Human Trafficking in Western Balkan: Case Study of Kosovo

ABSTRACT

The object of this paper is the criminal offence of human trafficking in Kosovo, addressing the negative and illegal phenomenon of this activity. It aims to pay special attention to the detection and prosecution of the perpetrators and the imposition of sentences and other criminal sanctions against them, with the sole purpose of combating and preventing it in society. Also, in this paper, some basic legal-criminal and criminological features of the criminal offence of human trafficking are analysed and treated. Given that this criminal offence represents a serious type of criminality, this study explores how it manifests itself in its consequences on the individual and society. This research conducted on human trafficking in Kosovo is of crucial importance because by studying this negative phenomenon, we can slowly conclude whether the victims were innocent or contributors to the issues leading to their trafficking.

In preparing this research-scientific paper, very significant content for our country is presented using the following methods: comparative, statistical, graphic, historical, analytical, survey and case studies from 1999 to now. Through these research methods and techniques, we have recognised and addressed multiple aspects of the crime of human trafficking. Contrary to the common belief that there are enough studies on the victims of human trafficking and other criminal acts, this is not true. In many cases, the states have quantified the victims of various crimes and other criminal acts solely through numerical measures. The extracted statistics form the basis of data identification and conclusion, as well as determining the recommendations contained in this paper.

Trafficking in human beings is one of the most significant crimes of our time and a violation of human rights in itself, and in our work, we have encountered difficulties in coming up with the most adequate and concrete data to prevent and combat this phenomenon. Human beings are trafficked for the purpose of forced labour, illegal employment, the entertainment industry, forced and fake marriage, forced prostitution, etc. and this, in our case in the Western Balkans countries, is generally encountered because of socio-economic problems and freedom of movement. Human trafficking is a form of profitable organised crime and is believed to be important because the risk is low and the payoff is high; after drug and weapons trafficking and the prostitution trade comes as a great benefit, in our case, Kosovo, we have come across data from 1999 on how war refugees are abused and how narcotic substances are trafficked and used. The most common form of human trafficking is the trade of human beings for sexual exploitation or the purposes of forced prostitution. This is a challenge in our country because we do not have an adequate law to legalise prostitution. In this case, we have a lot of good organised in the region and Kosovo that abuse, especially minors, for prostitution and the purpose of the work is to issue an adequate law regarding the decriminalisation of prostitution to manage, control, prevent and combat human trafficking. The most frequent victims of this form of trafficking are children and women, who belong to the most vulnerable social groups, according to the data presented in the paper.

1 INTRODUCTION

In this paper, the techniques used and realised during this part of this look or study are known, including all their elements and the ways they can be combined to get the right results. In fact, methodological and research approaches are presented here to better explain the suitability of these methods to the research topic. Thus, a study plan is also presented in this paper; where and how the necessary information was obtained; data collection methods are also provided; procedures and institutions used; the procedures used to ensure the reliability and validity of the required results, as well as the limitations of the methodology used in this formative research, thus continuously giving it an even more scientific character. The methodological point of view is inevitably determined based on the very purpose of the paper.¹ In this paper, we describe the criminalistic view of human trafficking in Kosovo, then look at some phenomenological characteristics of human trafficking, the volume, dynamics and structure of human trafficking, some personal and social characteristics of the perpetrators, age, gender, their nationality and educational level, marital and social status, the aspect of recidivism of the perpetrators of this criminal offence in a case study of the Western Balkan country, Kosovo. The problem in the Western Balkans is that we cannot harmonise the laws and rules common to the EU and the countries from which people trafficked for prostitution come, with the sole purpose of preventing and fighting this phenomenon, as against people who are part of organised crime and to those who help in recruitment. Adequate educational institutions and institutions implementing laws must harmonise strategies and proper measures against this pathological phenomenon.

In our work, we have tried to reach a hypothesis that if we legalise, that is, we have adequate laws for allowing public prostitutes to work with legal prostitution, that is, the offering of the body for minor intercourse, the trafficking of human will fall, especially the trafficking of minors and according to of the data we have analysed that YES the trafficking of human beings will fall. The adequate institutions of law enforcement, health, and education will have sufficient control and management of national strategies for preventing and combating this pathological phenomenon.

