Every year hundreds of thousands of women forced into the commercial sex trade suffer physical and emotional harm, work in degrading and sometimes life-threatening situations, and are cheated of their earnings. An increasing number of these women are from Russia and the Newly Independent States (NIS). During the chaos of massive political, social and economic change in those countries, criminal elements have been able to establish themselves in the international business of trafficking in women by placing them in abusive situations of debt-bondage and sexual slavery. The Russian Mafia involvement in the Russian/NIS sex trade is substantial, with most sex businesses either owned or protected by organized crime groups. The profit margins are high, risk factors are low, and the association brings added social status in mafia circles. Mafia “roofs” are primarily sought to protect against extortion from other criminal groups and corrupt authorities. Notes