Response to interpellation 2024/25:127 on the view of crime victims in sexual commercial exploitation
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L (L) considers that persons subjected to prostitution or human trafficking are always crime victims and that the government prioritizes their protection and support. L (L) argues that the focus needs to be shifted from the perpetrator to the victim. L (L) states that there is a large degree of impunity for human trafficking crimes 1 and emphasizes the need for a justice system that handles both gang criminality and other serious crime 1. L (L) points out that prostitution is not included in the directives for the investigation on lack of integrity 2. L (L) argues that persons are refused entry to the country when they are not considered to have an honest livelihood, which includes women in prostitution 2. L (L) emphasizes the importance of showing civil courage and speaking out against the normalization of sex buying as well as that sex buyers face consequences for their actions.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Märta Stenevi has asked me if I have noticed a change in the police's treatment and actions regarding crime victims in sexual commercial exploitation and if that change, if so, is sanctioned by the government, if I consider that victims of human trafficking are to be regarded as persons who favor crime and negatively affect the justice system, if I consider it would be reasonable to demand of the police that all crime victims are treated with respect and given the rights they have according to the Council of Europe's human trafficking convention, and what measures I intend to take to improve the situation for victims of human trafficking and strengthen their rights as crime victims in the Swedish justice system.
I would like to begin by thanking the member for their commitment and the opportunity to discuss an important issue in an area where the government is making investments to move the positions forward. For me and this government, it is of the utmost importance that people who are subjected to prostitution or human trafficking receive the protection, support, and help they need from all institutions in society. I cannot comment on how the work is conducted at an individual agency, but I can assure the member that it is central for the government that crime victims can enjoy the rights they have according to the Council of Europe's convention on combating human trafficking.
Through sexual exploitation and prostitution, people, most often women who are already in a vulnerable situation, are exploited in a cynical and ruthless way. The Government considers that there has for a long time been too much focus on the perpetrator. This is something that needs to change, not only in relation to organized crime but also when it comes to the protection of, for example, women and children.
The offer for human trafficking is often individuals who already live with a particular vulnerability. It can be economic vulnerability or that the person lacks a residence permit or has a disability. This government is clear that the one who is subjected to prostitution or human trafficking is always a crime victim.
The Crime Victim Authority reported in June on the government mandate to map society's collective support for crime victims, and the report is an important basis for further measures in the area. According to the Investigation Ordinance (1947:948), the Police Authority has an obligation to inform the person who has been subjected to a crime about what support and protection exists in society. The Police Authority is continuously working to improve information and support for crime victims, and the police's work is adapted to be able to help individuals with different needs for protection.
I represent a government where the work against men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking, is highly prioritized.
During 2024, the government has allocated a total of 23.5 million kronor to the Gender Equality Authority for the work against sexual exploitation of children, prostitution, and human trafficking. The Baltic Sea States Council has received an additional 2.8 million kronor in 2024 to strengthen the work against human trafficking for sexual purposes and against demand.
In the budget bill for 2025, the government has proposed a strengthening of the support for those vulnerable to prostitution with 10 million kronor during 2025 and announced an estimated amount of 5 million during 2026. As a basis for the measures, there are proposals from the Equality Agency's reports as well as the reports Out of Vulnerability (SOU 2023:97) and Sexual Exploitation for Pornographic Purposes (SOU 2023:98) which the government received in 2023 and which are now being prepared within the Government Offices.
The Government shall develop a new national action plan against prostitution and human trafficking for the years 2025-2027. Furthermore, the Government appoints an envoy, with the rank of ambassador, who shall represent Sweden in the international cooperation against human trafficking and human exploitation, including as part of organized crime.
Märta Stenevi (MP)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for the great commitment the Minister has always shown for women and children exposed to human trafficking and prostitution.
The measures that the Minister lists in his response are in many respects very good. There is, however, a problem: If what civil society is warning about is true, these initiatives will not reach the crime victims because they are not seen as crime victims by the police they encounter.
The alarm that prompts my question comes from those who work closest to the victims of human trafficking. They represent both civil society and the justice system. What they testify to is that the police no longer want to prioritize investigating suspected human trafficking. They testify that the victims are met in a way that makes the victims feel that they are suspects in a crime rather than complainants. They testify that more and more women are being locked up in detention awaiting deportation instead of being offered protected housing, care, and the support they are entitled to.
If this is true, which I nevertheless believe we must assume, it has several very worrying consequences. On the one hand, it undermines the legitimacy of the sex purchase law if law enforcement authorities do not recognize the victims' status as crime victims, and on the other hand, it means that crimes are not investigated and that human traffickers therefore go free – not to mention sex buyers.
