Short Introduction

Well this is my first post as a contributor to The Human Trafficking Project. Originally from Buffalo, New York, I am currently living in Kyiv, Ukraine where I am completing research for a Fulbright grant on the response to human trafficking in Ukraine. I began by wanting to study the governmental response to human trafficking and looking at how the government works with domestic and international organizations to formulate its response. However, I have shifted more towards looking at how international organizations and pressure, as well as the proliferation of domestic anti-trafficking NGOs, have influenced the Ukrainian government's decisions and actions regarding TIP.

At present, I mainly work with two organizations- the International Organization for Migration's Mission to Ukraine, an intergovernmental organization, and La Strada-Ukraine, part of the larger La Strada NGO network based in the Netherlands, but all domestically operated. Part of my research will include site visits and case studies of about ten domestic organizations involved in prevention, reintegration, and prosecution activities. I'm also quite interested in the response by the religious community in Ukraine. I still plan on doing research about the government response itself, but due to high turnover and due to the extremely complex network of government ministries and committees that are involved in process, and because Urkaine is still undergoing a change in Parliament from the September 30th elections, this part of the research will have to come later.

So, most of my posts will probably have a Ukrainian/Eastern European angle to them, as well as news from the organizations that Urkaine works with on the issue of TIP, such as the European Union and the United Nations. So here we go!