This is an overview of Fafo publications on human trafficking and, as such, a reflection of the social context these publications responded and related to. A considerable challenge in the early days of awareness of trafficking in Norway, was how public understandings of the phenomenon often took as their starting point forms of trafficking that were placed on the extreme end of the exploitation continuum, while not reflecting the broad scope of the legal definition of trafficking or the low threshold applied in social work. The situation today is a very different one. The concept of trafficking is today applied to a broad range of problems. With this, new challenges arise, and research based knowledge is important for informing decisions in a complex and ever changing landscape.
Fafo’s Research on Human Trafficking:
A Bibliography
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Fafo’s Research on Human Trafficking:
A Bibliography
Fafo’s Research on Human Trafficking:
A Bibliography
© Fafo 2012
ISBN 978-82-7422-927-3 (paper edition) ISBN 978-82-7422-928-0 (web edition)
Cover design: Fafo Information office Printed in Norway by: Allkopi AS
Contents
Introduction ...5
Reports ... 7
Articles ...25
Op-eds. ... 41
Introduction
Over the past ten years, the issue of human trafficking has been acknowledged as a problem and an important area for policy intervention in Norway, as in many other countries. Ten years ago, in 2002, Norwegian authorities had just started their work against trafficking and on a law specifically targeting trafficking. A plan of action to promote prevention, criminal justice and assistance was also in the pipeline. Both were launched the year after. Early on the authorities also realised that as concerns over trafficking was raised in international and European fora, they were unable to answer the question of whether trafficking constituted a serious problem, or even a reality, in Norway. In addition, Norway, as a substantial aid donor, funded anti-trafficking interventions in several countries and through several international organisations.
Yet, there was an increasing realisation that little was known both about what were the most efficient ways of addressing the issue, as well as the real consequences of poli- cies and interventions. Research-based knowledge was needed to establish whether trafficking constituted a considerable problem in a Norwegian context and whether interventions funded abroad directed at preventing trafficking and assisting victims were actually working.
This is where Fafo came in. Having already worked on a UN multi-country project on child trafficking in the Balkans in 2002, and having experience in research with hidden and vulnerable populations, Fafo was well positioned to research this topic.
This marked the start of a number of research projects on human trafficking, involving a number of researchers and covering many diverse topics in this complex field. Fafo researchers have studied trafficking for prostitution in Norway and Eastern Europe, child trafficking in West Africa, discussed trafficking and transnational marriages, as well as many other topics that cast light on migration, exploitation and vulnerability.
This is an overview of Fafo publications on human trafficking and, as such, a re- flection of the social context these publications responded and related to. The human trafficking field has undergone dramatic changes over the past decade in Norway, in terms of the actual situation, policy responses, academic interest and general under- standing of the phenomenon. A considerable challenge in the early days of awareness of trafficking in Norway, was how public understandings of the phenomenon often took as their starting point forms of trafficking that were placed on the extreme end of the exploitation continuum, while not reflecting the broad scope of the legal definition
The situation today is a very different one. The concept of trafficking is today applied to a broad range of problems. With this, new challenges arise, and research based knowledge is important for informing decisions in a complex and ever changing land- scape. Fafo continues to be committed to executing relevant and thorough studies as the institute’s human trafficking research enters into its second decade.
Reports
The backbone of the dissemination of research on trafficking at Fafo has been reports directed at various groups of end-users. Fafo generally, and also the researchers working on trafficking, has been dedicated to making research-based knowledge available to as many readers as possible. The reports issued as part of Fafo’s trafficking programme have been widely distributed and read, and have played into policy processes on assistance, both at home and abroad.
The reports below are dissemination from research projects funded by several Norwegian ministries and Nordic funding bodies. They were often the response to a perceived need for more knowledge on a topical issue, often based on developments in the prostitutions market or in Norway’s international obligations to develop better tools to combat trafficking.
Brunovskis, Anette and Guri Tyldum (2004)
Crossing Borders. An Empirical Study of Transnational Prostitution and Trafficking in Human Beings. Fafo-report 426
This report presents the results of a study on foreign prostitution in Oslo. Firstly, we aimed to estimate the number of women selling sexual services, and the distribution of different nationalities in various arenas in the sex market. Secondly, we aimed to explore the mechanisms for trafficking women for sexual exploitation.
In Oslo in October 2003, there were approximately 600 women of over 40 different nationalities in prostitution in three different arenas: massage parlours, advertisements and the street. Only one third of the prostitutes in Oslo were of Norwegian origin.
Another third were of Asian origin, mainly from Thailand. The third largest group comprises women who originated from Eastern and Central Europe. The majority of prostitutes in Oslo were citizens or long-term residents – only about a third were in Norway on short-term stays.
It is very rare that women who become victims of trafficking are taken out of their countries against their will. The vast majority choose to migrate. Although the com- mon motivating factor is a need for money, not everyone comes from a background of poverty. Three broad reasons for wanting to migrate or engage in prostitution can be identified: response to an acute crisis, long-term poverty, and wanting more from life.
Most victims of trafficking as well as women in prostitution who are not trafficked have drawn on the assistance of others in order to be able to travel. Most of those who have provided the assistance come from the women’s immediate environment. The recruiters generally draw on a trust that is already established, either through a personal relationship, or through an extensive system for irregular migration where informal job offers are generally believed to lead to good opportunities to make money abroad.
Direct physical force is not the main way of controlling trafficking victims. Coer- cion may take a large variety of forms, from being locked in, to being manipulated or experiencing a gradual shift in the boundaries of what they have agreed they are willing to do. One way of describing many trafficking situations is “captive behind open doors”.
Most women leave their trafficking situations on their own and do not come directly into contact with police or services. Few women want to report their traffickers to the police. This is partially explained by a fear of repercussions, but equally important is the belief that it would make no difference. The most important factors that minimise insecurity in this regard are that the women are given information about the progress of their cases, and protection from traffickers. This protection must last longer than the duration of a trial; many women have expressed fear of convicted traffickers who are to be released from prison, or the friends or networks of the traffickers. It should, however, be noted that witness protection programmes entail some very negative consequences for the women in question. They may be isolated from their former
network, and have to start their lives all over again. In the cases we encountered, the women are the ones who are deprived of freedom rather than those who were respon- sible for trafficking them.
