Trafficking in human beings for sexual and other purposes - Polisen

3. Criminal Development123. Criminal Development3.1 Trafficking in human beings for sexualpurposesThe National Bureau of Investigation regularlyreceives information about groups and individualsresponsible for various forms of human traffickingwithin, through and into Sweden. This information isprovided by bodies such as the Swedish and foreignpolice, NGOs, the general public and the SwedishMigration Board. Information, and the preliminaryinvestigations undertaken during 2011, show thathuman trafficking is not just a metropolitan phenomenonbut also occurs in smaller towns throughoutSweden.According to the Swedish National Police Board itis difficult to estimate how many people fell victim tohuman trafficking in Sweden during 2011. The numberof victims of human trafficking identified in Swedenlargely depends on the resources which the policeput into detecting this crime and on the experienceand competence that exists within the police organisation.The level of these initiatives varies betweenpolice authorities and can vary from one year toanother. It is not possible to identify or even to locateall of the victims, mainly girls and women, mentionedin tapped telephone calls or observed during policesurveillance. Neither can the estimate be based exclusivelyon the number of victims that are viewed asinjured parties in human trafficking investigations,since the majority of these investigations result in sentencesfor procuring/aggravated procuring. Thesequence of events in a procuring case can exhibitvery great similarities to the sequence of events in ahuman trafficking case. The crucial issue in determiningwhether it might be possible to prosecute theperpetrators and convict them of human traffickingand not for procuring, is whether the victim’s libertyhas been violated.There may be several explanations for why themajority of cases brought to trial result in convictionsfor procuring/aggravated procuring instead ofhuman trafficking. It may be because the humantrafficking legislation is still complex and difficult toapply. In addition, in recent years, the perpetratorshave changed their modi operandi in certain cases.Instead of using violence and threats against the victim,the perpetrators often make offers of “betterconditions”, such as greater freedom of action. Thevictims are also allowed to retain a larger proportionof their earnings. This is an effective way of gettingthe victims tied in and making them dependent,resulting in the victims remaining loyal to the perpetratorsand being less inclined to act as witnessesagainst them. It can sometimes be difficult to get thecourts to understand how serious the oppression hasbeen when the women have not been treated “particularlybadly”. A change in the perpetrators’behaviour became apparent in 2011, when two majorpreliminary investigations, one in Stockholm andone in Västra Götaland, also encompassed threatenedand actual physical and sexual violence againstthe victims.In 2011, the police drew up 35 reports relating tohuman trafficking for sexual purposes. During thatsame year, two people were convicted for human traffickingfor sexual purposes. In addition, three peoplewere sentenced for aggravated procuring and eightfor procuring that had been of a human traffickingnature. Finally 450 legal proceedings were initiatedconcerning the purchase of sexual services and 7 legalproceedings concerning the purchase of sexual actsfrom children under the age of 18 7 . More preliminaryinvestigations into human trafficking, procurementand purchase of sexual services are ongoing, onwhich rulings are expected to be pronounced in 2012.The above statistics can be compared to the situationduring 2010 when 32 reports were drawn up concerninghuman trafficking for sexual purposes. Inthat same year, three people were sentenced for complicityin human trafficking for sexual purposes and7 Total judicial decisions, orders of summary punishment andwaivers of prosecution in 2011.