Unlocking the Roots of Stigma Towards Victims of Trafficking in Albania

136 Pages·2015·0.51 MB·English

by  Dana L. Marion

SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad
SIT Digital Collections
Capstone Collection SIT Graduate Institute
Winter 2-2012
Unlocking the Roots of Stigma Towards Victims of
Trafficking in Albania
Dana L. Marion
SIT Graduate Institute
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Marion, Dana L., "Unlocking the Roots of Stigma Towards Victims of Trafficking in Albania" (2012).Capstone Collection. 2491.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/capstones/2491
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Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
Unlocking the Roots of Stigma
Towards Victims of Trafficking in Albania
Dana Marion
February 12, 2012
IPCI Capstone - February 2012 Capstone Seminar
Advisor: Tatsushi Arai
Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
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Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
Abstract
Located on the Balkan Peninsula, Albania is a small country of roughly 3.3 million people.
Because of a prolonged history of communist isolation, Albania remains firmly rooted to the
traditions of the past. Widespread poverty and weak physical and political infrastructure have
delayed development efforts. Traditional mentalities are confronted by a growing international
influence on a daily basis. Modern problems, like human trafficking, are difficult to address
because of taboos around sex and shame. Victims of trafficking are stigmatized and
discriminated against by society, their communities, and their families. Stigmatization presents a
huge obstacle in the reintegration process, as former victims of trafficking try to move forward
with their lives. The perpetuation of stigma is fostered by a culture where shame and a low
status of women are culture norms. This study looks at the dynamic relationship between shame
and the stigmatization of returning Albanian victims of trafficking. Workers in the field of anti-
trafficking in Albania report that shame is the biggest obstruction to reintegration.
Stigmatization of victims of trafficking is committed by families, communities and in society,
most often among potential employers, landlords, and service providers. In the case of Albania,
stigmatization frequently occurs due to the anticipation of shame from the larger family or the
community. Recommended programming includes educational workshops with the younger
generation, in communities in the deep North, and educational programming on television.
Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
Index
Abbreviations i
Introduction 1
Human Trafficking 1-4

Historical Context 4-5
Human Trafficking in Albania 5-6
Literature Review 6-12
Women in Albania 6-8
Shame 8-12
Methodology 12-16
Findings 16-29
Discussion 29-35
Concluding Remarks 35-36
Works Cited 37-38
Addendum 39-129
Interview Questions 39
Interview A 40-46
Interview B 47-55
Interview C 56-62
Interview D 63-75
Interview E 76-83
Interview F 84-87
Interview G 88-90
Interview H 91-95
Focus Group 96-129
Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
List of Abbreviations
APL Albanian Party of Labor
CAAHT Coordinated Action Against Human Trafficking
D&E Different & Equal
ILO International Labor Organization
IOM International Organization for Migration
GTIP Trafficking in Person’s Report
NGO Non Governmental Organization
VOT Victim of Trafficking
i

Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
Introduction
The proposed study, Understanding the Stigmatization of Albanian Victims of Trafficking, was
conducted over ten months with data gathering and observation taking place in Tirana and Vlore
Albania. My research sought to understand the role stigmatization plays in the reintegration of
victims of trafficking in Albania and the deep roots of this stigmatization of victims of trafficking
within Albanian society. The hope is to be able to provide recommendations for programs that
would directly address stigma in the future. I worked with current and past workers in the field
of anti-trafficking.
My research explored the topic of the stigmatization of returning victims of trafficking in
traditional cultures. More specifically, I was interested in learning about where the root of this
stigma comes from in these cultures, and what, if any, recommendations people already working
with this target group can make towards the creation of a program that would address the stigma
on a wide scale. My assumption was that the presence of stigma is widely known and felt by
workers in the field, and that there was a desire to overcome this stigma for more effective
reintegration of victims of trafficking.
In my interactions with people, both informally with friends and formally at my practicum site, I
heard over and over how ingrained stigma is in Albanian culture. Many I spoke with expressed
no hope that the situation victims of trafficking in Albania face would change. Currently, it is
extremely difficult for victims of trafficking to reintegrate into Albanian society. In addition to
overcoming the trauma of their experience during the period of trafficking, they face little
support from their families and the larger community as they try to rebuild their life.
My research explores the roots of the stigmatization of Albanian victims of trafficking in beings
for the purposes of sexual exploitation in Albanian society. The direct experiences of workers in
the field of anti-trafficking in Albania was critical in the gathering of this information.
II. Background of Human Trafficking & Albania
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking has been with us for centuries. “Slavery is as old as human civilization. All
of the world’s great founding cultures, including those in Mesopotamia, China, Egypt and India
accepted slavery as a fact of life” (CQ Researcher, 2004, p. 282). Men, women, and children
were bought and sold into slavery or forced prostitution. This act was not only sanctioned by
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Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
governments, it was, more often than not, perpetrated by them. Today, it is committed by
criminals. Though trafficking is formally outlawed in nearly every nation, it still occurs
worldwide.
Ogwu (2007) contends that today human trafficking is rampant because globalization has not
only connected legitimate businesses across borders but also crime gangs, creating an intricate,
transnational crime network (p. 5-6). “These well organized networks with net assets estimated
at billions of dollars, ride on the back of globalization by exploiting ‘a borderless world,’
loopholes in legal regimes, and preying as much upon the weak and vulnerable as on the foibles
of the rich and powerful” (Ibid).
The frequency of trafficking in persons is very hard to determine because of the secretive nature
of the crime. Many times, it is hard to determine who is a consenting sex worker and who is a
victim of trafficking because of the victims’ unwillingness or inability to talk due to fear of
retribution or language barriers. The 2010 Trafficking in Person’s Report (GTIP) estimates that
there are 12.3 million people living enslaved in forced labor, bonded labor and forced
prostitution around the world (US Department of State, 2010, p. 7). “The majority of human
trafficking in the world takes the form of forced labor. The ILO estimated that for every
trafficking victim subjected to forced prostitution, nine people are forced to work” (Ibid, p. 8).
Because of the difficulties involved in identifying victims of trafficking, the true number will
never be known.

