Because most Western countries have imposed strict limits on the numbers of legal migrants who can enter their territories, many women are forced to accept the service of traffickers if they wish to migrate. Most forms of labor migration are severely restricted; however, one available and legal work option available to migrant women is work in the entertainment sector as "artists" or "dancers." In practice this type of work is frequently linked to work in the sex industry. Contemporary population movements are characterized by increasing pressures by individuals seeking, through migration, either to escape war, persecution, poverty, or human rights violations, or simply to find better economic opportunities. Women from Ukraine also have a strong economic incentive to seek employment in Central Europe, where living standards are higher than in the countries of transition. There are several other reasons that Ukrainian women want to go to abroad. First, liberalization of laws has enabled international travel both to Ukraine and to the European Union. Second, with the introduction of a free market economy, unemployment has for the first time affected the nation, and primarily women, both economically and psychologically. Women were the first to lose their jobs, and the possibilities of finding a new position are, to say the least, not promising, especially outside the big cities. Migration is especially popular among young women from small, underdeveloped cities and the countryside, where jobs are very scarce. In those areas, women cannot find positions in their own professions, as salespersons, teachers, or nurses, for example. Even if they do, those occupations are very low paid and cannot assure economic independence. A third motivation for Ukrainian women to migrate to the West is the disappearance of the state social security system. Finally, the myth of an easy and affluent life in the West and the tradition of migrant workers also contribute to the phenomenon.

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labor migration immigration policy migration determinant Ukraine legislation illegal immigrant