INFORMATION 20.03.2001

TRAFFICKING WITH WOMEN AND SEXUAL ABUSE OF WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS

Detecting and pursuing performers of criminal acts-Mediation in conducting prostitution acording Article 191 of Criminal law and criminal act Founding a slave relationship and transportation of persons in slavery according Article 418 of Criminal law

Prostitution as a phenomenon with explicit negative social meaning is verified in all the periods of civilised existence and as such was overviewed by every known social structure and regulated by every criminal contemporary code. Because of the international element, the fight against prostitution is continuos and popular and it is an object of observation and organised actions of many international associations. Regarding this fact many documents among which: The International agreement for Successful protection of Trafficking with white slaves and the Protocol for its implementation from 1904, The UN Convention for fight against trafficking with human beings from1950, The Convention for prevention of Trafficking with Women and Children from1947, are signed and accepted by the Republic of Macedonia as a part of its acceptance of the international legal documents for the basic human rights and liberties.

In our country prostitution is considered a social evil out of many reasons. It is deeply confronting the commonly accepted social and moral rules; it insults the human dignity identifying him with every other good on the market; prostitutes are carrier of contagious diseases; after they stop working they become burden to society, addicted on social aid; prostitution has damaging effect on the growth of the youths; it is very close relationship with crime such as murders, thefts, fights, drug trafficking, other offences over the "clients".

Inviolability of human dignity and moral integrity as one of the basic human rights and liberties regulated with the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, is protected by the criminal law among other in the crimes against the sexual freedom and the sexual morality in Chapter XIX of the Criminal Code.

Our criminal law does not incriminate prostitution. Under incrimination are only some of the activities related to prostitution, especially ones that mean induction, support, leading women to involve in prostitution, blackmeil, what mainly is " white slavery". More precisely what is incriminated is mediation in prostitution article 191 of the Criminal Code where the object of protection as in the rest of the crimes in this Chapter, is the sexual morality, moral norms about the sexual relationship, determined by the order, customs and the moral attitude, and among that the fight against prostitution.

According to Article191 of the Criminal Code- mediation in prostitution is incriminated as follows:

• He, who blackmails, leads on, induces persons on prostitution or he, who in any other way takes part in giving a person to another because of prostitution, will be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years.
• He, who in order to gain profit enables to someone sexual services, will be punished with fee or imprisonment to one year.
• He, who in order to gain profit, by use of force or serious threat to use force or by diseat leads a person to give sexual services, will be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years.
• If the crime from Paragraph 1, 2 and 3 is committed over a minor, the doer will be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years.
• If the crime from Paragraph 1, 2 and 3 is committed over a child, the doer will be punished with imprisonment from one to five years.
• He, who organises committing of the crimes from paragraphs 1 to 5, will be punished with imprisonment from one to ten years.

The Public Prosecution Proceedings in Criminal Charges

According the statistic data from 1997 to the first half of the year 2000 on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia the Public Prosecution Office has efficiently and with the most priority worked on the new cases.

During this period out of criminal charges brought against 83 persons, after collecting the necessary information the Prosecution decided to reject the criminal charges against only 4 suspects.

Against 73 persons requests for investigations are submitted to the courts. In the rest of the cases certain investigative means are undertaken and necessary information are collected.

In the most of the cases the Prosecutor submitted a request for investigation with a proposal for custody of the suspect.

After the completion of the investigations, prosecution acts are submitted against 47 defendants for crimes- Mediation in prostitution under article 191 of the Criminal Code. In some cases Request for supplement of the investigation are submitted or Requests are still not completed or a Statements for calling off the investigation is porposed, and often the investigations are interrupted due the absence of the suspects.

From the prosecution acts submitted to the courts, 30 persons are found guilty and sentenced.

Two persons are found not guilty, and the rest of the cases are still not completed.

The sentences of this criminal acts in the period from 1997 to 2000 on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia are from 5 years imprisonment (only one case) to probation and fees. The Public Prosecutor is displeased of these sentences and appeals are submitted to the Courts of Appeal, but mostly the Public Prosecutor is content of the sentences although the probation and fees are predominant.

Summary

The direct doers of these crimes are Macedonia citizens and the crimes are committed in a typical way - by offering sexual favours by females, indifferent objects. It is obvious that the prostitutes are foreign citizens, from the neighbouring FR Yugoslavia and R Bulgaria as well as from Romania, Moldavia and Ukraine. This international character of the "participants" dues to: unemployment, law standard, as a reflection of the conditions of the countries of transition, on the other hand there is a larger demand of this kind of services of the bigger number of foreign citizens in our country mainly members of military and other missions.

The basic problem in prosecuting this crimes, which is obvious from the data presented in this information, is that the victims that are the main witnesses do not want to point out the people who hire them and lead them to prostitution.

This conditions demand additional actions of the Ministry of Interior with use of new methods and means to gain more certain evidences to back up the suspicion, as well as team work and constant co-operation with the prosecution office.

More severe control of the entering in the Republic of Macedonia is needed, on the legal as well as on the illegal transit points, to prevent the illegal crossings of females and young girls that are involved in the prostitution.

Permanent control by the Ministry of Interior together with the financial, sanitary and labour inspection in every bar and motels under the suspicion that are dealing with prostitution is needed.

Considering the nature if this crime and its consequences, the fact that the number of this crimes committed is rising, and regarding the policy of sentencing, more severe punishments are needed, because by sentencing the doers with probation and fees we can not expect that the sentence will serve its purpose.

As a very important characteristic, that regarding its seriousness, has to be pointed out that from the data presented this type of crimes are more organised. Besides the above mentioned reasons that are favouring this crimes, whether that is registered or not, the organised crime in this sphere dues to the high financial effect as a result of the high ask and the easy way of finding good and quality bid.

Considering the international character of prostitution, we should abandon the attitude that the police are the only one that can solve the problem. Continuos preventive activities in the fight against this type of crime are needed, in which not only the state institutions but also nongovernmental organisations and institutions will take part.

PUBLIC PROSECUTOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
Stavre Djikov