2 SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN KOSOVO

Law enforcement services and agencies provide analysis of developments in areas of importance for national and international security and provide early warning of impending crises to national and international crisis management bodies and, in our case, human trafficking.² State institutions must have information for planning protection systems and protect classified information about their resources and activities and those belonging to other government agencies because human trafficking is the challenge of challenges in our contemporary time. Given the possibilities of communication through many electronic channels,³ these services can act secretly to influence the outcome of events in favour of national interests "the whole art of the fight against organised crime consists in deep intelligence”.⁴ It is necessary that the persons who take responsibility for monitoring and detecting criminal groups whose scope is trafficking in human beings should develop simultaneous methodologies such as open, closed, secret and doctrinal with the aim of predicting their steps in the future regarding the prevention and combating of this phenomenon. Informative security activities in the prevention and fight against criminality, in general, must meet at least some conditions, such as⁵

• Trafficking people, in most cases, is done with the agreement of the individual with their will by being misinformed about jobs and professional frauds;
• The very name "trafficking in people" clearly shows that with this criminal offence, there is trade in people, buying and selling of people and that the main goal is the realisation of financial gain;
• With this criminal offence, people are treated as objects, in which case human dignity, freedom and fundamental rights are severely violated because, in most cases, people are degraded and treated like animals;
• Likewise, the exploitation of victims of trafficking requires a longer time;
• In human trafficking, there is a high probability that victims of trafficking will be recruited into criminal activities;
• In trade, a special dependency is created between the victim of trafficking and the organised criminal group itself, using violence and intimidation as a means of making profits;
• The victim can, but it is not said that he must cross the border;
• The victim can be trafficked even within a country;
• The purpose of trafficking is the exploitation of the victim.

3 CRIMINAL TYPOLOGY OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

According to the opinions of criminologists, external criminogenic factors, especially socioeconomic factors, play an important role in the appearance of criminal typology. According to them, external or exogenous factors represent the conditions and circumstances determining criminal behaviour; they directly affect the appearance of criminal activities in society. There are many external or objective factors, each with its own importance and role in the appearance of criminal behaviour. From empirical criminological research such as fear of crime, and especially considering the results of records and statistical data on criminality by minors as delinquents and adults as part of organised crime, in many countries, some objective or external factors are observed, those have a greater impact than other factors related to human trafficking as a pathology of prostitution. Thus, the following are treated as factors with a significant impact on the appearance of criminal behaviour: economic-social factors, ideological-political factors, sociopathological factors and others. However, in the framework of factors, internal subjective factors are divided into psychological or psychic factors and biological factors.

We look at the recognition, treatment and analysis of the basic phenomenological features of the criminal offence of human trafficking by examining and analysing the volume, dynamics and structure of this type of criminality, place, time and means of commission. Thus, this criminal offence, also sees some essential social features such as the perpetrators' age, gender, affiliation, educational level, marital status, nationality, recidivism, etc.⁶

4 VOLUME, DYNAMICS, AND STRUCTURE OF THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN KOSOVO

The presentation of these data on the criminal offence of human trafficking, which as a criminal offence was part of the chapter on criminal offences against humanity and values protected by international law, is considered the most severe type of criminal offence within this chapter.

However, despite this, we will rely only on data that reflect the criminal offence of this type foreseen by the all-powerful judicial decisions issued by the court. This allowed us to gain an accurate overview of the volume of this type of crime that occurred.

In the period 2015-2022, according to the volume of the presentation of the criminal offence of human trafficking in Kosovo, it was present at a fairly high level. Thus, in the measured period of time, the number of persons convicted for the criminal offence of human trafficking provided for by Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the State of the Republic of Kosovo was significantly higher than in previous years.⁷ Age and gender are also important characteristics of the criminal phenomenon. Because of the numerous statistical data from judicial practice and the records of empirical-criminological research, they say that people of different ages are mainly involved in criminal actions and behaviours. As is known, the age of the perpetrators of criminal offences is divided into minors and adults. In the criminological literature and practical research, the division and categorisation of the ages of adults are usually done over decades. In support of the statistical data related to the persons convicted for the criminal offence of human trafficking in Kosovo, persons aged 25-35 years mostly participate in the commission of this type of crime.⁸ During the research, it was found that among the trafficked people, a large percentage are women. According to the survey with a total of 2063 cases taken from the period of 2015 to the end of June 2022, the vast majority of trafficked women⁹ were from Moldova, 214 cases or 45%, from Romania, 89 cases or 19%, from Ukraine, 58 cases or 12%, from Kosovo, 53 cases or 11%, from Bulgaria, 28 cases or 6%, from Albania, 24 cases or 5%, from Russia, 3 cases or 1%, from Serbia, 3 cases or 1%, etc. If it is proven that the age of trafficked victims during this period, the following picture emerges: female victims aged 14-18 were 16 cases, or 26%; those aged 18-24 were 53, or 58% aged 25- 30 years old were 22, or 15% and victims over the age of 30 were 6.96%¹⁰.

