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In the State Department's annual report on human trafficking for the year 2021, which was presented at a conference in Washington by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, it was stated that Montenegro retained the same level position (level 2) that it had until now on the list of countries. It was also indicated that the Government of Montenegro did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, but made significant efforts in this direction, among which is the implementation of comprehensive training for the identification of victims and the provision of assistance to relevant officials and adaptation of procedures in the shelter for victims of human.
No matter how each effort is diplomatically praised, particularly around how Montenegro has not regressed in terms of human trafficking, the conclusion is that it has not progressed, as the Government of Montenegro has not met the minimum standards in several key areas. The report indicated that the government investigated fewer cases, prosecuted fewer suspects, reduced efforts to protect victims, including allocating fewer resources to NGO-run shelters, identifying fewer victims, and a lack of efforts to proactively identify victims among asylum seekers, irregular migrants and seasonal workers.
Feminist activist Aida Petrović, founder and executive director of the NGO "Montenegro Women's Lobby" (MWL), an organization with many years of experience in the fight against human trafficking and helping victims of violence and exploitation, agrees with these assessments in the State Department's report. Aida tells Medfeminiswiya that such a report, according to which Montenegro does not even meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, should first be faced by those responsible for the protection of human rights, which is why Montenegro is stagnating in the field of prevention, education and protection from human trafficking. “Not funding the small number of SOS services, not opening new ones, the insufficient number of people who are professional and have experience in practical work with victims of trafficking - these are only the tip of the 'iceberg' of this problem, which maintain status stagnation in Montenegro in this matter,” explains Petrović.
She also states that in the last two years marked by turbulent political and social events and followed by the fall of two governments, the problem of human trafficking remained on the margins of the attention of those responsible for human rights departments, especially when it comes to women's and children's rights, which are the focus of the work of the organization she has been leading for more than twenty years.
MWL implements the project "Improving prevention and protection of human trafficking and sexual exploitation", which through a state-level campaign promotes the provision of support and information to potential victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation on the territory of Montenegro, through multisectoral cooperation in work and the provision of services on two SOS lines Montenegrin women's lobby.
Petrović explains that the fear and mistrust on the part of the victims to report the problem to the institutions is extremely present, for the reason that traffickers usually remain mostly unreachable, and in case they are identified, they are sanctioned mildly or not at all.
"The most common excuse we hear is that 'there is no evidence.' The victim of human trafficking is mostly the only witness to all the horrors and degradation that happened to her in the process of trafficking, and the victim's testimony is not fully believed even when there is evidence, which indicates enormous discrimination, stigmatization and victimization of victims of human trafficking and the absence of justice".
Activists who declare themselves feminists are especially the target of hate speech and threats, because for Montenegrin society, feminism is heresy, evil and shame…
When it comes to forced prostitution in Montenegro, Aida says that it is present continuously with lower or higher intensity, regardless of the tourist season. She claims that there is not even a minimum of good and proper measures to institutionally recognize this type of crime and violation of human and children's rights.
"According to the data of our organization, for the past few years, there have been more and more underage girls among the victims of forced prostitution, from the age of 13 and 14 onwards. They enter the world of prostitution naively and innocently trusting a boyfriend, a friend, a family acquaintance, who convince them that they are only ‘having fun' and that there is nothing wrong with that. With the intention of speeding up the whole process, traffickers who drag girls into the world of prostitution, almost as a rule, make them dependent on various narcotics and alcohol, so that they can be manipulated more easily."
She notes that there is a very thin line between forced prostitution and trafficking, often invisible and unrecognizable, and says that "prostitution and trafficking are increasingly prevalent on social networks and the Internet, and the family can have little or no insight into all of this and recognize the problem in time."
Twenty years ago, the Montenegrin public was shaken by the case of the victim of trafficking of the Moldovan citizen "SČ", which also caused numerous political scandals. Testimonies given to the media by girls involved in the so-called "elite prostitution", whose identity remains protected, say that public figures and politicians are frequent users of these services. However, such allegations never resulted in a final investigation. Unfortunately, these cases of sex trafficking, which reached the public, did not significantly influence the development of awareness of this problem in society, according to Aida.