Though a smaller percentage of the total number of estimated victims, commercial sex
trafficking is a much more lucrative enterprise. In 2005, the ILO estimated the profits from
forced laborers, who were trafficked, to be $3.8 billion (Belser, 2005, p. 11). Profits from forced
prostitution were estimated to be $33.9 billion in 2005 (Ibid, p. 14).

Forced labor is manifested in four main ways: domestic labor, physical labor, including child
labor, child soldiers and forced begging. Sex trafficking encompasses two areas: prostitution and
sex tourism; it also affects women, girls, men, and boys. “Sex trafficking is one of the most
lucrative sectors regarding the illegal trade in people, and involves any form of sexual
exploitation in prostitution, pornography, bride trafficking, and the commercial sexual abuse of
children” (Florida Abolitionist, 2011, par. 2). For the purposes of this study, I will be focusing
on trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

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Understanding the Stigmatization of VOTs in Albania; D. Marion
The poor are the most vulnerable to human trafficking, and among the poor women and children
are the most at risk. These groups have limited rights and protections given to them due to their
lowered statuses in society (Catholic Relief Services, p. 2011). This leaves them extremely weak
against the tactics employed by traffickers. Victims of sex trafficking are most commonly lured
by traffickers with the promise of employment.

In the most common ploy used, traffickers promise these young girls and women jobs as
waitresses, nannies, models, etc. Typically these ‘jobs’ are in places that are perceived to have
better opportunities for her such as more developed countries or big cities in the same country.
They travel with their trafficker with legitimate or falsified documents, which are confiscated
when the destination city is reached, and they are then forced into the sex industry.

Many times, the women are told that they owe their captors a certain amount of money for travel
expenses or as a bonded debt that they need to work off. The amount is either so high that they
will never be able to work it off, or, more often, once they do work it off, they are then charged
an overhead price for room and board. These women are not only forced to service up to twenty
clients a day, they are also often beaten severely to compel compliance. They do not run because
they have no documentation, fear prison or retribution if caught by their captors, and/or are
completely isolated in a strange place where they do not know the language or a single person.
Often they are made so dependent on their captor they cannot fathom what would become of
them if they tried to escape.

The second common tactic used involves gaining the trust of the victim and often times her
family as well. In this scenario, the trafficker pretends to have a relationship with the victim. He
calls himself her boyfriend and tells her he loves her. Sometimes, he convinces her to run away
with him to live or get married. Sometimes the deception includes gaining the trust of the
victims parents, who think their daughter is going to marry this deceiver. Once away from the
safety of her family, the ‘boyfriend’ often forces the victim to commit sexual acts with other men
to prove her loyalty to him or else endure physical abuse by him. They do not run because they
have been brainwashed to believe that they are performing a service that helps their ‘boyfriend’.
This is the beginning of their journey into forced prostitution.

In the third case, women are bought and sold, like commodities, by family members--and
eventually other traffickers. Sometimes, they are sold into forced marriages. These women are
held captive by force from the very beginning and face torture, abuse, and intimidation. They do
not run because they are never free. Emotionally, they are held captive by threats to their
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