorded fastest growth since 2008. While total number of women from Russia has decreased from 4,864 in 2007 to 4,159 in August 2011, the number of Korean Russian women staying in Korea records 91.2% increase.
With regard to types of visas, flow of oversea Korean women with F-4 visa is steadily growing. Among women holding H-2 (working visa), Korean Russian women top the list with 66.8% in 2010. And the number of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan women who entered and stay in Korea with H-2 visa grew significantly. The total numbers of women who stay in Korea with E-6 Visa (Arts & Performance) remain the same except those from Ukraine.
At last, this paper explored the current status of illegal women immigrants from Russia and CIS and found decrease in the number between 2007 and 2010. In 2010, the countries of origin for the largest numbers of illegal immigrants are Uzbekistan with 643 and Russia with 514.
The largest number of illegal immigrants entered into Korea with C-3 visa (Temporary Visit). According to statistics, women from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan recorded high overstay rate of 84.6%, 67.5% and 55.5% respectively. Those holding C-2 visa (Short-Term Business) also showed high level of overstays with Kyrgyzstan (100%), Uzbekistan (76.9%) Kazakhstan (57.1%). In addition, women from Uzbekistan who come to Korea for marriage recorded relatively higher overstay rates. In terms of E-6 visa, Women from Ukraine showed a low overstay rate while most of women from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan become illegal immigrants.

ⅱ. Ways of entry into Korea and occupation types of Foreign women in the sex industry

There are 3 ways that foreign women come to Korea and engage in prostitution. First, involve international agents and brokers who arrange travel and job placements for women from one country. A case in point is women who enter into Korea with E-6 visa and work in the commercial sex industry.
However, the legal issues raises whether the cases should be considered as human trafficking over those women who engaged in the sex industry in their own country come to Korea and work in entertainment business. According to the international law, they are not treated as victims of human trafficking because they voluntarily engage in the business. The second case is that forced labor leads to forced prostitution. In other words, those who worked in other industries are being forced into prostitution. Because of deception, fraud or debt bondage, women become involved in prostitution or any other form of sexual exploitation the last one is international marriages which could be classified into two categories. One is a sham marriage or fake marriage for the purpose of immigration. Fake marriage becomes an easy way of human trafficking. The other one is so-called 'Mail Order Brides' which looks like a legitimate marriage, but is also illicitly used by human traffickers. All the three ways above mentioned are commonly used for human trafficking.
Forms of prostitutions are classified into two categories; direct prostitution which provide sex-related services based on direct contact between the sex worker and a client, and indirect prostitution that sex workers indirectly contact clients through internet. Direct prostitution can be divided into two forms based on the purposes. One brothel business model (window or doorway) and the other is entertainment business model (club, pub, bar, karaoke bar, and dance hall). Indirect prostitution includes individual arrangements and internet prostitution.

ⅲ. Current conditions of human trafficking in Korea as a destination

This paper looked into news articles about forms of human trafficking in Korea, and women trafficked from Russia and CIS. It found there are three channels of human trafficking for sexual exploitation; facilitating women to enter into Korea with E-6 (Arts & Performance), C-3 (Temporary Visit) or F-2 (Spousal visa).
So far, research has been conducted on forms of human trafficking and on a wide variety of human trafficking related subjects. In the early 1980's, research on human trafficking was begun conducting in Korea. After entering into the 21st Century, numerous studies have been conducted on human trafficking for sex slavery and on prostitution by foreign women trafficked into Korea. With the explosive growth in international marriages, studies focus on human trafficking through sham marriage.
One-on-one interviews were conducted based on questionnaire which was drawn up using outcomes of previous research and news articles about human trafficking from Russia and CIS. The purpose of survey is to figure out problems of human trafficking in Korea and current conditions.
Through preparatory research, 5 locations were selected out of 26 across the nation which was identified in previous studies to carry out interviews. 5 locations are Choryang-dong in Busan, Itawon and Yeoksam-dong in Seoul and Hwaseong and Daegu Immigration Processing Centers. Considering content of the study, snowball sampling was taken rathe than a probability sampling method because it is hard to utilize some form of random selection.
The interview carried out from July to October in 2011, for 4 months. Total 34 took part in the poll and interview, 28 women who work in Karaoke bar and room salons, and business clubs and 6 including police officer, professor and operator.

All 28 women who participated in the survey were Russian and their average age is 33.5. 78.7% of those surveyed answered that their educational attainments are equal to and higher than those of high school graduate. 18 (78.9%) said they got married at an early age, in their late teens or in early 20's.
Their earnings in homeland were similar to, or sometimes lower than, the average income of Russia (15,930 rubles). Given their relatively high education level, it could be said that they were not satisfied with their income. With the financial difficulties in their Korea, their desire to make more money drives them to bind for Korea. The answers they gave seem to imply the situation. When they were asked about the purpose of entering into Korea, employment, marriage and acquiring nationality ranked high (76.4%). In appearance, the answers looks individual thing, but look closely into underlying intent, they lead to one point, a better life. The number of entries into Korea exceed 10 times said 8 persons most of who came to with temporary visit visa. Based on Visa status, it might be assumed that many of respondents are overstay in Korea. Put it simple, they are vulnerable to human trafficking as illegal immigration or overstay easily results in illegal employment.
The paper also found that they have lack of information about agencies and welfare institutions that could help them and they work in poor conditions.

Ⅵ. Responses to human trafficking in Russia and CIS

Traditional approaches to human trafficking are represented by 3Ps; Prevention, Prosecution, and Protection. However the countries, international organizations and anti-human trafficking groups do not equally emphasize each of the 3Ps. In reality, international efforts to combat human trafficking center on prosecution of offenders and protection of victims. From now, this paper examines countermeasures against human trafficking that the government and the judiciary in those countries have taken.
With respect to human trafficking, the current Russian government, the judiciary, its law enforcement agencies, and intelligence agency maintain the previous system which was established by the USSR. In the government, law enforcement bodies (the court and the prosecution) and police that are well-known for strick order of rank, complex structure, inefficiency and incompetency, corruption and irregularities prevail.
Protecting victims of human trafficking requires appropriate justice system and financial resources to support victims of human trafficking. Besides law enforcement procedures such as, investigation, prosecution, or punishment of offender, victims need support and assistance from civil organizations that they can trust. Currently, intergovernmental organizations, for example, Inter-agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Person) and NGOs contribute to protection of victims. 'Koalizija Angel', one of Russian representative NGO, and other unions establish and provide programs aiming at protection of victims. They also provide educational programs designed for law enforcement agents.
This paper also examines measures taken by Korean government in response to human trafficking issues in Korea. Act on the Punishment of Procuring Prostitution and Associated Acts was enacted and provides definition of human trafficking, protection measures for victims and punishment against offenders. However, the act still has many things to be revised. Compared to the definition of human trafficking by the United Stations, the act should be improved to successfully deal with issues over consent of victims. Furthermore it is needed to enact and revise human trafficking-related bills and laws to provide standard guidelines about human trafficking.
The next is social responses to human trafficking, especially to international marriages. In light of the scale of human trafficking involving in international marriages, they should draw more attentions from people.
At last, the paper examines policies and strategies to deal with human trafficking regarding illegal overstay and types of visas. It would be an exaggeration that all illegal immigrants become victims of human trafficking.
However illegal immigrations are likely to have connected to illegal employment or human trafficking. During interview with those women from Russia and CIS, this paper found that types of visa are closely related to overstay of them. So this paper suggests that the government should come up with policies or measures to deal with visa issues.