Riisøen, Kari Hauge, Anne Hatløy and Lise Bjerkan (2004)
Travel to uncertainty. A study of child relocation in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Mali. Fafo-report 440
This report presents the results of astudy of the link between child trafficking and child relocation in three West African countries: Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Mali. The main goal of the study was to detect whether traditional forms of child relocation, such as fostering and child work migration, have a preventive effect on child trafficking - or if on the contrary they increase the prevalence of trafficking, as has been claimed by some actors in the field. By analysing the different relocation arenas and the conditions met by the children in these arenas, the various relocation processes, and the background of relocated, trafficked, and non-relocated children and their families, we should also be able to identify the children at risk of being trafficked and the actions that should be taken to protect them.
Although the proportion of trafficked children seems small relative to relocated children, trafficking poses a real risk to children. Children are at risk for various reasons.
According to the children we met, becoming a victim of trafficking is down to bad luck.
All the same it is clear that social or economic problems, lack of perceived opportunities, ignorance, youth, and lack of education are factors that make a child more vulnerable to trafficking. Arguably, the systems of fosterage and sponsorship, when working properly, function as systems of caretaking and supervision and thereby have a preventive effect on trafficking. However, these systems depend on viable social networks, and without such networks a child at greater risk of being trafficked. Moreover, we found evidence that these systems can be – and increasingly are – abused.
Principal findings are that all working children in the three countries are at risk of being exploited, regardless of migration status; that children that are more exposed to trafficking are also to some extent more exposed to exploitation in general; and that some arenas and employers are more exploitative than others. Our fieldwork indicates that fishery, prostitution, and, to some extent, agriculture are exposed sectors. These are also the sectors where trafficked children are likely to be found, as children do not relocate on their own free will or upon the recommendation of friends and relatives to sectors or employers with a bad reputation: they need to be forced or taken by fraud.
Our overall recommendation is to give priority to children living and working in
to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, whether relocated or not. Sadly, this recommendation includes most of the children and youth in the three countries, as we found most of them to fall into the category of children vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking for one reason or another. It is our belief that children in West Africa will benefit more from policies and actions developed in accordance with this recommendation than from a more narrow focus on the elimina- tion of trafficking. NGOs already in place and knowledgeable in the field should, in cooperation with local and national authorities, work to inform employers, children, and parents on the risks of trafficking, and monitor and supervise certain employers and sectors.
Bjerkan, Lise (ed.) (2005)
A life of one’s own. Rehabilitation of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Fafo-report 477
This report presents the findings of a one-year-long research project related to the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in Serbia, conducted in cooperation between the Victimology Society of Serbia and Sør-Trøndelag University College. More specifically, our ambition has been to assess the mechanisms and pro- cesses involved in the identification and reintegration of victims of trafficking. In par- ticular, we have aimed to explore to what extent and in what ways victims’ expectations and needs are met during these processes. We have tried to shed light on as extensive a part of the rehabilitation process as possible – ideally from the time a victim escapes the trafficking situation until she is reintegrated. For this reason, we have based our study on repeated fieldworks and a series of interviews, primarily in Serbia, but also in Moldova and Italy. These countries are known as sending and receiving countries, respectively, for women trafficked through and/or from Serbia.
The study was premised on the need for more research-based information on the contents and effects of rehabilitation of victims of trafficking. Our interpretation of the term “rehabilitation” relates to the assisted process of recovery and training that is offered to women and girls who have been identified as victims of trafficking, primarily for sexual exploitation. In concrete terms, rehabilitation of women exposed to this form of trafficking contains certain basic services such as accommodation in a safe house or shelter, and assistance with regard to medical and psychological needs, legal rights, etc. Most rehabilitation programmes also offer some form of vocational training and/or educational courses.
The main chapters of this report reflect the four key areas of information that
and support to victims of trafficking; b) socio-economic background of the victims followed; c) victimisation and coping mechanisms during and after trafficking, and;
d) expectations and needs of victims and rehabilitation professionals during the assisted processes of rehabilitation and reintegration.
Tyldum, Guri, Marianne Tveit and Anette Brunovskis (2005) Taking Stock. A review of the existing research on trafficking for sexual exploitation. Fafo-report 493
The aim of this report is twofold. First, we want to give an overview of and insight into the main trends in research in this field. We summarise what is known about trafficking in women to and within Europe today, and also how we have come about knowing it, meaning a discussion of research methods used and their implications for the knowledge base. We aim to give a critical assessment of the quality of research on trafficking in women. Within this framework, we also discuss the understanding of the term trafficking in women, and different implications of various approaches to the field.
The understanding of the term trafficking in women has substantial consequences for how the phenomenon is both explained and approached, and in particular its linkages to prostitution continues to be a heatedly debated issue.
At the time of writing, there was a vast body of literature on human trafficking, but academic publications were still rare. The report therefore concludes that the knowledge base on human trafficking could benefit from more methodologically sound studies, produced in line with academic standards, and in particular solidly based empirical studies. In priorities for future research the report recommends that attention be given to evaluations of current counter trafficking policies and programs, as well as specialised in-depth studies of various sub-topics within the large and complex field of human trafficking. Studies that are explicitly comparative (in comparing i.e.
individual outcomes, nations, or communities) should be given priority.
Skilbrei, May-Len, Marianne Tveit and Anette Brunovskis (2006) Afrikanske drømmer på europeiske gater. Nigerianske kvinner i prostitusjon i Norge. Fafo-report 525
[African dreams on European streets: Nigerian women in prostitution in Norway]
Since the summer of 2004, Nigerian women have dominated street prostitution in Norway, both in the Norwegian capital Oslo and in other cities, and both in numbers and in public attention. The women from Nigeria are in a very different position than most other women in prostitution in Norway, and have different histories than e.g.
Eastern European women. The Ministry of Justice and the Police therefore funded a project aimed at creating knowledge about the situation of the women from Nigeria, and about under what circumstances they have come to Norway. The main focus of the study is the women’s current situation in Norway. The information about Nigeria, their travel out of the country, and stays in other European countries, function as a backdrop to understand and explore this topic.
To answer these questions, Skilbrei, Tveit and Brunovskis undertook a qualitative study among Nigerian women working in prostitution in Norway. They also performed interviews with professionals working with the group, such as social workers, NGO staff, police officers and border controllers. In addition they observed in street prosti- tution areas in the two cities, and followed the outreach work three organizations do among women in prostitution.
