The illicit global sex trade has been burgeoning in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where Russian women are often smuggled, sometimes against their will, to work in the sex industry. Russian Organized Crime (ROC) has become a key player in the global sex trade. In 2002, 7,500 Russian women legally migrated from the country, but estimates suggest that 20 times that number are illegally trafficked from the former Soviet Union. Some women are tricked into thinking legitimate jobs wait for them, while other women turn to the ROC because they have nothing else. Sex discrimination is described as rampant in Russia, with many women forced out of work because of hostile work environments. Laws do not protect women on the job. Only recently, with the assistance of the United Nations, did Russia pass legislation aimed at combating the growing sex trade. Notes