During the interview, the most frequent motives or reasons that the victims mentioned that led them down the path of trafficking were the desire and the promise that they would be employed, at 76.09%. 2.02% cite "offers" for marriage, and 9.31% express the desire to travel, tourism and entertainment. Among the cases, a significant 83.56% of victims entered trafficking through personal contacts that they had with the persons who offered them these services. Alternatively, 7.21% of cases made contacts through advertisements in newspapers or other means of information, and 0.23% of cases were encouraged or pushed by family members or close relatives. From this overview, it is interesting to mention who the most direct recruiters are in these cases. In 56.53% of the cases, according to the mentioned interviews, the recruiter is a person unknown to the victim; in 12.16% of the cases, the recruiter is the victim's friend; in 4.28% of the cases, the recruiter is the victim's boyfriend, in 2.03% of the cases the recruiter is known relative, in 0.68% of cases a type of female tutor appears as a recruiter. According to the mentioned interviews, the beneficiaries of the services of the victims are local residents, but some of them are also foreigners. During the time that female victims were trafficked in Kosovo, in 81.31% of cases, they offered sexual services; in 6.76% of cases, they were forced to work in various jobs. Victims who have once fallen into the trap of traffickers or criminal networks find it very difficult to free themselves from this situation.¹¹

The pressure on the trafficked persons that we have encountered is that they are given personal documents, passports, money or items with which they could be identified, and in this way, their freedom of movement is limited; they are confined all day and compelled to provide sexual services to customers at night. In these ways, they become slaves and hostages of their owners or brokers of premises where they have to provide sexual services or perform other work. According to the data from the research or findings made by the Association of Criminology and Victimology of Kosovo in Kosovo, the price of buying female victims for prostitution varies from 1000 euros to 5000 euros.¹² According to the legislation in force, the qualifying circumstances in the criminal offence of trafficking are provided for in the Criminal Code of Kosovo in the paragraph that ‘Anyone who participates in human trafficking is punished with a fine and imprisonment of five (5) to twelve (12) years.’¹³

According to the data of the police and the prosecutor's office, from year to year, there has been a decrease in the number of foreign victims of trafficking. Still, on the other hand, there has been an increase in domestic victims of trafficking, especially after the declaration of independence in 2008, including here. According to the above statistical data based on the Republic of Kosovo, we notice that minor victims between the ages of 15 and 17 are primarily targetted due to external factors such as socio-economic and internal family and pathological factors such as:

• inadequate parental and family care,
• difficult economic and social conditions (poverty)
• dropping out of school
• high level of unemployment
• gender inequality and violence against women
• conflict and post-conflict situations
• lack of social integration
• Lack of access to education.

The nature of the crime of human trafficking in Kosovo is considered to be hidden, and most of the victims are threatened, blackmailed, intimidated and deceived by being systematically exploited by the traffickers. Therefore, the victims do not self-declare (do not report the cases to the police) or have the courage to talk about their situation when other forces of the law get in contact with them, according to the data during the interview and survey of some of the victims and their families. Also, the public generally perceives this type of crime as committed against the victims' will and wishes.

5 THE MAIN FORM OF EXPLOITATION OF TRAFFICKING VICTIMS

Based on the data obtained and presented above, our findings indicate that prostitution in Kosovo is the primary form of exploitation among trafficking victims. In contrast, another form of exploitation is pornography, alms, services, and forced labour. Examining the issue in the context of child trafficking, it is noteworthy that despite a government-approved approval strategy, the trend of this criminal activity is increasing. Children are particularly vulnerable, with sexual exploitation being the predominant concern. In response, proactive measures have been taken through campaigns, targeting person-to-person information in schools and meetings with civil society to raise the alarm. Recognising child trafficking as a societal threat, the prevention of such activities is seen as one of the main challenges and priorities in the country.