Skilbrei, Tveit and Brunovskis found that the women have ended up in Norway in different ways, but they have their reasons to leave Nigeria in common. The women talk about individual poverty and family responsibilities, and they talk about how it felt like living in a society where they trusted no one outside their families and where the future is uncertain. Many of the women or their families had to rely on assistance from agents or moneylenders and so they themselves or relatives had started accumu- lating debts already in Nigeria. Few travelled directly to Europe from Nigeria. Most of the women had travelled to Europe through different Western and Northern African countries. This travel was financed in different ways, and the women had varied control over their situation.
Their first meeting with Europe had been Italy or Spain. Nearly all the women we were in contact with during this research had a legal residence permit in Italy or Spain.
Most of them possessed a Schengen-visa and could therefore travel freely to other European countries. The debts they had accumulated were difficult to repay with the kind of work and conditions they experienced on the legal and illegal labour market in Italy and Spain, and this left them with a wish to travel onwards into Central and North Europe.
One important question was whether the women were victims of trafficking or if they had faced other forms of exploitation in the migration process. Skilbrei, Tveit and Bru- novskis found that women from Nigeria in prostitution in Norway is a vulnerable group, both because of debt, traffickers, pimps and family obligation. The situation they are in in Norway increases vulnerability due to lack of knowledge about the Norwegian society, poor living conditions and risk taking in prostitution.
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2007)
Leaving the past behind? When victims of trafficking decline assistance.
Fafo-report 2007:40
While many victims of trafficking are assisted within anti-trafficking programmes in various countries, a noted trend is that some victims of trafficking decline assistance.
This report describes the results of a qualitative study on the reasons for declining, and was conducted in Albania, Moldova and Serbia. Reasons fell broadly into three categories: Personal circumstances, problems with the way assistance was organised and offered and the social context including previous experiences with assistance.
When personal reasons were central for declining, assistance often hindered migra- tion. Victims sometimes aimed to migrate again, either for work or for independent prostitution. In other cases, particularly when victims had been returned to their home countries following police raids or document controls, they still found themselves bound to traffickers with imposed debts and did not feel free to accept assistance.
Families generally did not know that the victim had been trafficked, and were some- times sceptical of the offer being made, not understanding its contents or why it was necessary. There is a common assumption that victims of trafficking need assistance to recover and reintegrate into society. However, in several cases victims did not need any assistance or were able to cover their needs outside the anti-trafficking system.
When reasons to decline were tied to the assistance system, problems were identi- fied in communication, with issues tied to insufficient information given about what was offered, but also to victims’ capacity to process the information they were given, particularly if this was in the very initial stages after leaving a trafficking situation. In some cases assistance did not meet victims’ needs. Limited options to earn money while receiving assistance excluded victims providing for dependants. In other cases, the as- sistance paralleled the trafficking experience in terms of limited freedom in shelters and being transported to unknown locations, creating distrust and insecurity. Some victims feared that accepting help and shelter accommodation would be seen by their traffickers as co-operating with authorities.
The general social context also influenced decisions about assistance, not least general trust levels of institutions, the danger of being exposed as a trafficking victim and the (lack of ) identification with the victim role, both as a “trafficking victim”, but also as a “victim” in general.
The majority of victims who accepted assistance said they had no other option.
Victims who had good family relationships or other means of support generally returned home rather than enter into assistance programmes. One of the conclusions in the report is therefore that victims who do and do not enter into assistance may have different experiences and different levels of social support, meaning that there may be systematic differences between assisted and unassisted victims. The difference between assisted and unassisted victims is a finding that has implications both for policy and research. In the context of policy and programme development, there is a clear need for proper assessments and analysis of trafficking assistance efforts, both what works and equally what does not. Additionally, this should inform the reading of research based on interviews with assisted victims, taking into account likely biases in findings.
Summary and abridged reports
In response to the considerable interest in the findings in Leaving the past behind?
When victims of trafficking decline assistance two shorter versions were developed to reach policy makers and practitioners in a more accessible format than the original 160 page report. These abridged and summary reports have also been translated into
several languages:
Eight page summary report:
Brunovskis, A and Surtees, R (2008)
GMS-05 SIREN report: Why Victims of Trafficking Decline Assistance. Bangkok, Thailand: UNIAP
(Also translated into Chinese, Khmer, Laotian and Myanmar)
40 page abridged report:
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2012)
Leaving the past behind? When victims of trafficking decline assistance. Summary report. Fafo-report 2012:31
Translated versions:
Albanian:
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2012)
Ta lësh të kaluarën mbrapa? Kur viktimat e trafikimit refuzojnë ndihmën. Raport përm- bledhës. Fafo-report 2012:32
Romanian:
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2012)
Trecutul a rămas în urmă? În ce caz victimele traficului de persoane refuză asistenţa.
Rezumatul raportului. Fafo-report 2012:33
Russian:
Анетт Бруновскис и Ребекка Сертиз (2012)
Прошлое осталось позади? Когда жертвы торговли людьми отказываются от помощи. Краткий отчет. Fafo-report 2012:34
Serbian:
Anete Brunovskis i Rebeka Surtis (2012)
Ostaviti prošlost za sobom? Kad žrtve trgovine ljudima odbijaju pomoć. Pregled izveštaja.
Fafo-report 2012:35
Skilbrei, May-Len and Marianne Tveit (2007)
Facing Return. Perceptions of Repatriation among Nigerian Women in Prostitution in Norway. Fafo-report 2007:01
After having studied the migration and lives of Nigerian women involved in prosti- tution in Norway through the project African dreams on European streets in 2006, Fafo followed up by exploring how the group related to the fact that repatriation to Nigeria was a probable outcome for women without a permanent residence permit in Europe. Skilbrei and Tveit explore under what conditions return could be positive for the women, and what provisions should be made to make sure that it is. The authors identify how different groups of women relate to possible repatriation and describe and discuss the current framework for such repatriation. The women can be divided into four groups according to needs and attitudes. Those who have just arrived in Europe and have not begun to fulfil the plans they migrated to reach are generally very negative towards a possible return to Nigeria. Their reasons for and attitudes to migration have not changed and, if returned, they will perhaps migrate again under uncertain conditions. The second group of women have tried their luck in Europe for a while without having reached the goals they thought they would attain. They realise that it is harder to make it in Europe than they thought, and some of these women are quite positive to return to Nigeria if there are prospects of money or jobs there. They stress that they would be dependent on having a secure income in Nigeria in order to go back. The third group consists of women who, after several years in Europe, have let go of the belief that they can make it here. They find themselves forced to work in prostitution in order to provide for family in Nigeria and/or to repay traffickers and others, and see no end to their current life situation. These women feel helpless and miserable, and many would be ready to return if they believed a return to Nigeria might improve their situation. They will need substantial help and support to start a new life in Nigeria, as they come back without money and self-confidence, struggling with personal traumas and depression. The last group consists of women who feel that they, at least to some degree, have accomplished what they came to Europe for.
