Introduction

The socialization of each person takes place in society, in the family, in contact and interaction with other people. With its structure, society creates various bodies of an official and unofficial nature, which are made up of people and within them external and internal factors are formed that influence the education and socialization of a person.

Social pathology is a branch of sociology that deals with the study of abnormal and "unhealthy" conditions and their impact on the course of social processes. It is a general term for the designation of sick, immoral, generally undesirable social phenomena. After 1989, due to the change in social conditions in society, socio-pathological phenomena such as unemployment, poverty, crime, drug addiction, prostitution, ... and that is why it is it is very important to talk about them and at the same time look for effective tools to eliminate these negative phenomena.

One of the causes of pathological phenomena among Roma is premature sexual activity, births of young girls and women under the age of 18, the inability of many families to take care of their children, incomplete families or, on the contrary, multiple families living in unsatisfactory conditions. In such an environment, crime, prostitution and drug dealing are growing... Low job mobility, insufficient education, lack of interest in gaining a foothold in the labor market... finally leads individuals and entire groups to a situation where they lose the ability and motivation to look for work. The mentioned negative circumstances suppress or even prevent internal motivation to change one's life. (1)

According to Ondrejkovič, the importance of the social environment has three spheres of influence on a person:

  • "educational environment - family, school, extracurricular facilities,
  • system of values and interpersonal relations – groups, institutions, social classes, i.e. those that do not belong to the educational environment, but influence socialization and education,
  • area of social pathology - i.e. defects caused by the influence of a morally disturbed family, social groups and other foci with low morals, which disrupt the process of socialization and education." (2)

Moral criminal activity is appearing more and more nowadays. These are mainly rapes, sexual abuse and, in the case of girls, it is mainly prostitution, where the motive of the action is primarily material gain. The essence of prostitution is the achievement of the greatest possible profit, on which, in addition to the prostitute herself, other persons - pimps - also benefit. Prostitution is often accompanied by property, violent and moral crime. In connection with prostitution, criminal activity also increased as a secondary consequence of prostitution, especially the "trade in white meat". Illegal trafficking of women and children, who end up on the secondary market as slaves of forced prostitution, is a new phenomenon of the 21st century.

In many cases, young people become victims of criminal activity committed against them by adult offenders. There are many cases of sexual abuse, rape, and trafficking of young girls, when they are exported abroad under the guise of obtaining lucrative employment, where they are restricted in their freedom and forced into prostitution. (3)

According to an article published in Romano nevo lil (July 2, 2009), "Slovak Roma women are among the most desirable and sought-after on the Czech white meat market. On the famous Czech E 55 between Dolný Dvořišť and Kaplice, they make up over seventy percent of all prostitutes. Eastern Slovak prostitutes, who were driven to the German-Austrian-Czech border by poverty, dominate. Slovak women, like Roma prostitutes in the Czech Republic are popularly sought after by Austrian and German customers, who make up about ninety percent of their clientele. The girls stand by the road, with plastic bottles of water next to them, so that the girl can rinse her private parts after intercourse. From time to time, an expensive limousine stops at the street workers, and pimps get out of it and collect the daily "sales". ... Pimps sometimes leave them only the minimum. Some therefore flee home and choose misery in Slovakia rather than the life of Slovak slavers in the Czech Republic.

However, there is no shortage of prostitutes. In Slovakia, shops with white meat literally flourish in the dirtiest forms. The few cases that surface are only the tip of the iceberg. According to the estimates of the Czech police, hundreds of girls from poor Roma families, especially from the vicinity of Svidník, Bardejov and Giraltoviece, are prostitutes. A seventeen-year-old illiterate girl treads gravel in the Czech Republic under the supervision of her good uncle. Jana C. from Borov near Medzilaborce cannot read or write, it is difficult for her to sign. She says that "her mother forced her to have sex with her brother-in-law from an early age." Of course, for money. Later with another – a deaf-mute relative. When she refused, he beat her with an iron rod. Then came an exclusive offer from the Czech "uncle" Evžen, who promised to employ the girl in Vimperk as a prostitute. The mother did not hesitate for a moment. She sold her daughter into slavery for 500 euros."