Over several years, we have been in the prism of the teacher as a university professor and the students of the faculty of law. We have conducted several interviews and surveys which match the data obtained from our work. We have concluded that in the Republic of Kosovo, there is an urgent need to compile and approve a law for the decriminalisation of prostitution, to approve the law for reasons of management, control, verification and prevention of human trafficking, the destination of which victims is prostitution.¹⁴

6 RECRUITMENT METHODS IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES

Recruitment methods differ significantly from each other and depend on the mode of operation and level of organisation of the traffickers, as well as on the type of target group (women/children/orphans/members of minorities), etc. Traffickers mainly use the following methods of recruitment:

• Offers for jobs - (waitresses, dancers, bartenders, etc.) where good monthly salaries are promised.
• False promises about marriage or cohabitation.
• Deception by means of half-truthful promises, such as the opportunity to work in illegal conditions, but not in severe exploitative or slave conditions, or to remove organs or body parts, but without informing about the possible health consequences.
• Contact through websites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Badoo, etc.) - Young women are contacted by different people.¹⁵

According to the data obtained from the statistics agency of Kosovo with the data presented in the table below, it appears that the victims of trafficking are mainly 16-18 years old, correlating with individuals at a higher educational level (9-12), constituting a total of 40 cases. 10 cases involve victims with no formal education, 7 with primary education (1-5), and 20 with a low level of education (6-8). Notably, there is 1 case involving a victim at the university level. The presentation of the profession of persons convicted for this type of criminality will be followed according to the number of persons who exercise activity and those who do not exercise this activity. Over the period 2017-2021 in Kosovo, of the adults convicted for the criminal offence of human trafficking, the vast majority (13.4%) were individual farmers by profession, while among those who were active, the majority were unemployed (7.7%), pupils and students (7.1%) and housewives (5%), and so on.¹⁶

Such a high participation of individual farmers in committing this type of crime should be explained by the fact that some of them come from those who have lived in deep and poor villages, where agriculture is their primary profession. These individuals often have a low level of education and, through long migration to big cities, have fallen prey to criminal groups that deal with prostitution.

However, in daily life, some phenomena are observed that more or less speak of greater participation in the performance of certain criminal behaviours of persons who belong to certain professions or trades. This is because education and timely notification of prevention related to criminal activities are well-organised flues in the Western Balkans. In the daily judicial practice and from the data of the criminal statistics, it can be seen that these are the key persons who are very involved in the commission of this criminal offence of human trafficking, whose purpose is illegal prostitution in the Balkan countries, in this case, Kosovo. Therefore, it is rightly emphasised in the criminological literature that the profession or craftsmanship alone does not create criminals but offers them more favourable conditions and greater opportunities to commit crimes more easily than people of crafts and other professions. In our identified cases, these criminal events were carried out through open, legitimate businesses, and their activity is criminal.¹⁷

7 SOCIAL CONDITION AND SOCIAL STATUS

In the criminological literature, for a long time, the opinion that criminality is characteristic of the lower classes, especially for the category of workers and unemployed people and poor economic conditions, has dominated. However, these findings are based on notes on the number of persons against whom criminal charges have been filed, indictments have been filed, or sentences pronounced by the court. Thus, it is proven that the category of perpetrators of the criminal offence of human trafficking constitutes a mixed mixture of two layers. Still, the lower or poor layer dominates with close to 2%, while the rich are close to 7%, referring to court decisions. Based on the data, the court's participation of persons or professionals in the commission of this criminal offence presents as a target the lowest stratum, compared to the highest, in contrast to other strata of the population in our ¹⁸. However, in the decisions taken as the object of this research, it appears that the court has only received information about a small number of the perpetrators and their social status. In these conditions, it is not possible to reach an accurate conclusion about the social and family situation of the perpetrators of this criminal offence.¹⁹

8 FACTORS THAT CHARACTERISE TRAFFICKING

Looking at both the local and the international strategies aimed at combating and preventing the criminal offence of human trafficking, along with its complex transnational expansion caused by many factors such as poverty, lack of democratic culture, gender inequality, violence against women, various conflicts, various economic crises and depressions, unemployment, lack of social integration, difficult living conditions, lack of education, discrimination, several conclusions can be drawn. A critical recommendation emerging from criminological and legal approaches and various empirical studies of this criminal phenomenon is the necessity for a law decriminalising prostitution. It becomes evident that the causes of human trafficking in Kosovo are primarily related to objective and subjective factors, amplifying the spread of this increasingly prevalent criminal activity and giving even more power to organised crime.²⁰

