Romania Craiova: Oltenia exports minor slaves for the pimps

Comment: The increased number of young girls trafficked for sexual purposes, the official recognition of this reality by the Romanian institutions and the difficulties in protecting the victims are the key messages of this article published in the daily newspaper “Adevarul de seara”, the local news from Craiova section.

The action movie-like images shown from the municipality of Bailesti, in Dolj county, during the spring of 2010 displayed an impressive deployment of police forces with helicopters and ground troops arresting participants of a wedding. Unfortunately none of the girls who were trafficked agreed to testify against these people – presumed traffickers. The same was the case when 20 school girls were sent to the streets of Italy, and only one girl made an official complaint. Usually the assistance programs try to see beyond the victim’s profile and treat them as active protagonists who have resilience resources. The sad reality, instead, is that due to moral and physical constraints linking them to the traffickers, these persons refuse to expose themselves, slowing the investigation process and sometimes making it impossible.

The fact that the Dolj county (Oltenia region in the South of Romania), is a major place of origin for victims of trafficking in Europe, is already well known for the large public. The acknowledgement of the national institutions responsible for the prevention and the fight against this phenomenon is something new, an important step necessary for the search of durable solutions in favor of the women and children involved in it. Frequently, the Police and the National Agency against Human Trafficking carried on a policy denying the evidence that the accession of Romania to the EU brought an increase of the number of trafficked persons abroad (especially minors) for labor and sexual exploitation.

The presentation of the official data is significant: in 2009 in Oltenia region there were officially 3 cases of sexual exploitation, while in 2010 the number went to 67, out of which 38 from Dolj county. The article finds a balance between this alarm bell and the good choice of the photos, picturing the Police forces arresting chains of traffickers in Craiova, and not the usual images of trafficked girls in indecent attitudes.

Comment: Casandra Cristea, Advocacy National Coordinator, Tdh Delegation in Romania