Russian Mail Order Bride Advertising Analysis

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While scrolling through the internet it’s impossible to not come across ads. One particular message that consistently appears, and is joked about, is the concept of a “Russian Mail-Order Bride.” Even when googling Russian phrases the ads that appear read along the lines of, “Beautiful Russian Brides”, “Find Russian Brides”, “Buy your Russian Wife Here.” Whether it be through a spam email, an over-heard green card joke, or just conversation, everyone has heard of the “Russian Mail Order Bride.” But, this phrasing clouds the true horror that is the Russia’s “shadow economy.” Following the collapse of the Soviet Empire the nation of Russian alongside all post-communist states were faced with this growing second economy. Those who were Soviet prisoners …show more content…

In 2003, President Vladimir Putin spoke out in favor of making human trafficking illegal in Russia. Although this was not made a reality, the Criminal Code was amended and Article 127.1 declared human trafficking punishable by prison terms. This small victory as well as the combating methods of the Russian government are not enough. The punishment for Bride-kidnapping, or forced marriage, involving the abduction and sometimes rape of a woman or a girl, can be exonerated from all criminal liability if the individual voluntarily releases his victim under Article 126. In 2013 the US State Departments annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report downgraded Russia from its Tier 2 “Watch List” to its lowest classification of Tier-3, meaning Russia is not sufficiently meeting anti-trafficking standards. Because of the tense relationship between the US and Russia, Konstantin Dolgov responded to the downgrade by stating the authors used an “unacceptable ideological approach that divides nations into rating groups depending on the US State Department’s political sympathies or antipathies.” The woman of sexual trafficking in Russia not only lack the support of their government but a great deal of their peers. In June 2007 over 43 percent of male respondents and 38 percent of females blamed the women and girls themselves for ending up in the sex trade. Over a majority of those polled believed that their institutions of government would not be able of combat human trafficking, while 23 percent also believed no one could effectively solve the

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