Trafficking: national laws

Trafficking in human beings is a gross violation of human rights and is punished by law. The Criminal Code of Ukraine specifies the crime of human trafficking and punishment for committing it:

Trafficking in human beings or other illegal agreement on person

1. Trafficking in human beings or conducting other illegal agreement with a person as an object, as well as recruitment, transportation, harbouring, transfer or receipt of a person, committed for the purpose of exploitation by means of deceit, blackmail, or the use of his/her vulnerable condition, - is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of three to eight years.

2. Any such actions as provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article, committed in respect to a minor (up to 18 years of age) or perpetrated upon two or more persons, or repeatedly, or by a group of persons with prior conspiracy, or by an official through the abuse of authority, or by a person upon whom the victim was dependent materially or otherwise, or committed in combination with violence that is not endangering life or health of the victim or his/her close relatives, or in combination with threats of such violence - is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term offive to twelve years, with or without the forfeiture of property.

3. Any such actions as provided for by paragraphs 1 or 2 of this Article, committed in respect to a minor (up to 14 years of age), or by an organized group, or if committed in combination with violence that is endangering life or health of the victim or his/her close relatives 2, or in combination with threats of such violence or committed by an organized group, or if causing grave consequences, - are punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term ofeight to fifteen years, with or without the forfeiture of property.

Note 1. Exploitation of a person in this Article shall be understood as: all forms of sexual exploitation, use in porno business, forced labor or services; slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, involvement into debt bondage, extraction of organs, experimentation over a person without his/her consent, adoption for commercial purposes, forced pregnancy, involvement into the criminal activity, use in armed conflicts, etc.

Note 2. Vulnerable condition of a person in the Articles 149 and 303 of this Code shall be understood as: the status of a person, due to his/her physical or mental peculiarities or external conditions, that divests or abridges his/her ability to comprehend his/her commission or omission of an act or to manage his/her actions , to make his/her own decisions according to his/her will, to maintain adequate resistance to violent or other illegal actions, as well as concourse of severe personal, family or other circumstances .

Note 3. Responsibility for recruitment, transportation, harbouring transfer or receipt of a minor (up to 14 or 18 years of age) according to this Article shall be fixed whether or not such actions were committed with use of deceit, blackmail, or the use of vulnerable condition of a minor, or use or threat of violence, through the abuse of authority or by a person upon whom the victim was dependent materially or otherwise.

(Article 149 in the adaptation of Law # 3316-IV (3316-15) dated 12.01.2006).

The Criminal Code comprises also the following articles:

"Establishing/maintaining Brothels and pandering Activity" (article 302)
"Pimping or engaging of a person into prostitution" (article 303)

"On the Illegal Crossing of Borders" (article 331)
"On the Illegal Transportation of Persons Across Borders" (article 332)

Implementation of the law

In 2000, special units for combating human trafficking were formed by the Ministry of Interior, the General Prosecutor's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine. In 2002, the Complex Programme concerning the Prevention of Trafficking in Humans for 2002-2005 was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Further to that, the Inter-agency Coordination Council for the Prevention of Human Trafficking was established. In 2004, the Minister of Family, Youth and Sport Affairs was designated as the Chair of the Council and the first inter-agency meeting was convened in October 2004. In December 2004, the government also established an advisory anti-trafficking working group to improve coordination of the Council.

At the beginning of 2005, with funding provided by the Directorate General for the Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of ECPAT International, a project entitled "Development of a National Referral System for Providing Assistance to Children who suffered from commercial sexual exploitation in Ukraine" was launched by the Ukrainian Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport Affairs in cooperation with La Strada Ukraine (www.lastrada.org.ua/projects.cgi?lng=eng).

In 2005, Ministry of Interior created two sub-departments active in 27 regions of Ukraine, one for combating trafficking in human beings and another for illegal migration.

Ukrainian code of administrative offences

Article 1811. Engaging in prostitution

• Engaging in prostitution - shall entail warning or imposition of a fine from five to ten tax-exempt minimum incomes of citizens.
• The same actions repeated within a year following the imposition of an administrative penalty, - shall entail the imposition of a fine in the amount of eight to fifteen tax-exempt minimum incomes of citizens.

(Supplemented with Article 181-1 pursuant to Decree of the Verkhovna Rada Presidium # 4134-11 of June 12, 1987 as amended by Law # 55/97-BP of February 7, 1997)

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine by its decree dated 7 March 2007 approved the State Programme on Combating Trafficking in Human Being for the period until 2010