.On July 2, 1998, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania was supplemented by Article 131-1, incurring punishment (imprisonment of 4 to 8 years) for trafficking in human beings – trafficking or acquisition of a person for sexual exploitation, forced involvement into prostitution or for seeking personal gain of it, as well as transportation of a person for prostitution in Lithuania or outside it  (Part 1 of the Article), criminal responsibility (imprisonment of 6 to 12 years) for the same deed performed repeatedly or with regards to a minor, or by a group of preliminary agreed persons or especially dangerous recidivist (Part 2 of the Article). The above-mentioned law amended Articles 8-1 and 35 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania in which  trafficking in human beings is attributed to grave crimes and incurs an obligatory punishment in the form of property confiscation.

Although Article 131-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania provides criminal responsibility to persons organizing transportation of human beings abroad for sexual or commercial exploitation, usually punishment is incurred on women crossing the state border with the false documents given to them by traffickers. In such case women are punished for falsification of identification documents. If the officers of state border protection services do not notice that documents are false, women are brought to the foreign state and sold to local pimps by preliminary agreement. (see www.lrs.lt; amendments of Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania; the Code of Administrational Breaches of the Republic of Lithuania; Article 82. Illegal Crossing of the State Border)

Lithuania has a Law on Victim Protection which is applied when protecting victims, giving evidence in court. In fact, physical protection of victims is very expensive, thus it is not always enforced in all cases.  Meanwhile, integration problems of this type victims is enforced by the only organization in Lithuania which is Missing Persons' Families Support Center and Lithuanian Caritas.

Still, in Lithuania there is no trafficking victim integration system. Lithuania does not have any law on compensation of moral and material damage for women who suffered from trafficking.

Lithuania still does not have general rehabilitation program for trafficked women and women involved into forced prostitution; it also lacks a common system of institutions, which could help to render legal, medical, social and other necessary support to trafficked women in a complex way. But the good news is that the problem has already been acknowledged at the state level. And this fact is proved by several programs and projects related to trafficking issues, which have been approved of by the Government or the Parliament of Lithuania. Some of these programs are defined in short below.

Upon the initiative of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, on June 1, 2001 the implementation of the project “Support in Working Out of the National Action Plan for Support and Protection of Human Rights” was started; the project is intended to support Human Rights’ Committee of the Parliament and the national HURIST (Human Rights Strengthening) working group elaborating the national human rights’ action plan according to the global HURIST program (http://magnet.undp.org). Although the law on trafficking in people was adopted in 1998, the problem was not raised at the state level. HURIST program raises the issue of trafficking in people at the state level.

On January 17, 2002 the Government of the Republic of Lithuania adopted the Program of Prevention and Control of Trafficking in People and Prostitution for the year 2002 - 2004.

This program provides analysis of trafficking in human beings and prostitution and their prevention. It will estimate the situation and offer the ways for problem solution. The main actions are set in the Program on Prevention and Control of Trafficking and Prostitution 2002 - 2004“ (more information available at www.lrs.lt/ztvp).