The buying and selling of human beings for the worldwide sex industry is organized crime’s fastest-growing business with up to two million people globally—mostly women and children—being trafficked into the sex trade every year.

In The Natashas, leading investigate journalist Victor Malarek details the tragic lives of the women and girls ensnared in the most recent wave of this brutal trade. He unearths evidence of training centers in Serbia where teenage girls from Ukraine, Moldova and Romania are viciously indoctrinated into the world of prostitution. He travels to war-torn countries such as Kosovo and Bosnia where he exposes corruption involving United Nations peacekeepers. And he uncovers scandalous situations throughout Europe, Israel and North America where the trafficking trade continues to flourish. Shocking stories of corrupt cops, complicit government officials and complacent politicians combine to form a powerful truth—one that Malarek hopes will not be ignored.

VICTOR MALAREK has been a journalist for four decades. He began his career as a copy boy at Weekend Magazine in 1968. From 1990 to 2000, Malarek was one of the hosts for CBC Television's The Fifth Estate. In 2000 he became the investigations editor for The Globe and Mail. Today, he is a senior investigative reporter on CTV's current affairs show, W5. Often described as a champion for the underdog, Malarek has worked on many stories for W5, including "Forgotten Children," a look at children left languishing in orphanages overseas, and "Let Me Go," a thoughtful investigation of the debate around euthanasia.

In 1997, he won a Gemini Award as Canada's top broadcast journalist. Malarek has also received four Michener Awards-three during his tenure with The Globe and Mail and the other at The Fifth Estate. Malarek is the author of six books.

MICHELE LANDSBERG is an award-winning journalist who is often described as “a fearless advocate for women and children.? She has published four best-selling books, including Writing the Revolution and Women and Children First.

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