ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the extent to which poverty appears to drive human trafficking. It focuses on the pre-departure situation of victims and the extent to which domestic labour market conditions act as a push factor. The chapter highlights the relevance of relative poverty to understanding trafficking. The economic crisis that hit Ukraine immediately after the breakup of the Soviet Union was undoubtedly one of the primary factors for the proliferation of trafficking in women and children. Academics frequently identify a relationship between barriers facing women and heightened vulnerability to trafficking. A widely-held assumption concerning victims of trafficking is that both poverty and lack of livelihood opportunities in the domestic labour market increase vulnerability to exploitative work abroad. In turn, human trafficking locks up the trafficked persons in poverty through exploitation. Human trafficking, often qualified as the modern day slavery, is caused by human rights violations embodied in poverty while it also contributes to increased deprivation.
