Following is Radio Bosnia's interview with Professor Jenena Affendic about women trafficking in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Q: Would you comment on human trafficking in the world?

A: Man has faced a crisis named human traficking for a very long time. In past centuries, it was only limited to the slave trade, but gradually, it turned to women and children trafficking.

Children trafficking is for different purposes, such as using their body organs for transplant operations, using them as drug traffickers and selling them to slavery.

Women trafficking and trading is mostly for sexual purposes. Women are brought from one place in the world to another place by mafia bands.

Q: What parts of the world are the main target of women traffickers?

A: As past records reveal, the newly independent countries as well as poor and underdeveloped nations are the main targets of women traffickers.

However in certain other countries, international human traffickers deceive women and force them to work in their centers.

Q: Why has Bosnia-Herzegovina become a target of women traffickers?

A: There are two reasons that the traffickers choose a country for their operations. Sometimes, due to the condition of a country, the traffickers choose it as their own domestic market and force women into prostitution, and sometimes they choose a country as a transit route.

Unfortunately, at first, women traffickers chose Bosnia-Herzegovina because it was a newly independent country which had suffered ethnic conflicts and crisis.

Inattention to the entrance of foreigners into the country led to chaos and paved the way for the traffickers to enter the country and transit their victims.

Meanwhile, due to the presence of foreign soldiers in this country, the traffickers found that Bosnia-Herzegovina could be a good domestic market, too. Finally Bosnia-Herzegovina became a transit route and a market of women trafficking.

Q: Why are the peacekeeping forces involved in women trafficking?

A: Since most of the peacekeeping forces were single, they got involved with traffickers and became customers of their market. Moreover, since the majority of women used in this market were brought from other countries, the public did not protest against this issue. People thought that it is the natural consequence of being part of Europe.

Q: According to the claims of certain media reports and the confirmation of certain politicians, Interpol was involved in women trafficking. Would you comment on this?

A: There is no evidence in this connection. The wrongdoings of a member of an international organization cannot be attributed to the entire organization. However, I don't reject the possibility of the presence of corrupt persons in Interpol and among the peacekeeping forces.

Q: Have the international organizations taken action against women traffickers?

A: As far as I know, international forces and organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina have made relentless efforts to find the brothels and corruption centers which are run by international traffickers. However, they have not done enough and more measures should be taken in this regard.

Q: What measures are taken against corrupt members of the peacekeeping forces and human traffickers in Bosnia?

A: There are certain laws which are only for Bosnian people. So foreigners, particularly peacekeeping forces, are not covered by such laws.