Response to interpellation 2023/24:556 on gangs' funding from prostitution
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the gangs' financing through prostitution and human trafficking. M believes that prostitution and human trafficking must be combated as they exploit people and finance organized crime 1. M emphasizes that the government is working on a broad front to choke the criminal economy 1, but argues that the police have not been able to improve their results due to competition for resources 2. M wants to tear down secrecy barriers 2, resource social services and civil society 2, develop individual exit programs 3 as well as investigate girls' involvement in criminal networks 3. S believes that prostitution is a deeply rooted part of organized crime 4. S argues that resources for human trafficking have been deprioritized 5 and demands a crisis commission for men's violence against women 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! Anna Wallentheim has asked me how I and the government are working to combat prostitution as part of the work to stop the financing of organized crime.
I completely agree with Anna Wallentheim that prostitution as a means and source of income for organized crime must be combated. Through prostitution and other forms of exploitation, people, most often women who are already in a vulnerable situation, are exploited in a cynical and ruthless manner.
The government is working on a broad front against organized crime. To prevent and combat the demand for the purchase of sexual services, as well as to offer crime victims the protection and support they need, is an important part of this work. Another important part is to choke off the criminal economy. The proceeds from crime are not only a livelihood for criminals, but they are also used to reinvest in criminal activities.
In recent years, the number of reported crimes regarding the purchase of sexual services has increased, and a large proportion of the reported sex-purchase crimes are solved. In, for example, Stockholm and Malmö, the Police Authority has specifically designated resources working against prostitution. Furthermore, in all police regions, there is either a section, a group, or investigative resources responsible for investigating human trafficking and human exploitation.
The government's ambition is, of course, that no human being should be exploited for sexual purposes. That is why, during 2023, the government provided additional funds and gave a total of 22 million kronor to the Gender Equality Authority for their mission to strengthen the work against sexual exploitation of children, prostitution, and human trafficking. The same amount has been granted for 2024 for continued reinforced work on these issues.
As late as December, the government also received the report Ut ur utsatthet, which, among other things, submits proposals for individually designed exit programs for adults who are exposed to prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes, as well as proposals for the design and organization of programs for children exposed to sexual exploitation and human trafficking for sexual purposes. The report has been sent out for consultation. I will return when we have this basis.
The government is also working intensively to develop a new action program to counter and combat men's violence against women, other forms of violence in close relationships, and honor-related violence and oppression, including prostitution and human trafficking, which shall apply for 2024-2026.
Finally, I also want to highlight the importance of international cooperation. Sweden has a close cooperation with other countries and actors, both globally and within the EU. During the Swedish presidency of the EU, the government organized a conference focusing on how to counter the demand for prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! Prostitution can often be seen as one of the most visible and at the same time one of the most hidden forms of crime. It is hidden in brothels, it is hidden in advertisements, it is hidden on the internet and it is hidden on the streets. It is there, but yet not.
I want to start by highlighting that we must realize that behind every prostitute there is a history of mental illness, of exploitation, of coercion and of exploitation. Behind every prostitute there is a victim, and above all, these victims are women.
Furthermore, the links between prostitution and organized crime are deeply rooted and affect not only those who are directly involved but society as a whole.
Organized crime views prostitution as a lucrative activity due to its potential to generate large profits. Unlike drugs, women are considered a commodity that can be sold over and over again.
We also know that human trafficking and exploitation are common within prostitution. Many women and children who are drawn into prostitution are controlled by organized criminal networks.
The links to other forms of crime are also something that is worrying. Prostitution activities controlled by organized crime are often linked to other illegal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons smuggling.
In the dark shadow of gang crime, we have recently been able to read about how young girls and women in Sweden are being exploited as commodities, where gangs send young girls and women between one another as a way to pay off their debts. This was something that could be read about as recently as a week ago. Women become victims of human trafficking and are treated as objects by the gangs, for the profit of others.
Madam Speaker! I view many parts of the Minister's response positively. It gives me great hope that more new measures regarding prostitution, human trafficking, violence against women, and so on will be introduced, and that this can hopefully be on the Riksdag's table soon. This is welcome, for this is a task that is important not only to strengthen the protection for the women who become victims but also to choke off a part of the funding of the gangs that increase their violence capital and abuses against the entire society.
The Minister's answer seemed to indicate that one actually sees the important connection between prostitution and the financing of the gangs. Still, the word prostitution is actually not included in the government's document Resilience and Action - a national strategy against organized crime, and I wonder if the Minister can provide any comment regarding that.
Furthermore, I would like to ask what the Minister and the Government are doing to accelerate the process of improving support for women to leave prostitution, especially with a focus on the absurd situation that the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) puts the women in by convicting them of accounting crimes when the income is considered taxable. This risks drawing these women into further prostitution as they have to pay off a tax debt.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank Anna Wallentheim for the opportunity to discuss these extremely important issues today.
