Trafficking of Men: A Trend Less Considered
More attention must be paid to the trafficking of men and boys,
says IOM’s latest Migration Research Series report, which
seeks to shed new light on this growing global phenomenon.
The report, which focuses on the trafficking of males from
Belarus and Ukraine, reveals that in both countries, male victims
accounted respectively for 28.3 per cent and 17.6 per cent of all
victims assisted by IOM and its partners between 2004 and 2006.
The research, conducted by Rebecca Surtees of the NEXUS
Institute, is based on interviews with 685 trafficked males. It
shows that adult men were overwhelmingly trafficked for forced
labour, mostly in the construction sector in Russia. A minority,
especially boys, were trafficked for begging, petty theft or sexual
exploitation in Russia. Other destinations include South-Eastern
Europe, the European Union, the United States, Turkey, Central
Asia, North Asia and the Middle East.
Asked why they had decided to migrate in the first place, most
cited poor economic prospects at home and the need to provide for
families and children left behind.
According to the report, a vast majority of male victims were
recruited with bogus promises of work, generally through personal
contacts but also through advertisements published in newspapers,
on television, billboards and the Internet. In many cases, victims
believed they had signed legally binding contracts with reliable
companies, employment agencies and recruiters.
Both Ukrainian and Belarusian men faced exploitative, often
traumatic working and living conditions in destination countries,
which severely affected their physical and mental well-being.
Regardless of destination country or form of work, trafficked
men and boys worked six to seven days a week, with workdays of
twelve hours or more. Most trafficked men reported severely
substandard, cramped and unhygienic living conditions with limited
access to poor quality food.
A combination of abuse or threat of abuse, non-payments, debts
and restricted freedom of movement kept many men in situations of
exploitation.
Ukrainian victims trafficked to Russia into the construction
industry reported extensive and consistent abuse while trafficked.
One former victim reports: "We asked about the work conditions and
the salary and were told to stay silent because we had no rights.
We were not allowed to leave. If we disobeyed orders, we were given
fines or were beaten…We were guarded by armed men and at
night dogs were released. One day I was beaten on the feet and
kicked in the face."
In Russia, barracks where a number of trafficked men were living
were allegedly set alight by an employer as a collective
punishment, resulting in the death of a number of workers. A
survivor recalls how desperate migrants tried to escape the blaze
but found themselves locked in. Those who survived were given funds
to return home by their traffickers. But they were never paid for
their work or compensated for the physical and psychological
torment they were forced to endure.
The report notes that many exploited men may not see themselves
as victims of trafficking as exploitation is often wrongly
perceived as a normative aspect of labour migration. Others may
feel that their own participation in the recruitment process
disqualifies them as trafficked victims.
It recommends that counter-trafficking programmes and policies
take into account the gender dimension of trafficking so as to
provide comprehensive responses to the protection and assistance
needs of male victims of trafficking, including in the post
trafficking phase.
This report is funded by the US Department of State, Office to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking in persons (G/TIP).
To access the full report, please go to:
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Craggs
IOM Geneva
Tel: +41 22 717 95 26
E-mail:
"mailto:scraggs@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">scraggs@iom.int