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  • Crime Novelist Delves Deep Into Armenia's Illegal Sex-Trafficking In

    CRIME NOVELIST DELVES DEEP INTO ARMENIA'S ILLEGAL SEX-TRAFFICKING INDUSTRY

    Lucine Kasbarian - WNN Features
    Women News Network
    http://womennewsnetwork.net/2013/09/06/armenias-illegal-sex-trafficking/

    Armenia crime author and investigator Vahan Zanoyan latest fictional
    book "A Place Far Away" is based on factual research made covering the
    illegal sex-trafficking industry in Armenia. Image: Charlotte Zanoyan

    (WNN) Boston, Massachusetts, UNITED STATES, AMERICAS: Sexual slavery,
    forced labor and the extraction of body organs: These are the most
    common reasons for human trafficking, which represents an estimated
    $32 billion per year in international trade. In 2008, the United
    Nations estimated that nearly 2.5 million people from more than 125
    different countries were being trafficked into some 135 countries
    around the world.

    According to the International Organization for Migration, sex
    trafficking means coercing a migrant into a sexual act as a condition
    of allowing or arranging the migration. Sex trafficking uses physical
    or sexual coercion, deception, abuse of power and bondage incurred
    through forced debt.

    Trafficked women and children, for instance, are often promised work in
    the domestic or service industry but, instead, are sometimes taken to
    brothels where they are forced into prostitution, and their passports
    and other identification papers are confiscated. They may be beaten
    or locked up and promised their freedom only after earning - through
    prostitution - their purchase price and their travel and visa costs.

    Vulnerable populations in former Soviet states, such as Armenia, are
    particularly susceptible to this global phenomenon. Since Armenia's
    independence, thousands of Armenian women and girls have been taken -
    to Russia, Turkey, and some Arab states of the Persian Gulf - to be
    initiated into prostitution.

    A 2003-2004 investigation by Edik Baghdasaryan and Ara Manoogian,
    journalists for the Armenian based news network HETQ and the Armenian
    culture and society website 'The Truth Must Be Told', concluded that in
    one year approximately 2,000 Armenian women were involved in the sex
    trade in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. Their findings
    were documented in the film and book, "Desert Nights."

    Earlier this year, Armenian-American author Vahan Zanoyan released "A
    Place Far Away," a crime novel about sex trafficking in Armenia. While
    the storyline reads like a sordid suspense saga, the situations are
    largely based on actual events, the result of on-the-ground research
    by the author.

    In Zanoyan's engrossing tale, the action shifts between the trafficked
    Lara Galian and Swiss-Armenian investigative journalist Edik Laurian's
    attempts to uncover what happened to her and her relatives.

    Sixteen year-old Lara lives with her family in the poor village of
    Saralanj, located somewhere in Armenia. Unaware of her striking good
    looks, Lara becomes the unsuspecting target of local crime boss, Sergei
    Ayvazian, who wishes to exploit her beauty. After Lara's skeptical
    father Samvel rejects Ayvazian's offer to manage a lucrative modeling
    career for Lara, Samvel is found dead in a ravine. Grieving, sick and
    penniless Lara's mother reluctantly agrees to Ayvazian's proposal,
    and allows Lara to travel abroad.

    Once in Ayvazian's custody Lara is beaten, raped and discovers the true
    nature of the work that awaits her. Shuttled from Moscow to Dubai Lara
    is eventually sold in a one-year contract to a local sheik. While Lara
    unwillingly goes along with her handlers she nevertheless tries to
    maintain her sanity and plots an escape. At the same time journalist
    Edik Laurian discovers and investigates Lara's case in Armenia.

    As the action in the book unfolds Edik, Lara, her family and a cast of
    dubious characters struggle to dictate Lara's destiny in the lead-up
    to the thrilling finale.

    The following interview by Armenian-American reporter and author
    Lucine Kasbarian with author Vahan Zanoyan took place in Yerevan,
    Armenia during the summer of 2013:

    Lucine Kasbarian: How did you decide to write this book?