Therefore, it is crucial to employ established theories from anthropology, biology, psychology, and sociology to comprehensively examine these factors. Analyses aimed at understanding the causes of victimisation emphasise the need to explore not only the victim’s biopsychological or sociocultural circumstances but also her environment. Universities and scientific research should intensify their research and analysis even more. In the following, we see the economic and social factors that play a pivotal role in the largest number of cases of victims of trafficking in women, trafficking and abuse of children, refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants, vagrants, beggars, victims of prostitution, and other victims. Kosovo, in particular, serves as an ideal case study for these organised crime groups, given that the people of Kosovo have been without freedom of movement for years as the only country in the western Balkans. Noteworthy economic and social factors contributing to trafficking include poverty, unemployment, economic crises, housing crises, migration and movement of the population, discrimination against foreigners, corruption, and fraud. These factors, often presented as opportunities for a better life, such as employment and family support, are singled out and ultimately lead individuals into trafficking for prostitution.²¹ Another factor that is directly related to human trafficking is the political factor and various political conflicts, which are considered influential factors of victimisation.²²

9 CONCLUSIONS

The name "trafficking in human beings" clearly indicates that this criminal offence includes the trafficking of human beings; it means buying or selling, with the sole primary purpose of realising financial gain in illegal forms and ways through the provision of sexual satisfaction. In Kosovo, victims of trafficking are mainly young and middle-aged women, where the most preferred are women due to prostitution and other illegal actions. But this does not happen only in Kosovo because most of the victims around the globe are trafficked with the sole purpose of exploiting them in the most severe forms possible, even to perform various jobs such as domestic services, involvement in forced labour, armed conflicts, restaurant services, various bars, factories, agriculture, construction, wandering or begging, etc.

In Kosovo, prostitution does not happen publicly, but in most cases, it is camouflaged in various bars, such as cafes, nightclubs, casinos, massage parlours, etc. According to the Kosovo Police, recently, it has been taking place in various private apartments and houses. Trafficking of women and prostitution, in particular, insults and severely violates human dignity and the fundamental rights and freedom of the person himself and causes divorces and unpredictable family problems. Fighting this phenomenon is in everyone's interest. The cities of Kosovo, including Prishtina, Prizereni, Gjilani, Ferizaj, and Mitrovica, are active in the organisation of prostitution in different forms and ways where the law enforcement institutions have difficulty in fighting and preventing them because the camouflage and the activity are professional.

However, all the data obtained underscores that the primary criminogenic factor behind the criminal offence of trafficking in human beings is poverty, stemming from the high unemployment recorded in the Western Balkans and the case of R. Kosovo. Expanding on this, the paper highlights the impact of migration and the significant movement of the population from one place to another in different village-city ratios, as well as underdeveloped and deteriorated areas in every aspect. The examination allows for analysis of the theory of cultural conflict and the resulting financial, familial and mental burdens vulnerable individuals bear as a consequence.

From all the data obtained by the Police, Courts and Prosecutions in Kosovo, the characteristics of the perpetrators of human trafficking and the aspect of prostitution are gender, age, family status, criminal status, failure to adapt to the new environment, poor success in secondary and higher education, contacts with many people, various family conflicts, the moral decline of the family, encouraging and pushing them on the path of error, etc.

This study shows that the tactics used by traffickers to coerce women to engage in this criminal activity are among the most diverse. Yet, the form of mediation or instigation and pushing of women into prostitution is considered unique. This is particularly pertinent when considering the push and enticement of minors to deal with this negative sociopathological phenomenon. Therefore, institutions such as the Police, the Prosecutor's Office and the Courts must be maximally engaged and take all the necessary positive measures to guarantee this value effectively. Moreover, they should strive to protect against the negative phenomenon of human trafficking and, at the same time, protect and promote human rights for all victims of trafficking, regardless of race, nationality, gender, or destination.

In conclusion, our hypothesis posits that if we have an adequate law, drawing upon the comparison and analysis with EU countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain, which have decriminalised prostitution, would result in better control over human trafficking. Adequate institutional measures would contribute to preventing and combating this phenomenon, minimising health risks and infections, and decreasing the intensity of violence within families, given that legislation and sanctions against perpetrators would be much significantly more stringent in accordance with the law in force.