Involvement of Migrants in Prostitution: Problems of Legal Remedies

Abstract

The authors examine the possible combination of criminal law and administrative measures of counteracting migrant prostitution, and the involvement of migrants into such activities. It is concluded that topical problems in Russia include the counteraction to situations when not only migrants coming from abroad, but also citizens of the Russian Federation who leave for other countries are involved in prostitution. Migrants get involved in prostitution both voluntarily and as a result of deceit, threats, and use of violence. These people are more vulnerable than those with a citizenship, and they require closer attention to repress unlawful actions, including prostitution. The study of the problems in this sphere makes it possible to identify the economic reasons of women’s labor migration, which include, among others, the goal to become a sex worker in the country of residence. Involvement of women migrants in prostitution in their country of residence often leads to far more serious consequences for them than they would face if they were sex workers in their own country because they do not have a Russian citizenship and quite often violate migration legislation. The authors analyze the criminal and administrative measures that could be used to counteract the involvement of migrants in prostitution. This analysis allowed the authors to see the effectiveness of using a complex of measures aimed at the identification of criminal and administrative offences at the same time, both directly and indirectly connected with migrant prostitution. The authors formulate and present their ideas on improving the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences that provide liability for offences and actions connected with prostitution with the goal of improving the counteraction to migrant prostitution and the involvement of migrants into these activities.