    Vahan Zanoyan: I discovered the Armenian sex trafficking phenomenon by
    accident. While on a business trip to Dubai, I ran into a beautiful
    17 year-old Armenian girl. The girl was talking with another woman,
    and I could tell the conversation was strained. It's a long tale,
    but it took six months to extract her story from her because the
    girl was very scared. I compensated her for her time so that her
    pimps would not get suspicious. Finally, she started to trust me and
    tell me what happened to her. I spent close to two years researching
    the issue. To be clear, Lara Galian is a composite sketch of four
    Armenian girls I met in Dubai. All the names and locations in the
    book have been changed to protect the innocent.

    LK: What has the reaction been to "A Place Far Away?"

    VZ: The book has received very favorable responses and reviews from
    media and readers. I don't seek to make a profit from this initiative.

    My aim is to raise awareness, assist the victims and work on
    prevention.

    All proceeds from the book go to the UMCOR - United Methodist
    Committee on Relief, a nonprofit organization that helps integrate and
    rehabilitate freed victims of sex trafficking that has a significant
    presence in Armenia and Orran, a charitable organization that provides
    a safe haven to the most vulnerable in Armenian society - such as
    homeless youth forced to live on the streets. They are the first to
    be picked off by traffickers.

    Orran does preventive work, while UMCOR has shelters where they help
    rehabilitate rescued victims. Rescuing the victims can be especially
    challenging work since some pimps stage fake rescue attempts to fool
    the girls. The pimps then lock them up, beat them and thus deter them
    from considering genuine rescue attempts in the future. But there are
    not enough resources or money to do everything that needs to be done.

    LK: In June, your book was translated into the Armenian language. Tell
    us about that.

    VZ: To help launch this new edition in Armenia, I appeared on perhaps
    every major talk show on Armenian television. A reception was held at
    U.S. Ambassador [John] Heffern's home in Yerevan, which was attended
    by around one hundred people, including journalists and organizations
    engaged in the struggle against human trafficking.

    Unfortunately, today's Armenia is divided into the filthy rich who
    don't read, and the penniless class who love to read but can't afford
    to buy books. Thus, nowadays, Armenia does not boast a widespread
    reading public as it once used to. That said, trafficking of Armenian
    women is a hot topic in certain circles right now. My book costs 3,000
    Dram [about $7.50 USD], which most native Armenians cannot afford. So
    I'm not sure how well the book is selling in Armenia, even though it
    did make it to the top of a bestseller list compiled by ArmenPress.

    LK: What did you want to accomplish by writing this book?

    VZ: I wanted to use gripping suspense to expose one of the most
    significant issues of our time. I also wanted to help create awareness
    about the criminal class in Armenia. If we sugarcoat that aspect of
    life because of national pride we are doing our country and people a
    great disservice. Aside from telling the main story I also wanted to
    showcase the Armenian people, our history, our culture and our moral
    courage. For example, I wrote about the beauty of Armenia's landscape
    as a way to remind people of our nation's gifts, our undeniable assets
    and to inspire the people who, more than ever, need a moral uplift.

    Three trafficked Armenian teen girls are seen here following their
    round-up during a September 2012 human trafficking sting in Dubai. The
    man who tricked them into coming to the UAE was arrested during the
    sting. Image: Nsrawy

    LK: What message would you like to send to the young, poor or
    disadvantaged women of Armenia?

    VZ: Don't fall for promises that sound too good to be true or appeal
    to your vanity. When you face poverty there are other alternatives. A
    16 year-old will trust her own circle of friends or relatives, many of
    whom might sell her off. This could include former childhood classmates
    who have fallen in with a bad crowd, brothers who have drug addictions
    to feed, or uncles who have gambling debts to pay. They don't think
    twice about bartering a friend or relative to feed their habits.

    LK: Do some of the girls escape and return home? Why do some stay
    even after they have 'paid their debts?'

