Kazakhstan men become human trafficking victims more frequently than women

Kazakhstan men become victims of human trafficking in two thirds of the cases, KazTAG reports citing Director of the regional mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Erin Elizabeth McKee. “The statistics states that Kazakhstan men become victims of human trafficking more frequently than women. Human trafficking victims can be found not only in brothels. They can work at construction sites, in restaurants or fuel stations,” McKee said at the round-table meeting called Human Trafficking in Kazakhstan on Thursday, April 26. She noted that according to the regional migration and refugee center, Kazakhstan is the only country in Central Asia, where the risk of getting exploited in the home country is higher than outside. “That means that the majority of people recruited in Kazakhstan are exploited here, they are not sent abroad,” she added. According to researches of the regional migration and refugees center, around 7,967 people are sexually abused in Kazakhstan annually, while 6,318 are taken abroad for the same purpose. Besides, according to the center, citizens of south Kazakhstan become human trafficking victims more frequently than Almaty citizens. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been working in Kazakhstan since 1992 under a bilateral agreement with Kazakhstan government. During this time USAID has invested over $500 million into development of the economy, healthcare system and democratic institutes of Kazakhstan.