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ABSTRACT
This article explores the development and evolution of human trafficking policies in Latvia and the measurable outcomes of these policies. An analysis of policy development revealed that Latvia has three different types of human trafficking policy: criminalization statutes, national action programs, and victim service provisions. These policies have produced outcomes such as criminal cases against traffickers, rehabilitation services for victims, and the formation of anti-trafficking institutions. The results revealed direct causal links between human trafficking policies and anti-trafficking institutions are evident with the National Coordinator and social services for victims. Indirect causation is also present with specialized police and prosecutor units and anti-trafficking institutional policy development by the anti-trafficking working group.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Amerikas Latviešu Jaunatnes Apvienība [American Latvian Youth Organization] and Amerikas Latviešu Apvienība [American Latvian Organization]. I would like to thank Jānis Kļaviņš for his assistance with the transcription of the Latvian interviews. I am grateful to the helpful comments from Stacy Nall Dean, feedback from Lāsma Stabiņa and Iluta Lāce, and to the interview respondents that took the time to speak with me about Latvian anti-trafficking policy.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Latvian law defines human trafficking as ‘the recruitment, conveyance, transfer, concealment or reception of persons for the purpose of exploitation, committed by using violence or threats or by means of fraud, or by taking advantage of the dependence of the person on the offender or of his or her state of helplessness, or by the giving or obtaining of material benefits or benefits of another nature in order to procure the consent of such person, upon which the victim is dependent… Exploitation is the involvement of a person in prostitution or in other kinds of sexual exploitation, the compulsion of a person to perform activities or to provide services, the holding of a person in slavery or other similar forms thereof (debt slavery, serfdom or the compulsory transfer of a person into dependence upon another person), and the holding of a person in servitude or the unlawful removal of a person’s tissues or organs’ (Krimināllikums Citation2002).
2. Programmas cilvēku tirdzniecības novēršanai 2009.–2013.gadam kopsavilkums. Ministru kabineta 2009. gada 27. augusta rīkojums Nr. 590.
3. While Latvians can legally work anywhere in the EU, non-citizens in Latvia, must obtain work and residence permits to work in other EU countries (Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Citation2014). Thus, immigration vulnerabilities are not as prevalent in Latvia because the opportunity for deception in the visa process is only applicable to non-citizens in Latvia.
4. Cilvēku tirdzniecības novēršanas pamatnostādnēm 2014.–2020. gadam, Latvijas Vēstnesis, 16 (5075), 23 January 2014.
5. Please see Appendix 1 Human Trafficking Policy Development in Latvia, for a list of anti-trafficking laws in Latvia.
6. Interview data have been anonymized, identified by the date of the interview and employment sphere in order to protect anonymity of the respondents.
7. Krimināllikums, Latvijas Vēstnesis 199/200 (1260/1261), 8 July 1998; Ziņotājs 15, 4 April 1998. Criminal code translated by the author and can be accessed at https://m.likumi.lv/doc.php?id=88966.
8. Interview with government official, 25 June 2013.
9. Ziņotājs 15, 4 April 1998. Criminal code translated by the author and can be accessed at https://m.likumi.lv/doc.php?id=88966.
10. This is the definition from the United Nations (UN) ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children’ in 2000, otherwise known as the Palermo Protocol ‘Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.’
11. Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims.
12. Interview with international partner in Riga, 14 May 2013.
13. Interview with government official in Riga, 11 June 2013.
14. Interview with civil society representative in Riga, 27 May 2013.
15. ‘Valsts programma cilvēku tirdzniecības novēršanai 2004.–2008. gadam’, Latvijas Vēstnesis, 209(3157), 29 December 2004.
16. Email correspondence with author, 10 September 2013.
17. ‘Programma cilvēku tirdzniecības novēršanai 2009.–2013. Gadam.’ Latvijas Vēstnesis, 138(4124), 1 September 2009.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. ‘Cilvēku tirdzniecības novēršanas pamatnostādnēm 2014.–2020. Gadam.’ Latvijas Vēstnesis, 16(5075), 23 January 2014.
21. Interview with government official in Riga, 11 June 2013.
22. Interview with civil society representative in Riga, 27 May 2013.
23. Rehabilitation services are normally geared toward each victim’s individual needs but can include medical, psychological, legal, shelter, and sometimes monetary assistance and vocational training.
24. Interview with government official in Riga, 11 June 2013.
25. Interview with government official in Riga, 19 June 2013.
26. Interview with international partner in Riga, 14 May 2013.
27. Personal correspondence with civil society representative in Riga, 20 October 2016.
28. Interview with civil society representative in Riga, 27 May 2013.
29. Ibid.
30. The author would like to thank one of the anonymous reviewers for this important point.
31. Interview with international partner in Riga, 14 May 2013.
32. Email correspondence with author, 10 September 2013.
33. ‘Valsts programma cilvēku tirdzniecības novēršanai 2004.–2008. gadam.’ Latvijas Vēstnesis, 209 (3157), 29 December 2004.
34. Email correspondence with author, 10 September 2013.
35. For more information on the role that NGOs in Latvia have played in the implementation of human trafficking policy please see (Dean Citation2016).
36. Interview with government official in Riga, 11 June 2013.
37. Interview with government official in Liepāja, 17 June 2013.
38. ‘Valsts programma cilvēku tirdzniecības novēršanai 2004.–2008. gadam’ Latvijas Vēstnesis, 209 (3157), 29 December 2004.
39. Interview with civil society representative in Riga, 26 June 2013.
40. Ibid.
41. People who are denied victim of trafficking status are able to appeal the decision through the courts. Interview with government official in Riga, 13 June 2013.
42. Interview with government official in Riga, 19 August 2013.
43. Although many respondents from government and non-governmental entities recognized the importance of political will from the government in the policy adoption process it is important to note that these responses could be skewed due to the nationality of the researcher.
44. Interview with government official in Riga, 11 June 2013.
45. Interview with civil society representative in Riga, 27 May 2013.
46. The author would like to thank one of the anonymous reviewers for this important point.
47. The author would like to thank one of the anonymous reviewers for this important point.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Laura A. Dean
Laura A. Dean is an assistant professor of Political Science in the Department of History and Political Science at Millikin University. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Kansas and an M.A. in International Studies focusing on the Baltic States from the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the intersections of public policy and gender-based violence in the former Soviet Union.