It's a big issue, because Russian organized crime and other crime rings, the Yakuza, the triads, etc., are all heavily involved in human trafficking. The Hells Angels are the major operators in Canada, and I could be risking my life by saying this.
My knowledge of the issue in Ukraine and Russia stems from our contact with the International Organization for Migration office for eastern Europe. Mr. Frederick Larson is our contact person there. I don't have statistics in front of me. But, for example, I'll take their Kiev office. Their rehabilitation centre treats over 1,000 women a year. These are only the cases that have been reported, and this is one centre in one city, so you can imagine how widespread the problem is. It's estimated that currently over 40,000 women from Ukraine are trafficked. Imagine. That's the population of a small city, potentially.
The problem is very widespread, as it would be from any country that is economically struggling, going through a changeover into a democracy. A lot of Romanian women are trafficked into this country. The RCMP would probably corroborate those statistics. I know of cases of Ukrainian women as well.