There are more similar cases of trafficking, especially with Roma girls from the settlements. However, as long as the local pimps do not blame each other, the police in the Czech Republic or the Slovak Republic have no idea about their business. And many times he doesn't even want to know about them."

What is a Roma family like?

The issue of trafficking in Roma children in Slovakia was the first to be publicly revealed by reporters from the German television station SAT 1. In their report, there was no problem in buying children prostitution directly from their parents or friends. The Slovak public was informed about this by JOJ television in its evening news (February 1, 2006), while broadcasting a contribution from German television. Her parents asked 300,000 for 13-year-old Marika from Lučenac. Another, an 8-year-old girl, was offered for sex by his friends for approximately 80,000 crowns.

It was clear from the footage that such trading in the Lučenac area was carried out by Roma families. According to Eva Demeová from the Center for Social Assistance to Young People (CESPOM) there, such behavior of families is a consequence of their poor economic situation. Abuse occurs in such a way that it is difficult to prove and we can only watch in silence as the abuser continues his perverted desires, the child cooperates with him and remains silent for various reasons until adulthood. At the same time, she pointed out that such behavior is not typical for Roma families, because similar cases are practiced all over the world. According to Eva Deme, the trade in "white meat" and child prostitution are among the most profitable businesses.

As Jana Pôbišová from the communications department of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic informed the editors of Romano nevo lil, "the specialized department of the Office for Combating Organized Crime has been working on the case since the beginning to detect crimes of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In several cases, criminal prosecution is being conducted on suspicion of committing the crime of human trafficking or child trafficking. Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot provide more information," she informed. As she further added, "German reporters contacted the Slovak police, but they did not provide them with the materials necessary for criminal prosecution. We only received these through the German police in October of last year. The police have been working intensively on the case since then. We identified the suspects without the help of German journalists, who did not cooperate with the Slovak police," she specified.

Cases of children from Roma families being sold for sex in Slovakia and the Czech Republic may arouse in the eyes of the majority of the public the idea that such behavior is a natural phenomenon for this community. What is the reality? What is a Roma family really like? Some Roma families actually sell girls into prostitution ... "However, this does not happen in traditional Roma families, where they respect traditions, where loyalty and honesty are at the top of the list of values ​​recognized by the Roma," informs us Anina Botošová from the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic. It is an ailment brought by the new era and especially the unfavorable socio-economic situation in individual families. A woman in a closed community in a settlement is also the driving force in the family. Even if the man is the head of the family on the outside, the woman is literally the neck that keeps the family's head above the ground. She decides on finances, on choosing a husband for her daughter or a wife for her son, on the education of her children. In a Roma family, a woman is highly respected. However, if she cannot have children, she is barren, in this society she is in the last place in the ranking of social evaluation. Even she herself is evaluated as inferior.

Vulnerable and marginalized groups of the population of the Slovak Republic include a part of Roma women living mainly in closed communities where different customary norms prevail than in the majority society. "In relation to this group of residents, we can unequivocally say that it is a group of residents that has been socially excluded from society for a long time. Gender equality in some Roma families is in contrast with cultural and ethnic customs and stereotypes. The position of a Roma woman in a Roma family, due to their traditions, often leads to the accumulation of reasons for social inclusion and multiple discrimination." (Romanono nevo lil, 19.5. 2006)

