Human trafficking in Croatia

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Croatia is a destination, source, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution and forced labor. Croatian women and girls fall victim to sex trafficking within the country, and women and girls from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other parts of Europe are subjected to forced prostitution in Croatia and in Europe. Men reportedly are subjected to forced labor in agricultural sectors, and children, including Roma, are subjected to conditions of forced begging and theft.^[1]

The Croatian Government fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. In 2009, the government continued to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenders, increased the minimum imposed penalty for convicted traffickers, and for the first time, ordered a trafficker to pay compensation to a victim. Croatia provided significant funding to NGOs providing assistance and shelter to trafficking victims during the reporting period and continued proactive training and outreach on victim identification. However, the government identified very few trafficking victims in 2009 and failed to protect some victim witnesses.^[1]

In 2010, some victims came forward and told their stories. Kikka Cerpa told of how she was persuaded to leave Venezuela in 1992 to live in New York with a cousin of her boyfriend at the time in order work as a nanny.  Instead, she was raped and forced into prostitution to pay her boyfriends debts. She spent 3 years prostituting until a customer helped her to escape, and was then forced to be his slave. She remained with him for 10 years, during that time in which she had 2 daughters. When she finally managed to seek out help and get a court order of protection, she was accused of being a criminal and her daughters were taking into custody. With the help of Sanctuary for Families, she was able to be freed.^[2]

14-year-old Charlotte Awino shared the same fate in 1996 when Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army abducted her from boarding school. From there she was taken to Sudan where she was raped and beaten and forced to work. At the age of 22, and after bearing two children, Charlotte managed to escape.^[2]

Kumar Ramjali was recruited in Nepal in 2004 in order to go work for a Jordanian company in America. Instead of being moved to America he was sent to a U.S. Military base in Iraq where he was forced to stay for 4 years.^[2]

Human-rights activist, Jana Kohut also came forward with her story. She was trafficked to Slovenia from Croatia in 2004, for sexual exploitation. A female friend had tricked her, which lead to her abduction, and eventually being forced into prostitution and rape until she managed to escape a year later.^[2]

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) publicized an assessment in September 2010, which focused on labour exploitation. With the help of data collected in 2007,2008 and 2009, it was able to be determined that Croatia was no longer a transition destination but a source and destination country. The majority of victims being male, being trafficked and forced into labour. The two main forms of exploitation being first off prostitution, then secondly forced labour. Where as labour exploitation seems only to be less visible.^[3]

Data collected by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia:^[3]

Number of Victims of labour exploitation by gender (2007 – 2009):

Number of victims of labour exploitation by age:

Number of victims of labour exploitation by citizenship:

Number of victims in various areas of exploitation:

Number of foreigners detected in illegal employment in Croatia:

U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.^[4]

Prosecution[]

The Croatian Government generally sustained its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in 2009, though it prosecuted only half as many traffickers as it did the previous year. It continued to exclusively use its human trafficking law to prosecute and convict sex and forced labor trafficking during the reporting period.

Croatia criminally prohibits trafficking for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation through Criminal Provision 175 of its penal code. Provision 175 prescribes penalties for all forms of trafficking of one to 10 years’ imprisonment; these penalties are sufficiently stringent and are commensurate with those prescribed for rape. In 2009, the government investigated 13 suspected trafficking offenders, compared with 15 in 2008. It prosecuted six traffickers in 2009, a decrease from 12 prosecuted in 2008. Six trafficking offenders were convicted and given sentences ranging from two to eight years, compared with nine convictions obtained in 2008; however, one conviction was out on appeal and awaited a final verdict. Two of these convictions involved forced labor.

The government increased its minimum imposed sentence for all trafficking convictions from one to two years during the reporting period. In the first civil trafficking case, the court ordered the trafficker to pay $28,466 in compensation to the victim. The government continued to provide general anti-trafficking training to police officers, and continued its “train-the-trainer” program involving 26 police officers training counterparts on ways to recognize and assist trafficking victims. There were no specific reports of trafficking-related complicity during the reporting period.^[1]

Protection[]

The Government sustained significant efforts to ensure that victims of trafficking received access to necessary care. It continued to fund NGOs as well as its two specialized shelters for adult women and children trafficking victims, totaling $96,461 in 2009. It also provided $45,937 to NGOs to support and assist trafficking victims. Four victims used shelter facilities in 2009. While the government continued to emphasize a victim-centered approach, it identified only eight victims during the reporting period, one more than 2008, but lower than the 15 victims identified in 2007.

The government amended its Law on Foreigners in March 2009 to extend the “reflection period” from 30 to 90 days; children continue to be eligible for a stay of 90 days. The government actively encouraged victim participation in trafficking cases and reported that all eight identified victims assisted in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers in 2009. According to preliminary findings released in a January 2010 research project on trafficking and prostitution conducted between December 2008 and November 2009, the Croatian government did not provide adequate protections for some trafficking victims who testified against their traffickers. Researchers reported victims were required to testify repeatedly during trafficking trials; victim’s testimony can be arranged via video-conference system.

The government initiated a pilot assistance program for victim witnesses in four courts in 2009 to improve protections for these victims. Researchers also recommended that the government should intensify efforts to identify adequately all potential victims of forced prostitution. Although victims could be both witness and defendant in some court cases, researchers reported that the government made efforts to ensure that recognized trafficking victims were not penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked.

In response to continued concerns about prostitution and potential trafficking during the high tourist season along the Adriatic coast, the government reported training over 250 police officers in coastal cities during 2009. Although police reported conducting 10 anti-trafficking operations along the coast in 2009, the government did not identify any trafficking victims as a result of these operations. The government provided foreign victims with legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they may face hardship or retribution. Out of the four foreign trafficking victims identified in 2009, the government repatriated one female to Bosnia and Herzegovina and three to Serbia.^[1]

Prevention[]

In 2009, the government continued its progressive national-level outreach and anti-trafficking training efforts to raise awareness and prevent trafficking. During the reporting period, it implemented numerous anti-trafficking education workshops and seminars for Croatian authorities, including social workers, diplomatic and consular staff, judges, prosecutors, police, and students, including members of mobile teams responsible for assisting trafficking victims. In November 2009, it organized a seminar for leaders in the tourism industry on ways to identify victims of trafficking. It continued to conduct anti-trafficking training for Croatian soldiers prior to their deployment to Afghanistan as international peacekeepers.^[1]

See also[]

• Human rights in Croatia
• Prostitution in Croatia
• Human trafficking in Europe

References[]

Further reading[]

• "Trgovanje ljudima". mup.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 14 December 2015.