What Can (and Should) Be Done: Responding to Sex Trafficking in Russia and Ukraine

In responding to any human rights violation, two questions often arise: what can be done, and who should do it? In response to the horrible violation that is sex trafficking in Russia and Ukraine, this paper will explore the historical, social, political, and economic context that facilitates trafficking, identify common understandings of the issue and corresponding approaches, and attempt to synthesize an approach to combatting sex trafficking that will be most effective in Russia and Ukraine. I will argue that an effective anti-trafficking strategy requires four axes of approach, and that current efforts in Russia and Ukraine are currently insufficient in meeting the demands of those axes.