The political exclusion and commodification of women - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 253

Although trafficking in women from Russia has been going on for at
least a decade, with increasing severity, the Russian Government has
taken little notice of the problem … One of the largest problems is the
lack of political will to recognize and address the problem of trafficking
in women.
(Hughes 2002:56)
In terms of what has been done, we can look to the 'Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime' (UN 2000) which was signed by Russia in December
2000. It was ratified only on 26 May 2004 after the implementation of
amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for criminal-
izing trafficking. The list of crimes in the code was increased, through such
articles as 1271 (trafficking in persons), 1272 (use of slave labour) and 2421
(production and circulation of materials or goods with pornographic images
of non-adults).
The Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 163-F3, 'On introduc-
tion of changes and addenda in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation'
(2003), is actually the first official state condemnation of trafficking.
Although the amendments to the Criminal Code were passed so that traf-
ficking in women was finally criminalized, there is still an acute need for a
mechanism to realize Russia's anti-trafficking goals. There is neither con-
sensus among different levels of government (federal, regional, local) nor
between branches (e.g. executive and judicial) at the same level about where
responsibility for and implementation of amendments to the Criminal Code
reside. Therefore, experts agree that the Russian Federation needs a special
law against trafficking, which will empower the existing executive system
(Gavrilov 2003; Mattar 2004; Holschevnikova 2005). Since trafficking is
criminalized under the Criminal Code, another enabling law is required.
This law would establish contact between state and other actors, not least
non-state actors such as NGOs, identifying the responsibilities of various
power structures, and providing social and legal guarantees to the victims
of trafficking. The name of the proposed law is 'On the status of victim of
trafficking in women'. Mohova stresses: 'If the law would be accepted it
would be the first and unique precedent in Russia when the state takes the
responsibility for the victims. Usually the state only punishes the offender'
(Mohova quoted in Lvova 2005:61). The project of the Federal Law 'On the
status of victim' originated through the efforts of a working group under the
instruction of Elena Mizulina, Deputy of the State Duma. The discussions
around this law are ongoing and it is unclear when the proposed principles
will be accepted.