Russian sex slaves in Bangkok

For her, to tell the truth would mean having to live through the pain once again...

…The girl looked exhausted. Her life was just starting, everything was still ahead… “Olya, where have you been all this time?!” Several months ago, her parents went to the police to report their missing daughter. Their 16-year-old Olya left home and never came back. Afterwards, she wrote a letter to her family claiming that she'd been working in one of the shops in St. Petersburg. She asked her parents to stop investigation. However, one could sense certain vibes from that letter, vibes of tremendous pain and sorrow.

When the young lady has finally returned home, she continued to repeat the exact same words, claiming that she was ‘alright’! For her, to tell the truth would mean having to live through the pain once again. She would have to remember how she met one young southern gentleman while taking a stroll in the park. He offered her a well-paid job abroad…She would also have to remember how she left for St. Petersburg, hoping to get rich and live with the prince happily ever after. She would have to remember how she, along with several other treasure huntresses left for Thailand using fake documents; how all those fantasies of the perfect life had gone into flames the moment their airplane touched the ground of a foreign land; how their documents were confiscated and how they were told to be prostitutes and work until they will be able to pay their debt in full themselves. The debt was $5 000. This sum comprised expenses for fake documents, visas, housing, and food.

They became sex slaves. On the average, each one of the girls earned $700-$800, after “taking care” of 6-7 clients per night. Sometimes, “lucky ones” managed to get up to $3 000. The girls never saw the money. All profits went straight into the “sugar daddy’s” pocket. They were fined for leaving their hotel without permission, for gaining a few extra pounds and for hiding the money. The girls needed to work extra hard in order to pay off the fine.

Usually, it took young girls about 3 years to pay off their debt and return home. After three years however, their radiating beauty faded and their charm ceased to exist…they were traumatized both physically and mentally; and their masters no longer wanted them. Robbed and deceived, they returned home in terrible physical condition and mentally traumatized; they were only 15-16 years old. As for money, they barely had enough to get a ticket.

Olya was “lucky”. She managed to escape that foreign slum within a few months. It happened accidentally. One of “new Russians” decided to help her after hearing her story. He paid off her debt, received her documents and bought Olya a ticket home.

…Underage girls were lured into sex slavery under very similar circumstances in August-September 2001. Department of Criminal Investigation of Kaluzhski region began investigating such mysterious disappearances of young girls. Olya B. was the first one to come forward and reveal the entire story to the police.

Local investigators immediately went to St. Petersburg and arrested four suspects. A married couple was among them. In the end, law enforcement managed to come across a wide spread International criminal organization exporting young Russian girls abroad.

Human traffic continues to blossom even in the XXI century, bringing in $7-12 billion annually. Women are the most popular commodity. According to EU, more than 120 000 of women and children from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia become victims of human traffic every year. Overall, commodity circulation in this International slave industry involves 4 million people.
In the beginning those were mainly Asian countries (mainly Thailand and Philippines) that were involved in this sort of business. After the USSR collapsed the former republics such as Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia became the main exporters of women. The problem has been in Russia for at least 10 years.

About a year ago, Russian law enforcement has finally decided to seek proper solutions to the existing problem. In December 2003, two new clauses have been included in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Now, slavery will be punished with imprisonment!

There are still a lot of young sex slaves who are currently living and working abroad…

Alena Novikova
Source: Utro