May I start with the strategy? I want to say that the concept of human trafficking appears several times in it and that the phenomenon is pointed out as a central and extremely serious problem linked to organized crime. It has also been a fundamental chord in the measures we have carried out both nationally and in our international work at the EU level; I mentioned the broad approach we took regarding human trafficking issues through a separate conference in Stockholm.
An important starting point in the work with various initiatives at the EU level has been the insight into the importance of fighting organized crime on average and the cross-border dimension of it, for example arms smuggling. Also, the insight that human smuggling and human trafficking are also a central part of this crime, we have highlighted. We do so in the strategy and also in other contexts, and it is a guiding insight for the policy.
I also took note of the recent reporting that the criminal gangs also, as it appears, in a cynical and incredibly inhuman way use girls or young women as a kind of means of payment to settle debts between the networks, regardless of whether it concerns debts of a financial nature, honor debts, or other types. This is just another confirmation of the brutal, ruthless and, as it appears, totally norm-dissolved crime we have to deal with.
We naturally have a duty as a society, as a government, and as a parliament to do everything we can to stand up against this criminality and to protect and support the girls and young women who are affected by the criminal networks' cynical handling of them. I think that several of the things that have been mentioned both in my post and in Anna Wallentheim's post naturally belong there.
Close cooperation between the actors in social work, the justice system, and crime fighting is, of course, extremely central. Moving the positions when it comes to different measures, everything from exit programs to other things that we now have proposals for and that we are working on in the Government Offices and will return to in a concrete way, is of course extremely significant. I also mentioned the work plan that the Minister for Equality is responsible for and is working on, which is intended to, so to speak, create a systemic force when it comes to our collective efforts in society to attack the problem from different angles and provide help and support to vulnerable women.
Regardless of what role we have - whether we sit in government or parliament and regardless of which ministerial hat we wear - many will need to contribute so that we can break this development. I dare to assert that the Ministry of Justice has taken the lead in that work.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! The problem with prostitution and its connection to organized crime is a tough challenge for the police. We see that gang criminals exploit women and girls for sexual exploitation both within and outside of gang environments.
This is a complex problem, and it requires a unified and strategic effort. Therefore, it would have been desirable if the word prostitution had also been included in the letter. I am, however, grateful for the account, as the minister nevertheless points out how important it is that the concept of human trafficking is raised several times.
In recent years, the police have been forced to allocate ever greater resources to combating gang crime, which has unfortunately led to the work against human trafficking for sexual exploitation being deprioritized. Human trafficking groups have been disbanded or paused because resources have been forced to be sent to other types of organizations in order, among other things, to strike hard against gang crime. Therefore, it is a pity that the connection that exists between the two different units is not pointed out more clearly.
It is unacceptable that we have a situation where we cannot resolve the issue of prostitution. It is not just about ensuring that the police have the tools and resources required to be able to do their work in the best possible way, but also about us having to be clear from the political side. We must be clear and say that human trafficking and violence against women, where prostitution is included, must be priority areas even when it comes to the fight against gang crime. It is indeed worrying to see how resources are being reprioritized, especially considering that human trafficking is one of the most serious forms of organized crime. It is also a violation of people's human rights – which fuels gang crime.
It is not enough with only police measures. It also requires a collective effort from various social actors, just as the minister mentions. It is about authorities, voluntary organizations, community life, the business sector, and politics. By cooperating, we can indeed strengthen the protection for the women and girls who risk being drawn into human trafficking and prostitution while we combat the organized crime that exploits them.
It is worrying that so many signals are coming in regarding cuts to operations linked to these types of issues. There are cuts to girls' and women's helplines, where it is pointed out that the money for protected housing is not sufficient. The Crime Victim Support points out that in the coming years, they will face cuts of up to 66 percent. There are cuts to support lines, special units within the police, and so on. Therefore, I wonder if the Minister and the government have the holistic view required regarding these issues, both linked to the police's work and linked to other social actors, to ensure that there are outreach activities and support for the women who need it.
I also wonder how the Minister views the police's own annual report, where it is argued that the police have not achieved any significant difference or effect for the women exposed to violence that we see in Sweden – neither here and now nor in the long term.
As a resident of Skåne, it also worries me that Sveriges Radio quite recently – it was as late as in February – pointed out Helsingborg harbor as one of the largest gateways for organized crime and sex trafficking in all of Sweden and the Nordic region. This has resulted, among other things, in Helsingborg becoming a hub for illegal activity, including human smuggling for sexual exploitation. How does the Minister and the Government see that we should meet the fact that so much of the activity we see comes in through our ports?
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! I want to first say that it is naturally of incredibly central importance that the police and other parts of the justice system and society at large organize their resources so that we can meet all serious crime and not "just" shootings and explosions.
