Helsingin Sanomat - Surge in investigations for human trafficking

Helsingin Sanomat  

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Surge+in+investigations+for+human+trafficking/1135270087824 

Minority ombudsman praises active police

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Finnish officials have launched a record number of investigations into suspected cases of human trafficking this year.
      

By early December the police and the Finnish Border Guard have either launched investigations or received criminal complaints relating to 25 separate cases of suspected trafficking in humans.
     
Previously there have been about ten suspected cases of human trafficking each year.
   

   This year, dozens of people are believed to have been victims of human trafficking in cases that are fairly equally distributed around Finland.

     “We have made a conscious decision to put efforts into the unmasking of human trafficking”, says Deputy Police Commissioner Robin Lardot.
     
The increase in investigations into suspected cases of human trafficking has more to do with increased police activity in the matter than any actual increase in the number of crimes.
  

    “I doubt that human trafficking as a phenomenon has changed significantly in Finland”, Lardot says.

      In previous years, crimes involving suspected human trafficking may have been investigated as procurement or extortion, for which it is easier to find evidence than for human trafficking. Police expect that there will be more convictions specifically for human trafficking in the future.
     
The Ombudsman for Minorities had criticised the police earlier in the year for not sufficiently recognising the signs of human trafficking in their investigations.

      Now Venla Roth, chief inspector at the Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities, praises the police for investigating suspected cases more pro-actively than before.

      Punishments for human trafficking are considerably more severe than for procurement, for instance.

      Aggravated human trafficking can bring a ten-year prison sentence, while the maximum sentence for procurement is just six years.
     
Whether a crime is prosecuted as human trafficking or something else can also have significance for the victim.

      If the charge is human trafficking, the victim can officially be seen as a plaintiff, and not just as a witness. Plaintiffs are entitled to legal counsel.

      “Because of legal counsel, possible sexual abuse, violence, and intimidation are more easily revealed”, says Venla Roth.

      She also believes that victims who get the official status of plaintiffs in a court case can have easier access to systems of assistance for victims of human trafficking.