Mapping Organised Crime. A Market Perspective on Trafficking in Persons for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation (2007 - 2008)

Background information

The study was a joint project of the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), the Estonian Institute of Law at Tartu University and HEUNI. The aim was to study the role of organised crime in human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Project was co-financed by the European Union. HEUNI’s task was to collect and analyse the data and report the results regarding Finland. The data consisted of pre-trial investigations, court documents, expert interviews and media reports.

Main findings and outcomes of the project

• Sweden and Finland are mainly destination countries of trafficking for sexual exploitation, while Estonia is mainly a source country.
• The size of criminal organisations and their profits vary.
• Victims are women, who have usually been recruited informally from Estonia or Russia, and sexual services are marketed on the Internet.
• Women are controlled in many ways, most often through economic control such as daily fees and debt bondage.

The final report was published by Brå and it covers the results of Estonia, Finland and Sweden. It is available here and HEUNI report nr 62 here.

For more information:

Minna Viuhko: minna.viuhko(at)om.fi