Their goals may have been adjusted in the process, but they are confident that their current situation is better than it they had not left for Europe. They have papers and/
or an economic situation that enables them to choose independently whether or not to return to Nigeria. These women will likely figure as attractive role models for girls and women in Nigeria that dream about migrating to Europe.
For the women in all four groups, certain factors influence their attitudes towards return and perceived possibilities in Nigeria: their reasons for leaving Nigeria in the first place, their autonomy in the migration process, current ties to Nigeria, legal status and number of years in Europe, age, accumulated debt, and provider responsibilities.
Holmström, Charlotta and May-Len Skilbrei (eds.) (2008) Prostitution i Norden. Forskningsrapport. TemaNord-rapport
Prostitution is an issue that stirs the interest of both politicians and the general public.
The fact that people pay for and sell sex is considered a challenge for the Nordic wel- fare states. It is complicated, however, to devise a policy to deal with prostitution, not least because the market is constantly changing. There are differences and similarities between the Nordic countries in terms of the development of the prostitution market, the scope of prostitution, related legislation and social interventions, and attitudes and beliefs regarding prostitution. The Nordic Ministers for Gender Equality (MR-JÄM) commissioned the Nordic Gender Institute (NIKK) to carry out a research project to focus on the Nordic countries’ differences and similarities in devising prostitution policies. The aim of the project was to describe, illustrate and analyze the state of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes in the Nordic countries today.
Eleven researchers from various disciplines in the Nordic countries participated in the project. Charlotta Holmström and May-Len Skilbrei headed the project. The project was carried out over one year, and researchers worked with three problem areas in the context of the Nordic countries: (1) scope of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes, (2) judicial and social action to combat prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation, and (3) attitudes and beliefs regarding prostitution and traf- ficking for sexual exploitation. Information from the autonomous areas, from Faroe Islands, Greenland and the Aland Islands was also included.
The overall aim of the project was to develop and expand knowledge about prosti- tution and human trafficking for sexual purposes in the Nordic countries. The studies particularly focus on official documents, compiled data obtained from various authori- ties and organizations, and research reports. In many cases, data was complemented through interviews. The growing number of foreign women working in prostitution has placed the question of trafficking for sexual exploitation high on the political agenda.
All of the Nordic countries have developed strategies to address the problem, both in the form of prevention, judicial remedies, and victim support. The changing situation is creating challenges for each country’s judicial and social welfare systems. Another consideration is that all the Nordic countries have signed and ratified international conventions on human trafficking. All in all, the country studies provide a compre- hensive view of the situation as it stands in and between the Nordic countries. To some extent, it is possible to conduct descriptive comparisons in terms of scope, prevalence, and judicial and social action. Results from studies on attitudes and beliefs do not yield descriptive comparisons, these country studies were therefore focused on deepening our understanding about attitudes toward prostitution and human trafficking.
Tyldum, Guri and Marianne Tveit (2008)
Someone who cares. A study of vulnerability and risk in marriage migration from Russia and Thailand to Norway. Fafo-report 2008:26 With this report we have tried to shed light on some of the challenges marriage mi-
grants to Norway face, with a particular emphasis on issues tied to vulnerability and exploitation. An important aim of the project has been to illuminate to what extent the theoretical and legal frameworks of human trafficking can and should be used for parts of this population as well. The report describes the paths that lead into transnational marriage; motivating factors, facilitators, structural and legal frameworks that inhibit or stimulate movement, and not least, perceptions of risk and gain. Furthermore, we focussed on the challenges marriage migrants face in the process of ending a marriage, and how economic, structural and legal conditions influence women’s options. Our main focus is organized marriage migration, where at least one of the spouses has taken deliberate steps to find a partner abroad.
Foreign women marrying a Norwegian are generally presented as different from other immigrants. Three main representations of marriage migrants are presented in media, and in public and private discourses. While the idea of the marriage migrant as a traditional wife, with traditional family values and true femininity, is dominant in many groups where marriage migration is widespread, other discourses present them as either cunning materialists (with agency) or passive victims (without agency). These perceptions influence the way marriage migrants are treated by their husbands, as well as by social services, immigration office and other public authorities.
Another important part of this framework that determines what options marriage migrants have in Norway is legislation regulating transnational marriages. The current framework can increase the women’s vulnerability, rather than protect them, sometimes making it difficult to leave even an abusive marriage before three years have passed.
There is nothing in our findings that suggests that men who marry women from transitional or developing countries are more likely to have an intention to exploit or in other ways behave worse than those who enter into other forms of marriages in Norway.
However, the discursive and legislative frameworks described in this report, in combi- nation with the women’s lack of resources, creates a greater potential for exploitation and abuse if someone is tempted to abuse their position of power. Simultaneously this framework gives these women less protection than other women who are exposed to abuse.
Although these women can be without protection, and as such may be less able to leave when exposed to exploitation, they are not necessarily victims of trafficking, because the abuser (the husband) may not intend to put her in such a situation. It is often the legal, cultural and economic elements of the transnational migration systems that create this vulnerability, and not a group of traffickers. However, the report documents several cases
where the husband systematically acts to stop his wife from gaining independence that can enable her to leave him. In such cases we recommend that trafficking legislation is applied.
Brunovskis, Anette, May-Len Skilbrei and Marianne Tveit (2010) Pusterom eller ny start? Evaluering av refleksjonsperioden for ofre for menneskehandel. Fafo-report 2010:45
[Breathing space or a new start? Evaluation of the reflection period for victims of human trafficking]
This report presents an evaluation of the Norwegian reflection period for assumed victims of trafficking, conducted by Fafo and commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry for Justice and the Police. The reflection period is a temporary residence permit for assumed victims of trafficking, with duration of six months (which is long, compared with many other European countries). Its intention is to allow for victims to escape exploitation, receive assistance and protection, and be given time and space to reflect upon whether or not to cooperate with police.
The main questions in this report are: How does the reflection period function for victims of trafficking in Norway today, what are the strengths and weaknesses in its current form? Does the reflection period contribute to increased prosecution of human trafficking? And how does the reflection period relate to other legislation and other forms of residency in Norway?
