CHAPTER FIVE – DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS
WHY ARE THE NUMBERS OF CONVICTIONS LOW?
WHY ARE THE NUMBERS OF CONVICTIONS LOW?
When the informants were asked if they could, based on their own experience and
reflections on the field of investigating and prosecuting THB, think of any reason why the number of convictions are relatively low, they had a variety or reasons as to why this is the case. A majority of the informants found that the main reason to the low number of
convictions was due to the lack of competency in THB. And more than half of the informants voiced that there are few convictions because it is hard to prove the penal code. These issues have been discussed in chapter four as parts of the main findings of this research project.
Furthermore, quite a few of the informants thought that a lack of priority of THB in the police organisation could be a contributing factor to the low number of convictions. This is closely connected to the last main category of reasons proposed by the informants, namely the lack of resources.
Informant GP-‐S7 stated “It does not do much good if you sit inside and know about human trafficking if the ones working outside meet potential victims without being able to identify them.” Whereas, another informant claimed that there are no cases to investigate. That the lack of competency runs through the whole organisation – including the court of law (GP-‐
S6).
Informant AP-‐S17 stated that the reason could be a combination of two things – a lack of priority and a lack of understanding the THB-‐cases. One informant claimed “it is easier and cheaper for the police district to run an operation where they send out 15 Nigerians in 24 hours than to investigate whether 5 of them could be a victim of human trafficking. It is not the weakest of the weak whom make trouble for the Norwegian system” (CP-‐S10).
HOW TO DO BETTER?
The answers to this last question in the interviews are closely linked to the informants’
answers and reflections on the former question. As the answers to the former question were rather varied, consequently the answers to this last question were equally wide-‐ranging.
Some of the informants had more than one answer to this question. However, analysing the data, three main categories of ways for police and prosecution authority to do better on THB were prominent. The findings illustrate that a vast majority of the informants think that more training to increase the competency on THB would be an important step in the right direction. In addition, half of the informants claimed that there needs to be allocated more resources, both in money and in personnel. Furthermore, numerous informants voiced the importance of having dedicated personnel on THB-‐cases.
The need for more training and more resources are closely linked to the informants
reasoning for few convictions on THB – lack of competency, resources and priority, and has been discussed both in chapter four and previously in this chapter. The importance of having dedicated personnel includes the informants that voice the importance of having persons that work solely on THB-‐cases and are allowed to “bury themselves” in these cases without other disturbances. Several informants claimed that the investigation of THB-‐cases should be allocated to special anti-‐THB units such as the EXIT group in Hordaland police district.
One informant proposed that more police districts should have such groups, and that all anti-‐THB units in Norway should be named EXIT as this is a well-‐known name within and without of the police organisation. Only, the groups should be called EXIT Hordaland, EXIT Oslo, EXIT Rogaland and so forth (CP-‐S10).
In addition, the category of informants wanting dedicated personnel also includes the
informants whom stress the importance of having a fixed police prosecutor on the case from start to end of the investigation. Quite a few of the informants voiced a concern to the fact that the responsible prosecutor throughout a lengthy investigation could often change several times before the investigation was concluded. In addition, several were of the opinion that the police prosecutors must be tougher in the sense that they have to try more cases before the courts. One informant claimed that there was a general tendency of police prosecutors to indict perpetrators only when the prosecutor was sure of conviction. And
that it is easier to close down the investigation without an indictment when the prosecutor feels insecure. But this cannot be applied in THB-‐cases. That it is the court that should make the final say in whether the penal provision is proved and the indicted person is guilty or not. It should not be up to the prosecutors to decide (CP-‐S11).
Recent events in the media seem to suggest that the informants whom claim that there is a need for more dedicated personnel have some politicians on their side. According to NRK, the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security has decided to allocate funds to the foundation of five new anti-‐THB units that shall be situated in the five largest cities in the country. The anti-‐THB units are to have the same organising as the EXIT-‐group in Hordaland police district, i.e. fixed police investigators and police prosecutors (Platou & Pettersen, 2015). Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Vidar Brein-‐Karlsen, stated to NRK that there is a need for more robust investigative units on THB. And that there is a need for more specialist competency among both police investigators and police
prosecutors (Platou & Pettersen, 2015).
In addition to these main categories, there was a general agreement among the informants that the NCIS should have a more prominent role in the THB-‐field. Several informants voiced that the NCIS should have special investigators that could aid in difficult THB-‐cases in the same way that the NCIS have special investigators that aid the police districts in cases of homicide and sexual exploitation of children and such.
Furthermore, quite a few informants expressed that THB is a social problem that should involve more than just the police – that the police can not and should not try to fight THB alone. The importance in improving the co-‐operation and information exchange between all the different agencies and organisations involved in the victims or the perpetrators was highlighted.