    VZ: For the vast majority of them escape seems impossible. For many
    there are moral issues that can't be overcome. How can a girl resume
    a respectable life in Armenia if she has been dishonored through
    prostitution? These thugs rule by fear. The traffickers, pimps and
    madams are all Armenian. They pay off the police too.

    LK: What do you say to those Armenians who don't want to call attention
    to this trend because of how shameful it is?

    VZ: We can't say amot eh [it's shameful], get embarrassed, and stay
    quiet. Our silence makes us participants in this crime. The best thing
    for traffickers is this kind of radio silence on their activities. By
    exposing them we help the victims. If I had the means I'd freely
    distribute the book to every Armenian over 18, both inside and outside
    Armenia. Speaking out could also make public officials more diligent.

    After the "Desert Nights" documentary surfaced, Armenian authorities
    began to take notice and action. Before this the officials would
    consider the casualties to be complicit in the crimes rather than
    victims of crime.

    LK: What would you like to see happen regarding human trafficking?

    VZ: There are many great organizations that fight against the symptoms
    of trafficking. One is House of Hope. It provides teenage girls
    from state-run orphanages with a safe home, a family environment and
    psychological support, as well as life and job-training skills. While
    such organizations do valuable work, they treat the symptoms affecting
    these girls but not the root causes, which are the pathetic economic
    and social conditions in Armenia.

    Seventy years of Soviet rule, broken homes, fathers who have left
    their families to work abroad and did not come back - all these have
    contributed to the decay of our collective moral fiber. In 1915
    Armenian women threw themselves into the Euphrates River to die
    rather than be raped by Turks. Now underprivileged Armenian women
    and families are turning to prostitution as a survival option.

    Some improvements are happening and I'd like to see this continue. The
    police in Armenia are more cooperative on this issue. We need more
    people working with victims, prevention organizations, law enforcement
    and victim rehabilitation and reintegration programs. There is a
    new flow of victims every day so we must stop it at the source while
    taking care of the existing victims. But as I said earlier, the root
    cause is the horrible economic and social conditions in the country.

    Unless that problem is addressed this phenomenon will only get worse.

    LK: In writing this novel you also managed to incorporate personal
    views and a Diasporan's desire to be understood by native Armenians.

    For example, the character of Edik writes verse as he marvels
    at the Armenian landscape. One reviewer said the descriptions
    were so compelling it could bolster tourism to Armenia. The same
    Edik ruminates about Armenian ancestral moral codes saying, "The
    ultimate human dignity was living within one's means." Your family's
    repatriation experience is represented too as the Galians were aghbars,
    a pejorative term for "brother" that was and still is assigned to
    some repatriates. Would you talk about this?

    VZ: As you rightly say, the book is about more than the story of one
    victim of trafficking. In a novel like this I felt obliged to also
    describe the country both in its beauty, history and in the goodness
    of the common man, as well as in its deep-rooted problems, such as
    the rule of the ruthless oligarchs and the corruption and fear that
    they spread. The dynamic between the local Armenians and the Diaspora
    Armenians is part of the post-independence Armenian reality and could
    not have been excluded from the narrative. The contrast between how
    Diasporan Armenians generally react to situations toward which local
    Armenians are largely indifferent has always intrigued me and I wanted
    to incorporate that aspect in the novel.

    LK: The character of Edik also talks about how in post-Soviet Armenia
    authority figures could not be challenged without serious and often
    fatal consequences. And how the "Western, activist approach has no
    place in this psyche." Please talk about this concept.

    VZ: One of the foundations of communist philosophy and the Soviet
    system that ruled Armenia was the alleged precedence of the public
    and collective good over individual rights. Individualism, which was
    the important driving force of Western civilizations and philosophy,
    had no place on the Soviet system.

    To this day I see this in Armenia when, for example, I was following
    peoples' attitude toward Raffi Hovanissian's way of presidential
    campaigning. Everyone knows the current leadership is bad, but no one
    believes it can be changed. Can you imagine that attitude in the U.S.

    or Western Europe? A handful of oligarchs, no matter how elaborate
    their system of patronage and bureaucratic loyalty, would not be able
    to rule a country when everyone knows and sees what they are doing.

