Sweden Battles Human Trafficking

Oct 26 2007

Sweden battles human trafficking

by: Kajsa Claude

In Sweden, around 400-600 women a year are forced into the sex trade as victims of human trafficking. The figure is low by international standards, but Sweden remains engaged to further the fight against human trafficking.

Sweden has a unique law criminalizing those who purchase sex. The law, which was passed in 1999 and prohibits the purchase of sexual services, targets only the purchaser. The penalty is a fine or up to six months’ imprisonment. In Norway, similar legislation is being prepared, while Finland already prohibits the purchase of sexual services, but only if the woman is a victim of trafficking.
Anders Oljelund, the Swedish Government’s ambassador for international cooperation against human trafficking, says: “Our Swedish law is good as it focuses on the demand side. If there was no demand, there wouldn’t be any trafficking.

“All men who are thinking about buying sex should bear in mind that it’s usually trafficking victims who are affected.”

Legislation under review

Part of Sweden’s effort against trafficking involves constantly changing and updating rules and laws. In 2002, a law was passed that specifically outlaws human trafficking for sexual purposes. This law, however, has come in for a certain amount of criticism on the grounds that it is difficult to enforce and that few perpetrators are actually convicted. In most cases, the offences are classed as procuring, for which the scale of punishment is lower and which is considered a crime against the state rather than against a private individual.

One of the critics is Thomas Bodström, who was Minister for Justice in the previous Social Democratic government and who currently chairs the parliamentary Committee on Justice. In his view, the offence and the punishment should reflect what is actually involved.

“Abolish procuring and convict people for human trafficking instead,” he says. “All prostitution is a form of trade in humans and should be punished accordingly. As long as men think they are entitled to buy and use women’s and girls’ bodies, human trafficking for sexual purposes will continue. Through legislation, we can influence and change men’s attitudes and this in turn can influence and change other types of behavior.”

In December 2005, Bodström appointed an inquiry to review the law against human trafficking, including the scale of punishment. A report is due in April 2008.

A global problem

Human trafficking is a gigantic international problem. Around the world, something like four million women and children a year fall victim to traffickers. Human trafficking and prostitution are often connected to the lucrative underworld of organized crime, and are basically a result of poverty and inequality between women and men. The women who arrive in Sweden are largely from the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe and Russia.

The National Police Board estimates that about a third of the 400-600 women brought to Sweden by traffickers are to be found in Stockholm. They are shipped to the capital mainly via the Baltic ferry routes. From there, they are either taken on to other parts of the Nordic region or Europe, or put to work as prostitutes in the Stockholm area. The women are closely guarded by pimps and kept isolated from the surrounding community.

Regional project against trafficking

Stockholm Gender Equality (Sthlm Jämt), which collaborates both with the Swedish police authority and with Sida’s (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) Baltic Sea Unit,runs a regional project launched in the county of Stockholm as part of the fight against organized crime. During the period 2004-2006, police cracked down on organized crime rackets involving human trafficking on 51 different occasions.

In May 2007, Sthlm Jämt described the situation of women in a report on its work to date.

A social welfare officer working with the City of Stockholm’s anti-prostitution unit says: “We have legislation in Sweden that makes human trafficking more difficult, but demand is also considerable. Each woman may have 15-20 customers a day, but only gets to keep a fraction of the money she earns.

“The women are always in a highly vulnerable position and getting them to testify is difficult. They are terrified of reprisals if they tell the truth. They’re also afraid that their families back home will be exposed to blackmail or violence.”

Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Another joint project specifically concerned with supporting victims of trafficking is the Nordic Baltic Pilot Project, which runs for three years, from 2006 to 2008. It is being coordinated by the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), an umbrella organization for some 4 000 women’s organizations in and outside the EU.

Eva Engman is one of the Nordic coordinators of the project, and also chairs both the local women’s shelter* in Luleå and all the women’s shelters in Sweden’s northernmost county, Norrbotten. Many women arrive in the area from Russia and the Baltic countries.

“We must do more to combat human trafficking in general and we must do more to help the victims in particular,” she says. “The aim of our project is to ensure better support, assistance and rehabilitation and the safe return of victims of trafficking for sexual purposes.

“We also need closer cooperation between all the actors engaged in the struggle against human trafficking. We’re fighting organized crime rackets that make huge profits from buying and selling women and girls. So we must be very well organized if we are to succeed.”

Trafficking is recognized as a major problem and many dynamic people and organizations are fighting it. In Sweden a good basic legislation lies as a starting point for further action against trafficking. Only ten years ago, many influential groups and individuals even refused to acknowledge that human trafficking could exist in our day and age.

* Each shelter works in its own manner; however, all of the shelters have at least an emergency helpline where women and young women can call if they need support (from Roks’ website).

The Swedish Laws

The Swedish law prohibiting the purchase of sexual services reads:
Anyone who obtains casual sexual relations in exchange for payment shall be sentenced – unless the act is punishable under the Swedish Penal Code – for the purchase of sexual services to a fine or imprisonment for a maximum period of six months.

The Swedish law prohibiting human trafficking:
On July 1, 2002, a law entered into force in Sweden criminalizing human trafficking for sexual purposes. This law was extended on July 1, 2005 to apply to human trafficking for other forms of exploitation as well. The 2002 law is based on the definition of human trafficking in the UN Human Trafficking Protocol.

Related publications

Prostitution and trafficking in human beings— Publication
The National Organization for Women’s Shelters and Young Women’s Shelters in Sweden (ROKS)— Information brochure
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Kajsa Claude is press secretary at the Stockholm branch of ActionAid, an international anti-poverty agency that focuses in particular on the situation of women and girls.

The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.

Translation: Stephen Croall

This article was originally published on Sweden.se, Sweden’s official gateway. You find the original article at: http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/Article____17927.aspx.

Sweden Battles Human Trafficking