Interview with Koyo Kovott from Frauen Informations-Zentrum (FIZ) / Women's Information Centre for Women from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe in Zurich. Kovott talks about the situation of women who are trafficked or who migrate to Switzerland and end up having to work in the sex industry. She says that Swiss immigration law makes it difficult for women, from Africa and Asia especially, to come to the country without a man unless she gets an artist visa to work as a dancer in a strip club. Kovott explains that women are recruited in many different ways, and that there are many professional agencies recruiting for cabarets and strip clubs. She also talks about the mail-order bride industry, another part of sex trafficking that targets women from Asia. Kovott says that the migration and trafficking of women is a global issue brought on by economic structural problems. She then talks about how migrant women are treated by police in Switzerland, Swiss laws about deportation, and how these laws affect trafficked women. Kovott also talks about the situation of migrant women who work in nightclubs, and the pressures they face. Kovitt talks about FIZ's services, including providing information and direct counseling. B-roll of the red light district in Zurich, including shots of nightclubs, sex shops, hotels, and naked women in a window. | Thousands of women from Russia and post-Soviet states have endured exploitation and slavery, yet their stories have been largely ignored by most law enforcement agencies and governments. Police agencies in receiving countries often minimize the extent of trafficking, and governments usually respond to trafficking as a problem of illegal migration, an approach that transforms women victimized by particular circumstances into criminals. To learn why and how this form of modern slavery persists, and to propose solutions, the Global Survival Network (GSN) conducted a study from August 1995 through the Autumn of 1997 to uncover the rapidly growing trade in Russian women for the purposes of prostitution. GSN conducted videotaped interviews with numerous non-governmental organizations, women who had been trafficked overseas, and police and government officials in Russia, Western Europe, Asia, and the United States. In order to delve into and learn more about the world of organized crime and its role in Russian sex trafficking, GSN also conducted some unconventional research by establishing a dummy company that purportedly specialized in importing foreign women as escorts and entertainers. Under the guide of this company, GSN successfully gained entry to the operations of international trafficking networks based in Russia and beyond. Many of the interviews were recorded with hidden cameras and provide insight into the trafficking underworld in action. Wherever legal, interviews were recorded by hidden cameras directly inside the establishments where prostitution was occurring. Whenever possible, the investigators revealed the nature of the work. In some cases, security conditions for both the investigator and the persons interviewed prevented disclosure. In order to preserve the safety and privacy of all parties involved, pseudonyms have been given to the persons interviewed during GSN's covert investigations, and whenever requested otherwise. \Bought and Sold: An Investigative Documentary on the International Trade in Women\ was produced by GSN in collaboration with WITNESS in 1997, based on the two year undercover investigation. This groundbreaking documentary helped to catalyze legislative reform on trafficking as well as new financial resources to address the problem. | A/D flag: analog. Generation: original. Signal format: NTSC. Carrier number 3189 of 4707
Contributor | Contribuidor:
Global Survival Network (Creator) and Caldwell, Gillian (Interviewer)
Moving image, interviews, entrevistas, b-roll, and b-roll
Extent | Alcance:
01 hours, 02 minutes
Rights - Use & Reproduction | Derechos - uso & reproducción:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Language | Idioma:
English
Place of publication | Lugar de publicación:
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Topic | Tema:
Civil and political rights--Women's rights, Derechos civiles y políticos--Derechos de las mujeres, Economic social and cultural rights--Economic and labor rights--Sex workers, Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales--Derechos económicos y laborales--Trabajadoras sexuales, Economic, social, and cultural rights--Economic and labor rights--Human trafficking, Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales--Derechos económicos y laborales--Trata de personas, Laws, justice, and judicial proceedings--Immigration procedures, Leyes, justicia y procedimientos judiciales--Trámites migratorios, Armed conflict and persecution--Sexual violence, Conflicto armado y persecución--Violencia sexual, Civil and political rights--Discrimination--Gender discrimination, and \nDerechos civiles y políticos--\nDiscriminación--Discriminación de género
Place Name | Nombre del lugar:
Zurich (Switzerland) and Zurich (Suiza)
UTL DAMS PID:
hrdi:fd63b73b-498c-461f-acec-95cc39a3f16f
Local Identifier| Identificador local :
witness_gsn_3189_B01528 and F.I.Z. - Kuoh Interview/Zurich Red Light District ST32
Related Resource – Host | Recursos relacionados:
Global Survival Network’s footage for Bought & Sold: An Investigative Documentary about the International Trade in Women (title) and https://txarchives.org/hrdi/finding_aids/00009.xml (uri)