Bodies Sold
Labour Migration in Russia and the CIS
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Cross-border labour migration is an integral element of the global economy. Russia is the most important host country for migrants from the Commonwealth of Independent States. At the same time, tens of thousands migrate from Russia to the European Union and the United States. In recruiting cheap labour, employers and mediators aim to make enormous profits. Women make up the largest and at the same time most vulnerable group of migrant workers. They have fewer opportunities for legal migration than men and are pushed into poorly paid, largely insecure segments of the labour market that are risky and marginal up to the point of slavery and prostitution. As a result, women frequently end up victims of human trafficking.
(Osteuropa 6/2006, pp. 151–168)