THE QUEST FOR ROOT CAUSES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A STUDY ON THE EXPERIENCE OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS, WITH A FOCUS ON THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA By Sa!a Pou"ki A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Global Affairs Written under the direction of Professor Richard Langhorne and approved by _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Newark, New Jersey October, 2012 ! ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS The Quest for Root Causes of Human Trafficking: A Study on the Experience of Marginalized Groups, with a focus on the Republic of Serbia By Sa!a Pou"ki Dissertation director: Richard Langhorne The complexity of the phenomenon of human trafficking is not only a problem for academics, but also a problem for those who work in this field, including police, people running safe houses, medical personnel, etc. Trafficking in humans is actively undermining the wellbeing of individuals, local communities, institutions, rule of law, states and the international community at large. The overall goal of this dissertation is to unweave the complexity of human trafficking and offer possible paths to better understanding of this phenomenon by analyzing, explaining and evaluating the underlying reasons for this growing global problem. Within the field of human trafficking, there are many approaches to analyzing this growing problem, but most fall short of recognizing the importance of root causes and their complexity. Some focus on socioeconomic factors or issues of human rights violations, while others focus on security and legal issues, e.g., illegal migration, prostitution, border control and policing. There are also those who take a feminist approach, seeing human trafficking in gender terms, e.g., male domination and control over women as well as an extension of domestic violence. While these approaches are valuable, without seeing the interconnected, complex nature of human trafficking, these common approaches often fall short of identifying the range of underlying causes at ii! ! work. The aim of my dissertation is to uncover some of these underlying causes, propose a four-stage approach to human trafficking that identifies different stages of this phenomenon and provide a holistic approach to analyzing and understanding human trafficking. The study relies on insights gained through field research I conducted in the Republic of Serbia in 2004, 2005 and 2009 as well as an overall review of the field from 2004 to 2011. My methodology is two-fold and includes primary and secondary research. Specifically, my methodology involves: 1) a review of the literature, 2) semi- structured interviews among stakeholders and members of nongovernmental organizations working on issues of human trafficking, and 3) collection and analysis of over 200 questionnaires among the general public and third year high school students. This dissertation moves beyond common ways of explaining human trafficking and highlights different perspectives that add to the complexity of this phenomenon. The questions addressed include the following. First, what are the root causes, not typically explored in the literature, e.g., stereotypes, culture, customs, traditions, religion, that make some people vulnerable to human trafficking. Second, are some ethnic minority groups, e.g., Roma, Nepal’s Badi community and India’s D!vad"sis, who are traditionally socially neglected, more prone than others to be victims of human trafficking. Third, to what extent is general public perception and awareness of this phenomenon an overall determining factor of success in the fight against human trafficking. This dissertation can be used as a starting point for providing a more holistic understanding of this phenomenon and for exploring the hypothesis that possibly less iii! ! privileged and often socially neglected minority groups are especially vulnerable to become victims of human trafficking. iv! ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, my thanks have to go to my dear wife, Nicole Bryan, who has inspired and pushed me at every step of my work. She is the most important person who gave me courage, strength and support in this endeavor. Without her unreserved help, I would not be able to accomplish this undertaking. I am also grateful for the advice and encouragement I received from Richard Langhorne; I appreciate immensely the generosity and patience he vested in me. The insight and direction I gained from faculty members at the Division of Global Affairs was irreplaceable, including late Professor Gerhard Mueller. Professors Yale Ferguson, John Cantwell and Aleksandra Milicevi! provided important support. Last but not least, the assistance and help I received from my family (Tatjana, Mirjana and Vojislav), friends, local activists and individuals, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations and various institutions throughout the Republic of Serbia enriched my work and enabled me to complete this dissertation. Final help was provided by my lovely daughters, Anastasia and Alexandra. Thank you all. v! ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Personal Preface 01 Introduction, Outline and Methodology 04 Chapter 1: Literature Review: Conceptions of Human Trafficking 16 Part I: Background and History 16 Definition, Scope and Forms 42 Chapter 2: Approaches to analyzing and explaining Human Trafficking 69 Human Rights Approach 74 • Children’s Rights 86 • Health Rights 92 Feminist Approach 96 Security Approach 113 Socioeconomic Approach 126 Emergency Approach 146 Integrative Approach 162 Chapter 3: Human Trafficking in Republic of Serbia and Comparative Studies 169 (Nepal and India) Part I: Republic of Serbia 170 A brief background of the Republic of Serbia Assessments of the Current Levels and Response to Human 176 Trafficking in Serbia Defining at risk groups in Serbia: Focus on Roma minority 198 Part II: Nepal Case 257 Badi community of Nepal Part III: India Case 269 D!vad"sis-temple women Conclusion: Summary 288 Bibliography 297 Vita 321 vi! ! LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Commonalities of Slavery and Trafficking in Humans/Human Trafficking. 41 Table 2: Human Trafficking Approaches. 72 Table 3: I-914 T-Visa Applications, Approvals and Denials from 2002 to 121 June of 2010 . Table 4: The number of victims of human trafficking assisted by Safe House in 183 the period between 2002-2008 in the Republic of Serbia, according to their nationality. Table 5: Distribution of Human Trafficking forms for year 2008 in Serbia. 187 Table 6: The Romani language with Elements of National History, Tradition and 223 Culture in Vojvodina. Table 7: Total Number of Roma Children Attending School in Vojvodina. 224 ! vii! ! "! Introduction: Research Subject and Questions, Methodology, Outline & Approach A woman and the cows are a man’s property. –Wilson Tulito Molill, Senior chief, Ngong, Kenya Personal Preface It was the first birthday of my daughter when I read an article about Srey Pov in The New York Times. As a parent all you think of is your child. The joy that you get from just one smile is hard to put into words. Unfortunately, for some, smiles are not enough. The story about the life of Srey Pov shocked me beyond anything that I learned about human trafficking; it also confirmed the complexity of human behavior. Despite having already written the introduction to my dissertation, I began reflecting on the different sad stories I read over the course of my dissertation research and I could not resist changing my introduction. Srey was only 6 years old when her parents sold her into a brothel in Cambodia. Despite her very young age and innocence, she was repeatedly sold, raped and abused. As reported by Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times: “Some 20 customers raped her nightly…and the brothel twice stitched her vagina closed so that she could be resold as a virgin.” (2011, Nov. 16) As if that was not enough, on occasions when she tried to escape, she was punished by being “locked naked in the darkness in a barrel half-full of sewage, replete with vermin and scorpions that stung her regularly” (Kristof, 2011, Nov. 16). The longest time Srey was kept that way was a week. Hearing stories like this, one cannot help but feel sad, outraged and propelled to do something. Stories like this force us to question how cruel and unjust life can be for some. In the case of Srey, she was ! #! able to fight and bounce back from her captors after three years of abuse. Today, at age 19, Srey is still in a shelter for victims of trafficking, i.e., the Somaly Mom Foundation, not only as a resident but also as an activist in the fight against human trafficking (Kristof, 2011, Nov. 16). Human trafficking is not simply a crime, not simply something that violates the law, it is something that threatens to destroy the spirits of people living as victims of trafficking just as it threatens to corrupt the souls of societies that tolerate it. My connection to this topic came during a class on Organized Crime with Professor James Fickenauer at Rutgers University. I volunteered to do a presentation on human trafficking, and since then, my life has been connected to this issue. While studying this phenomenon, I started to realize that previously, before moving to United States, I personally witnessed cases of human trafficking without even being aware of it. For example, when I was working in Cyprus in 1993, a group of Russian dancers who worked with me in a local bouzouki club (known for traditional Greek folk music) were not allowed to socialize with my friend and me, despite their friendly relations with us. They told us that their manager forbade them to go out and have friends. At the time, I took this as a business stipulation and normal thing. I now realize the Russian dancers were likely trafficking victims. During the same summer, I met a Ukrainian girl on the beach.