An important finding is that the length of the reflection period is both a strength and a weakness. Its strength is that is reaches relatively many; its weakness that victims risk passivity over a long period of time due to lacking contents in assistance. Concerning whether the reflection period contributes to prosecution, one of the most important elements is contact between the police and the victims during the reflection period.
When contact is closer, police tend to assess the reflection period as a more useful tool.
There are, however, differing opinions on how close this contact should be. A current problem is that victims will often wait until the last moment (almost six months) be- fore giving a statement to the police, resulting in outdated and irrelevant information, making investigation difficult. Victims granted reflection periods will often either have previously applied for asylum, or do so after the reflection period is over. As these two paths are financed by the state and the municipalities respectively, problems arise in continuity of the assistance that was originally initiated, creating problems, both and system and individual level.
There is a tension between the goals of assistance and prosecution. If the reflection period were to function optimally as a tool for prosecution, it should be shorter. If the
intention were solely assistance to victims, it should be longer. At present it comes across as a compromise between the two intentions, which different professionals in the field problematize to a varying degree. The reflection period is marked by having been established in response to a certain pressure to act fast against human traffick- ing: Thus, the consequences and practical aspects of the reflection period were not clear before it was established. At the same time, it is important to remember what the alternative used to be, with victims not being identified by the system, and treated in a way that potentially increased vulnerability, for instance through forced returns.
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2012)
Out of sight? Approaches and challenges in the identification of trafficked persons. Fafo-report 2012:28
Identification of trafficking victims continues to be one of the greatest challenges in anti-trafficking work. There are many different ways that victims exit trafficking, are identified and come into contact with the anti-trafficking framework and their various assistance options. Nevertheless, many victims go unidentified and are consequently subject to continued exploitation or unable to access the rights afforded them under international conventions. The main goal in this report is to disentangle how the identification of trafficked persons takes place in South Eastern Europe as well as situations in which it does not occur and the reasons for this. This report discusses missed opportunities for identification of trafficking victims, including the very real and personal implications for these trafficked individuals, based on interviews with 43 victims of trafficking and 99 key informants in the anti-trafficking sector.
While the majority of respondents were identified as victims and subsequently of- fered assistance, in many cases the identification process was only partially successful.
While some anti-trafficking actors responded in an appropriate, timely and sensitive fashion, others did not. For some victims, this substantially prolonged their traffick- ing experience. In addition, certain categories of victims appeared to be less likely to be identified. One serious impediment to identification was preconceived notions of how a victim behaves and who was most likely to be a victim. Victims who were per- ceived to be voluntarily involved in the sex industry were less likely to be recognised as potential victims. Current responses similarly appear to be insufficiently capable of identifying atypical victims, such as victims of internal trafficking or male victims outside of the sex industry.
The majority of respondents self-identified – that is, they recognised their situation as exploitative and sought help. The second most common identification method was
through police and law enforcement, followed by social assistance agencies and, finally, clients in the sex industry.
Among those victims who were identified as trafficked, some had been exploited for lengthy periods of time and during that time came in contact with actors who should have possessed the skills to identify them as trafficked. However, a number of factors appear to have impeded identification efforts. One issue was the structure of the anti- trafficking response. In many countries, mechanisms for screening and identification in arenas where victims might readily be identified – amongst irregular migrants, asylum seekers and deportees, to name a few – are inadequate.
Identification was not always seen as a positive by those who had found ways to man- age and cope with their trafficking experience. Persons in less exploitative conditions, those who had been able to save or remit some amount of money, those whose material circumstances while trafficked were better than at home, those who had already made plans for escape but planned to remain abroad and those who had forged relationships with a client and intended to marry and remain abroad, all displayed greater resistance to being identified as victims.
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2012)
A fuller picture. Addressing trafficking related assistance needs and socio-economic vulnerabilities. Fafo-report 2012:29
Assistance and protection for trafficked persons is a key pillar of the anti-trafficking response framework. It has been incorporated into international conventions and domestic legislation on trafficking, and is an integral part of a human rights-based response to trafficking. In addition, effective assistance and protection can improve both prevention and prosecution efforts.
This report is based on interviews with 43 victims of trafficking and 99 key in- formants in the anti-trafficking sector, and addresses three main questions: a) What do victims of trafficking see as useful and important assistance; b) To what extent are these needs met within the current system; c) How could interventions respond better to the assistance needs of trafficked persons?
One overarching conclusion is that trafficking results in a range of both short- and long-term assistance needs for women trafficked for sexual exploitation. Significant assistance was needed to address the direct results of their exploitation and was, for many respondents, pivotal in their recovery and regaining a sense of control over their lives. This included medical assistance for trafficking-related injuries and illnesses; legal assistance in cases against traffickers or in migration related issues; accommodation to
immediately after trafficking; and psychological and emotional support to cope with the impact of trafficking. Because many of these trafficking-related assistance needs have been the main focus of the anti-trafficking assistance system to date, it was often possible for organisations and, increasingly, state institutions within the anti-trafficking assistance system, to meet many of these needs. That being said, access, scope and qual- ity of anti-trafficking services varied considerably, not only from country to country but also between individual organisations and assistance models.
While trafficking had a debilitating impact in the lives of many of the victims we interviewed, many victims’ most important and pressing assistance needs were not directly caused by trafficking. Rather, the assistance they required most urgently and often over longer periods of time was a function of their social and economic exclu- sion and vulnerability. Many lacked general medical care for themselves and their family, or had no access to education, training, and employment opportunities. Many needed safe housing for themselves and their dependents or legal advice unrelated to trafficking (such as to obtain legal documents or in connection with divorce or custody proceedings). Where these needs existed, this was a reflection of, and substantial factor in, their social and economic vulnerability. Moreover, many of the needs described as most important by respondents were related to general social and economic issues and were shared by many others within the population at large.
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2012)
No place like home? Challenges in family reintegration after trafficking.
Fafo-report 2012:30
Assistance to trafficked women and girls has, in many countries, included a strong focus on repatriation and reintegration in families and, where appropriate, the local community. Indeed, in our interviews with trafficked women and girls, many have said:
“I just wanted to go home”. However, many also found that the process of “coming home” and re-establishing their lives was far from smooth. In this report, we describe and disentangle the main challenges that trafficked women and girls faced in this situation, based on interviews with 43 victims of trafficking and 99 key informants in the anti-trafficking sector.
