A case history: Tania's story (08/09/98)

A case history: Tania's story

Below is a translation, prepared by the staff of The Ukrainian Weekly, of a case history dated April 23, 1998, from the files of LaStrada-Ukraine, a non-governmental organization funded by the European Parliament and established to assist women who find themselves forced against their will into prostitution, and domestic and menial labor in foreign countries.

Tania is from a small town in the Luhansk region. She is 20 years old. Her father left the family when Tania was 4, her brother - 2. In 1991 a car hit her brother; he barely survived and was permanently disabled. He cannot get out of bed and the mother cannot work since she must care for her son.

Tania was finishing technical college, but finding a job was impossible. Industrial production in the small town is at a standstill. Occasionally, except for bread and water from the pump, there was nothing to eat.

The girl is slim and pretty, she attracted glances on the street. A friend of her mother's also noticed her: so pretty, yet languishing here in the provinces. This woman then proposal that the girl fly to the woman's relatives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): the work entails housecleaning at a villa owned by wealthy people - she will see a bit of the world, will show herself to the world, maybe some millionaire will fall in love. The pay would be ($4,000 U.S.) [term unspecified]. Tania had been unable to find work at even 50 hrv per month ($25 U.S.). She was very happy.

She applied and received a passport, and then a visa on the basis of a written invitation and flew to Abu Dabi. After she arrived, her passport was taken away from her (under the pretense that she needed to be registered), and after this she was informed that she had been sold for $7,000 U.S. and now needed to work servicing clients in a bar.

After a period of time in the country, the girl escaped and appealed for help to the UAE police. The police arrested Tania, informed their superiors that an underground bordello had been discovered, and sentenced the girl to three years in prison (for criminal prostitution).

The girl has been in prison for 11 months. Even for voluntary prostitution, in this country the sentence is for one year, but there was no attorney in court, because that costs between $5,000 and $7,000 U.S. and that's why nobody could argue against this verdict. The family, in dire financial straits, is unable to hire an attorney.

We wrote to the Embassy of Ukraine in the UAE, to the sheik of this country, but until now, unfortunately, we have not received any positive responses. The ambassador has turned to various official and non-official agencies and organizations in this country, but until there is a lawyer, nobody is willing to review the matter. Our ambassador visits her in prison, which is located in the desert, where, as Tania writes, "the cockroaches are the size of our sparrows, but I am fed normally."

The girl longs terribly for home, but is afraid to return, because everyone knows she is in prison. Now everyone will point fingers at her, and no one will be willing to marry her. Tania has two more years ahead of her (in prison) if we are unable to get her out.

Her mother calls us constantly, and cries day and night that the fate of both her children is crippled and that there is no hope for the future.