    And yet, they get away with it in Armenia because people have been
    conditioned - under seventy years of Soviet rule - to accept authority,
    not to challenge.

    Only when that link in this vicious cycle is broken will Armenia
    start the process of healing.

    LK: In the narrative you present an act of retribution that comes
    about after authorities do nothing to apprehend and punish criminals.

    Do you think there is a place for vigilantism in today's Armenia?

    VZ: Vigilantism is a dangerous thing to advocate. And that is not what
    I am advocating. It is dangerous simply because it can easily lead to
    new gangs, gang wars and more destruction. So popular or widespread
    vigilantism is not the answer. But there have been critical moments
    in history when the situation gets so desperate that acts of 'Divine
    Retribution' save the day. I think one celebrated case like that
    goes a long way in shaking things up and waking dulled consciences,
    not to mention giving people some hope.

    LK: So what's next?

    VZ: I plan to return to Dubai to do additional research for a sequel
    book and follow up on the whereabouts of the unfortunate girls I'd met.

    LK: How can readers help?

    VZ: They can help raise public awareness by circulating the [2005]
    documentary film, "Desert Nights." They can circulate this interview.

    They can devise a way to send a copy of this book to every member
    of the U.S. Congress. They can buy print or electronic copies of
    "A Place Far Away" for colleagues, friends and decision makers.

    LK: Why did you choose self-publishing?

    VZ: I tried to go the established route but found it to be one of the
    most exasperating experiences of my life. The prevailing practice
    in the industry is to require authors to submit a one-page pitch
    letter to agents for representation consideration. I resented trying
    to encapsulate the thrust of what became "A Place Far Away" into a
    one-page synopsis, but nevertheless approached a total of 22 agents -
    all to no avail. Since I didn't care about the perceived prestige that
    comes with being affiliated with a traditional publisher I decided
    to produce the book on my own to maintain editorial control.

    I have no regrets.

    __________________________________________________ __________ As
    Armenia begins to accept the truth of human trafficking inside the
    region four years ago, Eva Biaudet, OSCE's Special Representative on
    Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, gives a July 2009 interview to
    the Armenian television program 'Right to Speak' about understanding
    and fighting the evils of modern human slavery. Her discussion
    includes an insider's look into the work to stop sex-trafficking
    and human trafficking in Armenia. Today the work by the OSCE, along
    with its local and international partners, to stop sex-trafficking
    in Armenia continues. Some experts outside the OSCE think that the
    work to battle sex-trafficking can be many layered as corruption
    and organized crime is thought to be a strong player in global
    transnational human trafficking field. The interview has English
    subtitles for the Armenian news anchors as Biaudet speaks in English.

    This video clip is used with the kind permission of the Armenian
    Second TV Channel.

    __________________________________________________ ___________ For
    more information on this topic:

    "Analysing the Business Model of Trafficking in Human Beings to Better
    Prevent the Crime," OSCE - Organization for Security and Co-operation
    in Europe with UN.GIFT - United Nations Global Initiatives to Fight
    Human Trafficking, May 2010; "Proceedings of the Round Table on
    Combating Trafficking in Human Beings," Council of Europe with
    the OSCE - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe,
    Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS - Commonwealth of Independent
    States with the CIS Executive Committee, April 2013; "Armenia 2011
    Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor," United States Department
    of Labor - webpage; "2013 Trafficking in Persons Report - Armenia,"
    U.S. Department of State, June 2013.

    _________________________ Lucine Kasbarian is a New Jersey and
    Massachusetts-based syndicated journalist, political cartoonist and
    children's book author. To know more about her work link here. Poet,
    author and global energy expert Vahan Zanoyan shares his time between
    California, U.S. and Armenia. To know more about his book link here
    to the Facebook page.

    ______________________________ 2013 WNN - Women News Network No part
    of the text in this article release may be used or reproduced in any
    way without prior permissions from the author and/or WNN.

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