But perhaps most importantly: Women who have already been subjected to heinous traumas and exploited in the most cynical way by human traffickers and Swedish sex buyers are then also deprived of their rights by Swedish authorities. It is very serious if this happens, and I believe we all agree that it is completely unacceptable.
I am fully aware that the Minister does not have the opportunity to criticize the police in this debate. That is not what I am looking for either. But I want to ask: How does the Minister react to these reports? Does she take them seriously? Will she take measures to investigate whether the reports are correct, and if so, what does she want to do to curb this and restore the work for the crime victims?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I want to start by thanking the interpellator for the commitment that I know she also feels for these issues, a commitment that I appreciate because I believe it is important that we work broadly with these issues in order to be able to achieve a change that often lies at a general attitude level in our society.
The interpellor describes signals she has received from civil society regarding a change in, among other things, the treatment of crime victims. I can tell the interpellor that I have been reached by the same signals. It is also a change that I have been told has occurred over a number of years.
Just as I said in my opening answer, the government's position is that the persons who are exploited in prostitution and human trafficking are persons who very often find themselves in a vulnerable situation and that it is a matter of victims of crime.
I mentioned some measures in my initial response, which include, among other things, taking a holistic approach and developing a new strategy specifically for prostitution and human trafficking. But I believe that we generally need to raise the status of crime victims in our society, not least when it concerns those crimes where specifically women and children are affected.
I see it as a major problem that we today have a very large degree of impunity for this type of crime. When it specifically concerns human trafficking crimes, we have hardly any convictions at all. I myself was involved in a human trafficking case that resulted in a conviction in 2019, but as far as I know, there have not been many convictions regarding human trafficking since then. This obviously affects the attitudes towards this type of crime. If there are no convictions or sanctions when this type of crime is committed, it obviously sends signals. It can also affect which priorities are made.
I mentioned some measures from the government's side that are specifically aimed at prostitution and human trafficking. But in this context, I also want to emphasize the need for a justice system that can cope with the situation we have, where we have gang crime that takes up a very large amount of oxygen in the public debate and where there is then always a risk that other important crimes and other serious crimes are forgotten.
The government has invested many resources in the justice system in the budget. Of course, we need to follow up to ensure that these resources ensure that it is not only gang crime that can be handled, but also other types of crime.
Märta Stenevi (MP)
Madam Speaker! I will begin by saying that I completely share the view that this is not a new phenomenon. The description of how, for example, Polisregion Syd acted was already present during my time as Minister for Equality. What is serious now, and what several lawyers and civil society brought forward in a debate article in October, is that it is increasing and that it has spread to very large parts of the country where these attitudes have not been encountered before. I see that as very serious. We reacted strongly to those reports already then, but if it is now also spreading and we see that the police are disbanding human trafficking units, we have a growing problem.
In the same way, it is a huge problem, just as the Minister for Equality points out, that there are so few convictions. It is clear that if we also get a situation where witnesses are sent out of the country before they have been given the opportunity to even participate in the preliminary investigation, it will become even more difficult.
Madam Speaker! I will also say that I have great hopes for the Minister's commitment to women who are victims of violence. I know that it is not possible to stand in such a debate and criticize an agency, and I know from my own experience that a Minister for Equality, in certain matters, is somewhat hamstrung and is forced to work through other Ministers to move forward on their issues. So it has unfortunately always been. But I implore the Minister to take the fight with their colleagues and take the fight with the Sweden Democrats' pathological hatred toward people born outside of Sweden. And I implore the Minister to, behind the scenes, when the cameras are off, take these facts seriously and demand that their colleagues investigate what is happening within the police and then act against the conditions.
Madam Speaker! I would like to ask everyone listening and everyone here in the room to imagine for a moment what it is these women are going through.
Imagine that you fall in love. You are deceived to Sweden with a promise of work. At home, you have a small child whom you cannot provide for. You have left the child's father because he abused you and you were afraid for your child's safety. Now you see an opportunity to create a better life for yourself.
Once arrived in Sweden, however, there is no job. Here there is a dirty apartment and more violence. You no longer have a passport, you have no money and your new boyfriend is now your jailer. Here in Sweden there is no job, no future and no money for your child. But here there is a long line of violent Swedish men who force themselves on you. They buy rape that takes place day after day, and you see no end to the violence and the humiliation.