There is a need to expand the focus of assistance, both practically and conceptu- ally, to take into account trafficking victims’ families and family situations. There is no doubt that the impact of human trafficking is most central for trafficked persons themselves. At the same time, family members can be profoundly affected by the traf- ficking of their family member. When the family knows what has happened (which is
by what their family member has suffered. When the family does not know about the trafficking, the victim’s sometimes stressed (and even aggressive) behaviours can be confusing and hurtful and lead to conflict and tension within the family. Moreover, the often significant economic fallout of trafficking negatively impacts the family, either through debt incurred or failure to earn money.
Further, family members can (and often do) play a crucial role in the successful reintegration of trafficking victims but they can also be a hindrance in recovery if relationships become too difficult. Among the problems faced were conflicts and mutual disappointments. Thus, to fail to take the family into account in interventions is to miss an important, arguably even pivotal, factor in the reintegration process itself.
As families in this context often function as economic units in some form, address- ing the financial needs of families as a whole may go a long way towards mitigating tension between formerly trafficked women and their relatives. Further, we have, in many cases, seen that success in another field, for instance in terms of economic security can be an important factor in alleviating stigma in local communities. It is, therefore, important consider interventions and assistance that target the family unit as a whole.
That being said, in all anti-trafficking work it is crucial to keep in mind the vast array and variation of experiences and needs of trafficked persons. This is by no means a homogenous group with similar trajectories through trafficking, similar priorities or aspirations afterward or even similar understandings of whether or not they have been victimised. The experiences of trafficking victims accessed through assistance organisations may not be consistent with those of unidentified or unassisted victims and, thus, suitable reintegration interventions will necessarily differ.
Articles
In addition to writing easily accessible reports useful to end-users, Fafo’s trafficking research has also been disseminated in a series of academic articles and book chapters.
These have built on a combination of applied and basic research, with funding from Norwegian ministries, Nordic funding bodies and the Research Council of Norway.
Particularly in the early days of trafficking research, the field was more focused on applied reports and less oriented towards publication in academic journals. Both forms of research are important. Reports and working papers have the advantage of speed and accessibility – they are relatively easy to produce and can be quickly published and disseminated. As such, they can be important contributions and corrections in a field of fast paced policy development and opinion formation. Academic publishing, on the other hand, can be time consuming and articles may not see the light of day until sometimes years after they were first written and submitted to a journal. This is not least due to the often lengthy process of peer review – the quality control undertaken by other (generally anonymous) qualified professionals in a relevant field. This process challenges authors and, at its best, pushes researchers towards more precise analyses and theoretical framings of their work. As such, academic publishing also feeds back into policy oriented work through an on-going learning process.
Academic articles on human trafficking by Fafo researchers cover a range of topics:
Understandings and framing in policy and justice systems of trafficking, prostitution, child labour and child relocation; methodological and ethical issues in trafficking re- search; theoretical framings of empirical findings (for instance in terms of how women handle their prostitution and their migration, their meetings with the assistance system) and so on. A distinguishing feature of these articles are their strong empirical basis, drawing on rich data often collected in the context of applied and commissioned re- search, again illustrating the close bond between practical and academic research at Fafo.
Tyldum, Guri and Anette Brunovskis (2005)
“Describing the Unobserved: Methodological Challenges in Empirical Studies on Human Trafficking.” International Migration, 43(1/2)
As the international awareness to the problem of trafficking in persons increased, the number of studies and publications on the topic escalated. A substantial number of these publications set out to describe the various elements associated with human traf- ficking, including estimates of the scope of the phenomenon, descriptions of trends, and characteristics of victims. However, the methodologies applied are not always well suited for these purposes, and inferences are often made based on very limited data.
This paper discusses the production of various types of data on human trafficking, analyses existing data and research, and suggests methods for improving data collection techniques and developing new methodologies. We focus both on the development of estimates of victims of trafficking, as well as the production of data that describes the characteristics of this group.
Current data sources where victims of trafficking can be unambiguously identified (i.e. data from law enforcement and rehabilitation centres) do not cover more than a small proportion of the total population of victims of trafficking. The populations that are covered are most likely marked by strong selection bias, and are not representative of the total population of victims. Any production of data or estimates of victims of trafficking should be based on clear conceptual, but also practical, identification of who the target group is, and who the inferences are valid for. Survey data of evasive or difficult to reach populations may be difficult and costly to produce. However, halfway solutions will seldom work: the only thing worse than no data is wrong and misleading data.
While the production of reliable statistics and estimations of numbers and charac- teristics of victims is important for the further development of policies and research on trafficking, the importance of other research topics should not be ignored. In this paper we have considered mainly the statistical aspects of data gathering on victims of trafficking. Although statistical data can be instructive and useful, as we pointed out initially, there is also a need to understand the processes by which men and women experience trafficking.
Brunovskis, Anette (2007)
”Hjemme best? Situasjonen for hjemvendte ofre for menneskehandel på Balkan og i Øst-Europa.” Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning, 31(1)
[Home, sweet home? The situation for returned victims of trafficking in the Balkans and Eastern Europe]
This article discusses the situation for victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation who return to their home countries in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. On return they will generally face difficult conditions with respect to their financial situation and fear of traffickers. Their situation will often be further complicated by ambiguity in the roles they are assigned by their social environment, with respect to whether they are seen as victims of crime or moral deviants. The ambiguity is also visible in some assistance systems for trafficked women and girls, where the blame for being trafficked is some- times placed on the victims themselves. Some assistance organisations operate with severe restrictions for the women and girls they assist, and it is unclear whether they primarily define them as victims of crime, or deviants that need treatment. Restrictions come in the form of control of contact with people outside the shelters and constraints on movement. The article discusses how this ambiguous role may be seen in light of unclear points in the international definition of human trafficking in the so-called Palermo Protocol. The different understandings of trafficking for sexual exploitation and prostitution are subject to debate within policy discussions and research, but can also be traced in the specific experiences of returned and assisted trafficked women and girls.
Brunovskis, Anette (2007)
“Når ofre for menneskehandel sier nei til hjelp”. I: Liv Jessen (red.), Det ideelle offer – andre tekster om prostitusjon. Oslo: Kolofon Forlag
[When victims of trafficking decline assistance]
A tabloid representation of human trafficking often refers to “the new slaves”. With this understanding as a starting point, it can be difficult to comprehend why many trafficking victims decline the assistance that is offered to them. What slave does not want to be free? In reality, human trafficking is usually far more complex, and even though some stories of trafficking may have slavery-like components, the picture is multifaceted and varied. There isn’t one typical story of what human trafficking looks like; there are many. And for many victims, the analogy to slavery will seem strange and
unfamiliar. Still, this may not necessarily mean that they would not have benefitted from assistance. One of the questions is whether current assistance meets the needs of all types of victims.
