In an effort to abide by the terms of its structural adjustment loan, the government closed 63 village hospitals and imposed other austerity measures. The consequences have been devastating for Moldova's 4.3 million people, most of whom live off the land. Agriculture that once supplied wine and tobacco throughout Russia is at a standstill. Currency values have plummeted. Corruption is rampant.
Foreign investment is nil.
Widespread deprivation in Moldova and other parts of post-Soviet Eastern European has created golden opportunities for organized criminal gangs involved in the illegal sexual trafficking of women and children. Other girls are kidnapped from their homes and orphanages, while many destitute women are lured to foreign lands by assurances of work, income, and visas, only to find themselves forced into prostitution and slave labor. Eastern Europe has emerged as a major point of origin for the burgeoning international black market that auctions women and children as if they are chattel. Human traffickers have little trouble maneuvering in places like Moldova, where it is easy to bribe underpaid customs officers and police. Desperate for a chance to improve their lot, young women have been leaving Moldova in droves.