"In this above all primitive, stereotypical, misogynistic and sexist understanding of the role of women in the family and society, women and girls victims of human trafficking can and have been seen only as immoral, dishonorable persons, whores who get what they want and get. If we have such a present and frequent femicide and if the perpetrators are not sanctioned in time or prevented - who cares about 'one less whore who deserved to be tortured, raped, killed and crucified on a pillar of shame and disgrace'.
In this whole dark horror story for female beings, a man as a client and someone who seeks sexual services for money remains invisible, unpunished, protected in his bad intentions and permanent demand for the female body as a commodity in order to satisfy his sexual bacchanalia.
When it comes to trafficking, the Roma population is perhaps the most vulnerable…
“The only difference is whether someone is willing to express these concerns publicly, or if they will express false empathy and understanding of the problem, because that is simply what is expected of him or her, especially if he or she come from political and public life. The question lies also in how much someone can, wants and has the courage to speak publicly about the harsh truth of sex trafficking, about this big problem that has not bypassed Montenegrin society and that goes ‘hand in hand’ with criminal activities, and is one of the most lucrative profits along with the sale of drugs and weapons," says Petrović.
Montenegro received several thousand refugees from Ukraine, mostly women and children, who constitute a vulnerable category when it comes to trafficking. Petrović says her organization already had experience of Ukrainian women turning to them for help and advice.
"It is difficult for refugees to find peace and economic security in poor Montenegro, which is shaken by the international and domestic crisis, high inflation and instability in terms of security. Such persons are vulnerable, insecure in a foreign environment, they do not know the language, regulations and in search of existential survival, they are most often the target of traffickers, with very well-designed deceptions and scams that offer a better life. I am glad that in a couple of cases we provided support and necessary information.”
However, according to official statistics in Montenegro, when it comes to trafficking, the Roma population is perhaps the most vulnerable. Petrović, who deals with the rights of this group within MWL, says female members are often victims of arranged marriages and other forms of violence as adult women.
"Many of them were residents of the Shelter for Victims of Human Trafficking, which was run by CŽL from 2004 to 2019. Almost extreme poverty, as well as the discrimination that accompanies the Roma population in the community, are a major obstacle in the suppression of: arranged child marriages, begging as a form of organized crime or 'response' to poverty, as well as the presence of all violence against girls and women. In order to solve this phenomenon, a continuous systemic response of all institutions and NGOs is needed."
While many problems are not solved in Montenegro on all these levels, and as such are recognized as stagnation in the report of the State Department, there is no optimism that the report for the current year will register any progress, considering the general social and the political crisis in Montenegro, which is followed by an increase in misogyny and hate speech.
Petrović says that unfortunately this kind of treatment of the female population has become completely socially and institutionally acceptable, especially in the last two years. She continues, "I include various threats on a national and religious basis, including threats of murder or murder and injury to family members, especially women who act in public space and who publicly and clearly resist the madness of "blood and soil" politics, fascism, clero-fascism, nazism, racism, homophobia, pedophilia, and all retrograde and deviant social phenomena. Activists who declare themselves feminists are especially the target of hate speech and threats, because for Montenegrin society, feminism is heresy, evil and shame. Very sad, conservative way of thinking that may belong to the 12th or 13th century… but they still live in the 21st century."
Last year, a Women's Club was formed in the Parliament of Montenegro, which consists of representatives of all parliamentary parties in an effort to contribute to gender policies through the improvement of the legal framework. However, according to Petrović, MWL did not cooperate with this government body because they were never invited to their meetings, thematic sessions or other forms of educational information sessions.
"Of course, we remain open to cooperation, which was clearly stated at the meeting with the ambassadors of the EU countries, but even after that there were no initiatives or calls for cooperation. We welcome any progress in the area of improving women's rights that is not just declaimed," adds Petrović.
When asked how she sees Montenegro when it comes to human trafficking in 2023, Petrović says:
"In the political, security and overall crisis we are enduring- and the bigger one that according to the announcements is awaiting us - I do not see major developments in 2023 regarding the problem of human trafficking. An even greater evil would be if there are no progress and if the victims are increasingly left to fend for themselves, in difficult and often hopeless situations in the trafficking chain."