This article describes some of the reasons victims of trafficking decline assistance, including reasons that makes it difficult to accept, and reasons that they may not want to accept, based on a interviews with trafficking victims in three Balkan countries (see also Brunovskis and Surtees (2007) Leaving the past behind? When victims of trafficking decline assistance). This study found that victims who accept assistance appear to have a different profile from those who declined. For the most part, those who accepted felt that they had few other alternatives.
Skilbrei, May-Len (2007)
”Natashas to liv: Østeuropeiske kvinner forteller om migrasjon, prostitusjon og skam.” Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning, 31(1)
[The double life of Natasha: Eastern European women speak of migration, prostitution and shame]
In the last ten years, the increasing number of foreign women working in prostitution in Norway has changed both how the prostitution markets appear and how the pub- lic debate on prostitution plays out. But does the migration itself do something with how prostitution is experienced by the women selling sex? This article explores how prostitution in the context of migration is experienced for women from the former Soviet Union, asking whether the fact that they migrate back and forth between their home country and Norway for prostitution influences the relationship between their prostitution and their personal lives. The article further explores what mechanisms the women apply to manage the prostitution and to protect themselves against it and the stigma it entails.
Brunovskis, Anette and Surtees, Rebecca (2008)
“Agency or illness – conceptualization of trafficking victims’ choices and behaviors in the assistance system.” Gender, Technology and Development, 12(1)
Trafficking in women has become a high profile issue during recent years. However, there is still relatively little attention being paid to assistance systems for the victims, more particularly to how assistance is conceptualized and implemented. In this article, the authors argue that there are attitudes and values inherent in many of these systems that are not necessarily conducive to the recovery of trafficking victims. Through an analysis of interviews with institutional representatives in southeast Europe and vic- tims of trafficking, the authors argue that there is a tendency to pathologize women’s choices to migrate and to enter prostitution as a means of explaining this ‘deviant’
behaviour. This, in turn, opens up for the use of restrictions for victims of trafficking, in the form of limitations in and supervision of communication with people outside the assistance system and also closed shelter facilities. Restrictions may infantilize program beneficiaries and impact their agency and ability to dissent and negotiate within the program framework. Further, they reflect a focus on how these women and their behaviours seemingly need to be corrected to conform to a preconceived idea of a victim of trafficking and a ‘rehabilitated victim’. To some extent, these beliefs are also adopted by trafficked women and girls who receive assistance.
Skilbrei, May-Len (2008)
”Rettslig håndtering av prostitusjon og menneskehandel i Norge”. In:
Charlotta Holmström and May-Len Skilbrei (eds.), Prostitution i Norden.
Forskningsrapport. TemaNord report
[Legal treatment of prostitution and human trafficking in Norway]
The welfare offered through social work in Norway are distributed in different ways and with somewhat different rationales, and in this chapter, Tveit and Skilbrei discuss the relationship between ideology and practice. The modern welfare state solves problems in different ways than other societies, and instead of only intervening in citizens’ lives through prohibitions and injunctions, the citizens are given help to change. While much research focuses on how the prohibitions and injunctions in relation to the parties in prostitution forms the phenomenon and experience of it, there has been less focus on studying the consequences of different kinds of social work. In this chapter Tveit and Skilbrei describe how social work focused on prostitution and human trafficking
is conducted in contemporary Norway and discuss some of the implications this has.
They find that efforts aimed at assisting women in prostitution in Norway are done with different ideological rationales, even though much of the work done in practise is the same. A major deficiency is the lack of social work directed towards men who sell sexual services. While the measures aimed at assisting victims of human traffick- ing have expanded in recent years, there is still a lack of recognition of how trafficking also take place outside prostitution arenas. The social measures so far can be criticized for being undifferentiated and inflexible. Today, one is more aware than a few years back on the fact that victims of trafficking have very diverse needs, and several of the measures are now under revision.
Skilbrei, May-Len and Marianne Tveit (2008)
“Defining Trafficking Trough Empirical Work. Blurred Boundaries and their Consequences.” Gender, Technology and Development, 12(1)
The definition of trafficking in the United Nation (UN) Protocol on Trafficking from 2000 is the starting point of different countries’ definition of trafficking. In Norway, as in other countries, there are still difficulties in identifying victims of trafficking in the day-to-day work of the police, social workers and others. The definitions of and demar- cation between human trafficking and human smuggling have grave consequences for legal approaches, policies and the assistance offered. It is thus necessary to continually discuss how to define trafficking if we want the term to be a fruitful tool in framing the phenomenon—which in turn impacts the ability to aid victims, prevent victimiza- tion and to prosecute traffickers. In this article we approach this matter through two qualitative studies among Nigerian women in prostitution in Norway. Their stories are complex and their travels long, and along the way, their migration and prostitution has been organized by different agents. These agents were sometimes human traffickers;
other times smugglers of migrants. In this article, we explore which is which, with the definition in UN’s Trafficking Protocol as our starting point. This article is an attempt to analyze the complexities of the women’s situation in order to link theoretical debates on trafficking definitions with women’s lived experiences.
Kielland, A. and I. Bjørkhaug (2009)
“Child mobility in West Africa: strategy, poverty or crime?” Forum for Development Studies, 36(2)
Over the past decade, the extensive mobility of children in West Africa has been systematically mis-specified as child trafficking. This mis-specification is a result of political framing that aims to attract funding to the activities of international agencies and NGOs. Attracting funding towards a group of relocating children that are often in critical need of support is in principle admirable. However, the simplifications resulting from framing a complex phenomenon has in this case prevented actors from taking into account the more multifaceted causes of child mobility in the region, and has thus led to mis-specified and even harmful policies. The article encourages the application of a more solid knowledge base for future interventions in this area.
This article uses The Palermo Protocol (United Nations, 2000) as the point of departure to investigate the subject of child trafficking, and in the protocol article 3 (c) it is stated that ‘The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered ‘trafficking in persons’ even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article’. That is, whether there is a threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or position of vulnerability is irrelevant in defining a child as a victim of trafficking. The key word becomes ‘exploitation’. Agreeing on when a certain social relationship becomes exploitative will be decisive to decide who the traf- fic victims are. Trafficking of children is thus defined in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish from any situation of exploitation.
