Recently, the Vital Voices staff had the opportunity to meet with one of our Vital Voices women, Unursetseg Tsedev, and hear about her latest research findings. After spending a year as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at the University of Minnesota, where she researched issues in Mongolian sex trafficking, Unur is now returning home to start her own NGO. Before heading back, however, she took the time to introduce us to her country and the challenges confronting it.

Mongolia – with a population of 2.4 million people and 39 million livestock – is sandwiched between the giants of Russia and China. Unur shared with us that though Mongolia has a literacy rate of 98% and 65-70% of its higher educated students are women, sex trafficking is a serious problem in the country.

Burdened with private shame, few speak out – especially because local media sensationalize accounts, publishing embarrassing details and reinforcing the stigma associated with sex trafficking. In the rush to punish, a distinction is not clearly made between the perpetrator and the victim. Frequently, it’s the women – and not the traffickers – who are punished.

Thriving local “entertainment” industries, particularly in border towns, are nothing more than commercial sexual exploitation of children, Unur argued. Yet some foreign governments refuse to even acknowledge the existence of the problem. Moreover, as a former official in the Mongolian government, Unur spoke with first-hand knowledge about how hard it is to effectively implement new policy when frequent government turnovers lead to a loss of institutional memory.

There are some encouraging signs: This past February, a new amendment to the criminal code sharply increased the punishments meted out to those found guilty of trafficking. Though it’s a first step, the Mongolian state still lacks the capacity – and the political climate – to aggressively prosecute sex traffickers, according to Unur. More work remains to be done.

What happens next could be crucial for Mongolian women. A fact that amazed us all was Unur’s revelation that in 2020, the Chinese gender gap – a consequence of the government’s one-child policy — will result in a staggering 30 million more Chinese men than Chinese women. With foreign marriages already on the rise today, there’s no doubt that these men will be looking to neighboring countries for wives. It will be a challenge to ensure that this doesn’t further exacerbate Russian-Mongolian-Chinese sex trafficking.

Translating her research to action, Unur hopes her new NGO – the Center for Child and Women’s Protection – will fill a crucial gap in both direct service work and advocacy. The entire staff was wowed by Unur’s conviction, experience in the field, and clarity of vision; we’ve no doubt she will make a real difference, even in the challenging environment that confronts her. She will soon launch a website for her new NGO at www.ccwp.mn. Bookmark it now and check back frequently for updates on this amazing women’s efforts.