We have recently been reminded that trafficking doesn’t just happen in Europe.
Six Romanian men have been arrested in Gothenburg. By surveying prostitution in Gothenburg, it is estimated that almost all of the young women who have sold sex at the red light district of Gothenburg, have ties to the Romanian network.
255 men were convicted for buying sex in Gothenburg last year, meaning most purchased sex from a suspected trafficking victim.
Göteborgs-Posten has recently written about the difficulties of convicting someone for human trading, as it is hard to prove how the recruiting process occurred. Linda Hols Salén, investigator at Brå’s (The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention), says that the girls are often afraid to testify against their traffickers. (GP 28/2):
It’s extremely difficult to prove. The criteria are hard to achieve. First of all, it must be proven that someone has been tricked or threatened. There are many cases of horrific human trade but the victims often already know they are going abroad for work. Work they mightn’t expect.
The women gain nothing. They are simply sent away. Or perhaps they are too entangled or even has a relationship with the suspect, she says.
Read the article in GP here
Read how the women were forced to work at least seven nights a week in Metro
/Matilda for RealStars