It must naturally be said that it is absolutely crucial to address the shootings and explosions, which are the most brutal and ruthless expressions of organized crime. But I am also convinced that prostitution and human trafficking have links to organized crime and criminal networks; the overlap with the shootings and explosions is there, for example, in the testimonies regarding how young women are used as means of payment or as commodities within these gangs.
It can therefore be said, naturally, that a mobilization of economic resources when it comes to combating criminal networks is also a great opportunity to seriously address several of the problems we are now discussing. That said, it is also important that prostitution and human trafficking, which do not necessarily have any connection to the criminal networks engaged in shootings and bombings, are also handled in a systematic way by the police.
I believe that an important nuance regarding the annual report that Anna Wallentheim refers to is that it is naturally not the case that the police make no difference in relation to that crime. On the contrary, one might say that the police's efforts make an extraordinarily large difference.
However, it has been pointed out that the police have not been able to improve their results during the past year in comparison with previous years. It has also been pointed out that there is competition for resources and that there are risks with a large mobilization of resources to the, in themselves extraordinarily acute and large, societal problems with shootings and explosions in several places having resulted in resources being taken from other activities, for example, investigative activities or crime prevention activities. I am completely clear on the fact that the police and its leadership are very aware of this.
On Monday, we will have a meeting with the police leadership, among other things regarding these issues but also regarding a broader issue, namely crimes involving women that do not occur in an organized form. During the past weeks, we have seen brutal examples of this in the form of women being murdered - often in their homes - by men close to them. There is an incredibly important credibility task in ensuring that the justice system mobilizes resources to break these very destructive patterns. This should, of course, happen in interaction with, for example, social services and civil society, which must also be resourced in such a way that they can fulfill their important tasks.
In this context, I want to bring up another important matter that many are highlighting. When we now remove secrecy barriers, we often do so in light of organized crime and the needs it gives rise to regarding the possibility of effectively sharing information between different actors in society. It is however no less significant for accessing organized human trafficking and prostitution, which we are talking about here, and other crimes where there is a gap between, for example, the justice system and social authorities. This is also an extremely important matter for combating that crime.
I also want to mention that in the near future we will have a broad meeting with representatives from authorities, municipalities, regions and civil society actors regarding crimes that primarily affect women, with the aim of jointly developing a proper action plan to be able to address these problems on the breadth that they require.
I request to return to the port issue in my next contribution.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! I want to start by thanking the Minister for the answers, especially when it comes to the holistic approach linked to men's violence against women. I hope the Minister noted that we Social Democrats yesterday went out and demanded a crisis commission on this. This situation is unacceptable. In less than a week, four women were murdered by a man who the woman had had or had some form of relationship with.
I want the minister to be aware that we Social Democrats will be positive towards and welcome proposals that make a real difference, but I also want the minister to be aware that we will need to chase the minister more on these issues if we do not consider that the proposals live up to expectations or arrive quickly enough.
We cannot allow women and girls to become victims of gang crime and prostitution. As I have mentioned previously, cooperation at all levels is required – from civil society and authorities to the EU – to combat this issue.
Of course, we must ensure that the police have the tools they need to be able to work effectively against gang crime, human trafficking and prostitution, but it is not just about the police's responsibility but also about society's responsibility to protect the most exposed and vulnerable. We must invest in preventive measures, provide support to persons who risk being drawn into gang environments or prostitution and ensure that an exit program is put in place to help women away from prostitution.
Our primary task as politicians is to create safe and inclusive societies where everyone can live without fear of being exploited or subjected to violence.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! I would like to once again thank Anna Wallentheim for the opportunity to discuss these very pressing issues this morning.
We as a society shall do everything we can to protect and support vulnerable women and, where applicable, vulnerable men. The victims of prostitution are often women, but that is not always the case.
Under all circumstances, we shall, with joint efforts, do everything we can to protect and support those who are most vulnerable. Of course, it is about economic resources. It is also about cooperation, about tearing down secrecy barriers, and about introducing new tools and, for example, developing the work with individual exit programs that can be targeted towards girls and women who find themselves in a vulnerable situation.
I also want to say that there is a need to develop our common situational awareness of the issues. I perceive that this is a dimension of organized crime that has not been sufficiently investigated and discussed. It concerns the involvement of girls and women in this crime, either as perpetrators or as victims.
Today we have discussed a very brutal aspect of this, namely prostitution, human trafficking and young women and girls who are used as commodities within the criminal networks. There is, however, a broader and quite underreported and under-discussed dimension concerning girls' and women's involvement in or connection to these criminal networks otherwise. Therefore, I am very pleased that the government has tasked Brå with going into depth regarding all dimensions of girls' and young women's involvement in or connection to the criminal networks. I am convinced that this will give us a basis to achieve even better precision and power in several of the matters that have been mentioned here today.
I would like to conclude by saying something about the ports. This is an extraordinarily central issue. Earlier this week, we gathered representatives from Sveriges Hamnar, trade unions, employers, and others to discuss both the narcotics dimension and the human trafficking dimension of this issue.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.