U.S. Department of State 2002 Trafficking in Persons Report - Lithuania

Lithuania (Tier 1)

Lithuania is a source, transit and destination country for trafficking in women and children. Lithuanian women are trafficked primarily to Germany, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and Norway. The Middle East (Israel and United Arab Emirates), France and Austria are also destination countries. Women from the Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Latvia and the Lithuanian countryside are trafficked to major Lithuanian cities.

The Government of Lithuania fully complies with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, including making serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons with respect to law enforcement, protection of victims, and prevention of trafficking. Lithuania has criminal and labor laws against slavery, sale and trafficking of persons for sexual abuse, material or personal gain, and trafficking of persons for prostitution. Recent amendments to the Criminal Code and Criminal Process Code allow for separate testimony of a victim in trafficking cases to a judge in order to provide an alternative for victims who are fearful of testifying in open court. These amendments also permit the introduction into court of video-taped testimony of foreign victims of trafficking. The government actively investigated and prosecuted an increased number of trafficking cases in 2001, and the courts handed down convictions of traffickers, including that of one former police officer. The government has procedures to cooperate with other governments on trafficking cases, specifically with Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine, and also cooperated with Germany and Norway. To protect victims, the government provides funding to the Missing Persons Support Center, which is a shelter that also runs a hotline, and can place victims and witnesses at shelters run by local governments and NGOs. State-run health care facilities provide free medical care for victims and witnesses, and the police provide limited financial assistance to victims and witnesses as well as some legal counseling services. The government can assist victims by providing temporary or permanent residence status. To prevent trafficking, since 2000 the police have paid greater attention to young persons, particularly women, travelling abroad. The government provided some funding for anti-trafficking campaigns carried out by NGOs, and directly funded preventive education at schools. The Education Ministry conducts preventive work among the potential victims of sexual abuse and trafficking via regional networks. An international NGO is managing a program to help prevent trafficking by creating viable economic alternatives for at-risk women and girls, including job training and placement services.