Considering the host of research and policy documents on child mobility in West Africa, three main hypotheses of its causes can be deducted: child mobility as a part of the household strategy to manage risk; child mobility driven by poverty; and child mobility as a crime. The three hypotheses have very different implications with regards to how we view child and family agency. When child mobility plays a strategic role ex-ante risks and shocks, there is considerable room for agency for both parents and child, often employed through bargaining with a prospective foster family or employer.
When poverty causes mobility family agency depends on the level of despair. Ambi- tious children may choose the risk of leaving a destitute home area under almost any condition over the even bleaker prospects of staying home. A poor newly-widowed woman may choose to send away her older children to be able to remarry and improve the livelihood of everybody. When poverty is binding, there is little room for agency left: the children may leave or starve at home. In the last case, of crime, no agency is assigned to the child and his/her family.
Are the means of political framing justified by a good cause? We question the com- mon silent acceptance of inaccurate and simplified representations of a phenomenon
with the aim of gaining attention to and support for needy and deserving groups. This article shows how ignoring or misrepresenting documentation ultimately leads to miss- specified policies and interventions, sometimes causing more harm than good. It does not, however, aim to discourage further efforts to design more adequate programs and policies to protect this group of vulnerable children.
Skilbrei, May-Len (2009)
”Nigeriansk prostitusjon på norsk: Feil kvinner på feil sted”. I: Wencke Mühleisen og Åse Røthing (red.), Norske seksualiteter. Oslo: Cappelen Akademisk Forlag
[Nigerian prostitution in Norwegian: Wrong women in the wrong place]
Prostitution involving migrants have become increasingly visible in the larger Nor- wegian cities in the last ten years. As nationalities come and go; debates and policies on prostitution differ. In this article represents an attempt to explore the relationship between developments within the prostitution market and changes in political and media debates on the phenomenon of prostitution. The starting point is debates on prostitution policies at the municipality level in the capital of Norway, Oslo. I discuss the discursive turn taking place when Norwegian street prostitution markets went from
‘white’ to ‘black’ as Nigerians from 2004 onwards made their presence heard. Also before 2004, many migrants were involved in street prostitution, particularly women from the Baltic States and the Balkans, and Norwegian street prostitution milieus have not been dominated by ethnic Norwegians since early 2000’s. The presence of women from Eastern and Southeastern Europe have indeed made their mark both on the prostitution market, its operation and policies put in place to deal with prostitu- tion, but the debates became even more heated when Nigerian women started selling sex in Norwegian cities. Not only were the women more visible than white women in the cityscape as black women, they also acted outside the boundary of the accepted by offering sexual services outside the traditional ‘Red Light District’ and doing it in a more direct way, signaling more openly than what was at that time common in Norwegian street prostitution markets. Their behavior was seen as creating a need for more police intervention into street prostitution markets and for new tools to combat prostitution. I argue that this development and the discourses they produced, created a sense of ‘a state of exception’, where policies and arguments that are not legitimate in the national discourse on prostitution, suddenly became palatable.
Starting from an analysis of debates on policy changes to deal with ‘the problem of the Nigerian women’ in the City Council over the years, contextualized in media
debates on the phenomenon and qualitative interviews with Nigerian women selling sex, I discuss how ‘ethnicity’ and nationalist concerns were given weight. This article is thus about how Nigerian women involved in prostitution in Norway is spoken about in discussions about how society should intervene in relation to the phenomenon of prostitution. Through this, I show that prostitution must be understood in a context where both cultural constructs and structural consequences of sex, sexuality, ethnicity,
“race” and nation are included.
Brunovskis, Anette and Rebecca Surtees (2010)
“Untold Stories: Biases and selection effects in research with victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.” International Migration, 48(4)
Recent discussions of trafficking research have included calls for more innovative studies and new methodologies in order to move beyond the current trafficking nar- rative which is often based on unrepresentative samples and overly simplified images.
While new methods can potentially play a role in expanding the knowledge base on trafficking, this article argues that the solution is not entirely about applying new methods, but as much about using current methods to greater effect and with careful attention to their limitations and ethical constraints. Drawing on the authors’ experi- ence in researching trafficking issues in a number of projects over the past decade, the article outlines and exemplifies some of the methodological and ethical issues which must be considered and accommodated when conducting research with trafficked persons – including unrepresentative samples; access to respondents; selection biases by
“gatekeepers” and self-selection by potential respondents. Such considerations should inform not only how research is undertaken but also how this information is read and understood. Moreover, many of these considerations equally apply when considering the application of new methods within this field. The article maintains that a better understanding of how these issues come into play and inform trafficking research will translate into tools for conducting improved research in this field and, by implication, new perspectives on human trafficking.
Jacobsen, Christine and May-Len Skilbrei (2010)
“Reproachable victims? Representations and self-representations of Russian women in transnational prostitution.” Ethnos, 75(2)
The article investigates how the concept of victimhood is constructed within debates on transnational prostitution and trafficking, and how representations of victimhood intersect with representations of the person/self, class, ethnicity, gender and national- ity. Using research findings based on observation and interviews with women from post-Soviet societies involved in prostitution in Norway, we discuss how the women embrace, resist or rework dominant representations of migrant prostitution and atten- dant notions of victimhood. We also examine how they relate to multiple notions of the person/self, femininity and nation through their handling of the stigma of prostitution.
Skilbrei, May-Len (2010)
”Taking Trafficking to Court.” Women & Criminal Justice, 20(1)
During the last decade, sex trafficking has been high on the political agenda in Norway, and it has been made a priority to prosecute cases after a new section on trafficking was introduced in the Penal Code in 2003. The article present an analysis of court cases on sex trafficking in Norway, and how judges debate the boundaries that need to be drawn between trafficking and others crimes and situations. Sex trafficking is not only an area for legal intervention and policy development; it also is an area of great public interest. The article also discusses the relationship between the legal and non-legal as a challenge in trafficking cases.
Also published as Skilbrei, May-Len (2010), “Taking Trafficking to Court”. In: Frances Bernat (ed.), Human Sex Trafficking. Routledge
Skilbrei, May-Len and Charlotta Holmström (2010)
”Nordisk prostitusjonspolitikk: Ser vi framveksten av en nordisk modell?”
Nordisk tidsskrift for kriminalvidenskap, 97(3)
[Nordic prostitution policies: The emergence of a Nordic model?]
The prostitution policies implemented in the Nordic countries have gone through major changes over the past 15 years. A change that has drawn a lot of attention, both