So one day something happens. The police arrive. A friendly social worker is there. She explains to you that what you have been subjected to is a crime and that you have a right to help. One can imagine that you then feel a faint glimmer of hope.
But, Madam Speaker, the next thing that happens is that instead of being offered a place in a protected residence or care, you are locked up. The police who lock you up refer to the fact that you have engaged in "provision in a way that favors crime and negatively affects the justice system." In old Swedish, you have shown a lack of integrity. You are to leave the country. You receive no care, no protection, not even the opportunity to testify against your perpetrators. You are treated as a criminal.
Madam Speaker! With all my heart, I wish that none of us will ever have to experience this. But it is a reality for women in Sweden. And if it is true that this is increasing, it is very serious, and it must be stopped.
Madam Speaker! I implore the Minister to fight for that women who are subjected to crime in Sweden shall be granted their right to safety and security from violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking - completely regardless of where they were born.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the interpellor for pointing out what kind of situations it often concerns here.
I would like to broaden the picture by saying that what the interpellor points out is a type of situation. We also have a situation with young girls, as is often the case, who have grown up in Sweden but perhaps have a baggage where they have been exposed to sexual abuse and trauma that has created a situation where they more easily become victims of human traffickers and pimps and simply end up selling their bodies.
I also feel great concern that a new report from Ecpat shows that more and more young people have ended up in a mindset where they do not think it is such a big deal to sell their bodies or to buy sexual services. When we look at the long term, we see what this does to young people, to women, and what it does to one's view of one's body and one's self-esteem when one is exposed to prostitution and, of course, most of all when it concerns human trafficking.
We need to work with these issues. We need to work with these attitudes to ensure that there is a change and that we do not back down in this work.
As I said initially, and as the interpellor has expressed understanding for, I cannot go in and talk about how an authority should structure its work, but I really want to emphasize the government's view on these issues.
The government has appointed an inquiry into what is called lack of integrity, which has received significant media attention. In the Tidö Agreement, it was stated that prostitution would be seen as part of this. I want to be careful to say that the word prostitution is not included in the directives for this inquiry.
What the interpellor describes regarding how persons are deported from our country is something that occurs according to legislation that has actually existed for quite a long time. One is deported from the country when one is not considered to have an honest livelihood, and women have for quite a long time been deported from Sweden precisely because they are engaged in prostitution.
I will not attempt to predict here today when the investigation into misconduct will land, but I want to be clear that the government will continue to fight for those who are vulnerable. I hope that the measures we have now taken by developing a new national strategy and, not least, by appointing an ambassador will have a concrete significance for attitudes and also concrete results when it comes to this type of issue.
Märta Stenevi (MP)
Madam Speaker! Thank you again, Minister, for highlighting the children, young people, and women who fall victim here in Sweden. My concern is that following the signals given already in connection with the Tidö Agreement and the discussions then, in combination with the fact that we see this increasing, there is a signaling system that makes it so that the existing rights are not recognized.
We are in complete agreement that this legislation should have been changed a long time ago. Now the question is whether the legislation will rather go in the other direction.
I am very grateful that the Minister underlines that prostitution is not in itself a matter of misconduct but that those affected are crime victims. This is extremely important, and I hope that it will also be reflected when the investigation returns.
Until then, I also hope that the Minister takes this seriously. If the signals are that the women and children who are subjected to human trafficking and are crime victims are not granted their rights, as they have under current legislation, and if it is true that this has become increasingly widespread and no longer only occurs in individual police regions but has now become common practice throughout the country, the Minister must take this most seriously, cooperate with his colleagues and investigate if that is the case and how this, in that case, can be prevented. It is an incredibly serious situation if we have begun to treat women who fall victim to human trafficking and prostitution as criminals who should be kicked out of the country instead of as important witnesses and crime victims.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by thanking you for this incredibly important debate. I can promise the interpellator that this is an issue that will not disappear from my radar as long as I hold this position.
Last year, I accompanied the police prostitution unit on a shift to see with my own eyes how the police work against these women and how, in that way, one can also actually influence demand. We know, after all, that it matters whether the sex buyers face consequences for their actions.
I really appreciate this debate, because I believe it is important that more of us talk about these issues, especially among those of us who hold positions where we have the opportunity to reach many. I hope that many of us can talk about these issues, show civil courage and not be silent when we encounter what I want to assert are incorrect attitudes that sex purchases are something that should be normalized. I believe it is incredibly important that many of us raise our voices and speak out – in parallel, of course, with continued political measures that I will fight for every day as long as I hold this position.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.