According to the American Embassy's statement from this year, "The government of the Slovak Republic does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. However, it is making significant efforts in this direction. During the monitored period, the government intensified its efforts to identify victims among foreigners, provided assistance to a greater number of victims, and established a center for consolidating data on human trafficking. The weak side of the government's efforts to suppress human trafficking continued to be the punishment of convicted traffickers people, as in 2009, almost all offenders convicted under the anti-trafficking legislation were sentenced to prison terms. In the Slovak Republic, all forms of human trafficking are prohibited on the basis of §§ 179 to 181 of the Criminal Code, which prescribe imprisonment for a period of 4 to 25 years. These penalties are sufficiently severe and proportionate to the penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In 2009, the police investigated nine cases of human trafficking, compared to 18 cases in 2008. In 2009, the competent authorities ordered the prosecution of three people suspected of human trafficking, which was the same number as in 2008. According to the government, the crime of human trafficking was 10 persons convicted, which was the same number as in 2008. The Slovak government does not indicate whether any of these persons were convicted of the crime of trafficking for the purposes of forced labor. sexual acts. This year, the US Department of State is also submitting a brief action plan to our government as a key indicator of the progress made in the fight against human trafficking. The goal of the action plan and related recommendations is to provide guidance to individual countries to comply with the minimum standards set forth in the law for the protection of victims of human trafficking."(4)

Vulnerable and marginalized groups of the population of the Slovak Republic include a part of Roma women living mainly in closed communities where different customary norms prevail than in the majority society. In relation to this group of residents, we can unequivocally say that it is a group of residents that has been socially excluded from society for a long time. Gender equality in some Roma families is opposed by cultural and ethnic customs and stereotypes. The position of the Roma woman in the Roma family, due to their traditions, often leads to the accumulation of reasons for social inclusion and multiple discrimination, which also results in the sale of Roma girls and women for profit.

Author: František Hanobik Literature used:

  1. CANGÁR, J. 2003. People from Roma families. New Castles. Crocus, 2003. 239 p. ISBN 80-88992-42-7.
  2. LEHOCZKÁ, L. 2006. Cultural identity of the Roma. University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra, 113 p. ISBN 80-8050-945-X.
  3. ONDREJKOVIČ, P.: Basics of sociology of education and youth. Lecture. Nitra: UKF, FSVaZ. 22.05.2004.
  4. PORTIK, M.: 2003. Determinants of the education of Roma pupils. Prešov: FF PU Prešov. with 20 – 27. 177 p. ISBN 80-8068-155-4.
  5. SCHAVEL, M.-ČESECKÝ, F.-OLÁH, M.-2007. Social prevention. 2nd ed. Prešov: University of Health and Social Work St. Alžbety, Bratislava, Institute of Social Sciences and Health P.P. Gojdiča, Prešov, 2007. 141 p. ISBN 978-80-89271-22-1
  6. TANCOŠ, J. et al. 2002. Damned and forgotten. Iris P.O.BOX Bratislava, 2002. 204 p. ISBN 80-89018-26-2.
  7. VAŠEČKA, M. 2002. Summary report on Roma in Slovakia. Institute for Public Issues Bratislava 2002. 911 p. ISBN 80-88935-41-5.
  8. http://www.rnl.sk/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16379
  9. http://jozef.kmeto.blogy.atlas.sk/zeny/64613/
  10. http://www.rnl.sk/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4466
  11. http://slovakia.usembassy.gov/2010-trafficking-in-persons-report---slovensk-republika.html

(1) PORTIK, M.: Determinants of the education of Roma pupils. Prešov: FF PU Prešov. with 20-27. (2) ONDREJKOVIČ, P.: Basics of sociology of education and youth. Bratislava: 2004, p. 56. (3) SCHAVEL, M.-ČESECKÝ, F.-OLÁH, M.: Social prevention. Bratislava, VSZaSP, Bratislava: 2007, p. 67. (4) http://slovakia.usembassy.gov/2010- trafficking-in-persons-report---slovensk-republika.html

The contribution was made at the 5th annual scientific conference with international participation entitled 'Social-pathological phenomena and marginalized groups', which was organized by the Queen's Peace Institute of Medžugorja Bardejov, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies Brno, Faculty of Philosophy UPJS Kosice and was held on October 8, 2010 in Bardejov.