Response to interpellations 2023/24:776 and 777 regarding Sweden's ambassador against human trafficking

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by welcoming Linnéa Wickman's and Janine Alm Ericson's engagement in the issue, an engagement that I fully share. We can never accept that individuals are deprived of the right to decide over their lives and their bodies.

Organized crime ruthlessly exploits people in vulnerable situations, including through human trafficking and prostitution. It concerns women and men who are exploited and subjected to serious harm. The government is now taking decisive action to combat organized crime.

The work of preventing and combating prostitution and human trafficking is a priority for the government, both nationally and in cross-border cooperation.

Since the previous appointment to the position of Ambassador against human trafficking expired, the position has been reviewed. A recruitment process is now taking place within the Government Offices to appoint the position as soon as possible.

The government's ambition is that no human being shall be exploited for sexual purposes. In the government's international commitment, this is clearly visible in the reform agenda for aid, where the government prioritizes and supports the work against all forms of sexual and gender-related violence and exploitation in prostitution and human trafficking.

Sweden cooperates with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC. The office works broadly to combat cross-border organized crime, including human trafficking. For 2024, Swedish funding to UNODC amounts to 60 million kronor, and a larger share than before is directed towards human trafficking, especially in Ukraine. Sweden also financially supports the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking through UNODC.

The fight against human trafficking was a priority issue during the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2023. Sweden then hosted a conference on prevention models to counter the demand that promotes human trafficking for sexual purposes. Within the EU cooperation, a revised human trafficking directive was adopted during the spring. It increases, among other things, the requirements on criminal legislation.

We also handle the issue regionally. Cooperation takes place through the Baltic Sea States' Council's action group against human trafficking and the Nordic Council's working group against human trafficking. In March this year, the government granted 2.8 million kronor to the Baltic Sea States' Council to strengthen the work against human trafficking for sexual purposes.

Even nationally, the government continues to intensify the work. In March, the Gender Equality Authority received an addition to its ongoing assignment regarding continued reinforced work against sexual exploitation of children and exploitation in prostitution and human trafficking. We have allocated funds amounting to 23.5 million for 2024.

The Government will, during the autumn, return with a renewed mandate to the cooperating authorities against crime in the working life in order to take action against human exploitation in the working life. We also added 30 million in the supplementary budget to the existing mandate against crime in the working life, which includes work performed by the regional coordinators against prostitution and human trafficking.

The government adopted in June a new action program to prevent and combat men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking. The action program shall apply for 2024-2026. It contains initiatives and measures on a broad front at national, regional, and local levels. An investigation is also underway to strengthen the long-term governance in the area.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Linnéa Wickman (S)

Madam Speaker! For seven months, Sweden has been without a global ambassador against human trafficking because the government has not appointed a new person to that post. A lot can happen in seven months. Parts of the winter, a spring, and a summer have passed, and the Democratic Party in the USA has managed to switch from one presidential candidate to another. The Swedish government has been reshuffled, and Sweden has received a new Foreign Minister - to just mention a few examples of what can be accomplished in seven months if one wants to.

But despite all this, the position is, in the current situation, vacant. With this, Sweden has lost strength in the international work to combat human trafficking and in particular the sexual exploitation of women and children.

In a world with an increased number of conflicts, human trafficking also increases in the wake of the conflicts. Not least can we see this in Europe, where Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has driven millions of people to flee and where particularly women have been deceived or forced into prostitution by cynical criminal networks. The trafficking of people is a significant part of the income for organized crime.

It goes without saying that if international cross-border crime is to be combated, we must work together with other countries. This has also been the task for the holder of the position as Sweden's global ambassador against human trafficking, a position that was established by the then S-government in 2006.

Internationally, there are many organizations that during the past months have wondered if the government is silently trying to scrap this item and thereby also significantly weaken Sweden's ability to influence in these important issues.

We in Sweden have, with our sex purchase law, a unique role when it comes to combating human trafficking for sexual purposes. With our legislation, we shift the focus to the perpetrator, to the one who exploits and purchases another person's body.

That is also why the global ambassador against human trafficking plays a particularly important role in international processes, in order to be able to break through myths and misconceptions that are spread about the Swedish sex purchase law and in order to achieve results in the EU and in the UN.

The Ambassador has, for example, played an important role in France's criminalization of sex buying, inspired by Swedish legislation. The Ambassador has also contributed to negotiations in the UN system highlighting the demand for prostitution. Recommendations have subsequently been issued to the member states in line with Swedish legislation.

Another result of the ambassador's work is that the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women in June proposed that the vulnerability linked to sex trafficking should be seen as part of violence against women. But since no new ambassador has been appointed yet, Sweden's voice was marked by its absence when this was presented. This was not the case, however, for the opposition from the countries whose legislation differs from the Swedish.

It is good - and I am glad that the government in this debate now provides the announcement - that the role as ambassador against human trafficking will remain. But it also raises a whole number of questions. Why has it taken the government seven months to land on this? Why was this announcement not given already in May, when the then Minister for Foreign Affairs received questions about this? Is there any timetable for when a new person will be in place?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Janine Alm Ericson (MP)

Madam Speaker! I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Maria Malmer Stenergard on the position of Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs and welcome her to the debate that we who work with foreign and aid issues have here. I look forward to both cooperation and debate ahead.

I would like to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the answer, with the positive news that the position will be refilled. In addition to everything that Linnéa Wickman has now emphasized, regarding how important this post is, it is actually also a strength that the government and the opposition can continue to join forces for vulnerable women and against the violence of organized international gangs.

Let us now just hope that this review and the suspension of the service do not lead to too great setbacks in the work, but that one can make up for what has been missed during the time.

I also want to thank you for the report on what is being done, not only internationally but also nationally and regionally.

We know that freedom and power over one's own body is completely fundamental for one to be able to achieve equality and women's equal rights and opportunities.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs raised this by saying that a concept such as feminist foreign policy can obscure the view for that work. I want to say now, since the Minister for Foreign Affairs is new, that unfortunately it is not just a word that has been removed. When this was removed and the previous Minister for Foreign Affairs said that one should stop with a feminist foreign policy, it was also a very large part of the steering system for more equality and more investments for women and girls that disappeared.

I hope that the new Foreign Minister can take a new look at this, because we need - it is I am convinced we agree - a strong voice for women and girls in the world. We see how these issues are not moving forward but rather backward. Alexandra Völker has very clearly shown how dreadful the situation is in many countries. In that case, Sweden needs to continue to be a very clear voice for this.

Then I would like to take the opportunity to bring up something because the Minister mentioned the reform agenda. There is very much else to wish for there. It is finally in writing now, but it is more shrouded in obscurity than that anything has actually been sorted out. The situation within Swedish aid is in free fall, I would like to say. The Government also says one thing here but does something else.

But now this debate should not be about either the feminist foreign policy or the reform agenda. I will refrain from further remarks but thank you for the answer and hope that we will have reason to return more in committee than in debate on this issue, because the situation for the world's women and girls is so important.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! I would like to thank you once again for the congratulations. I very much look forward to working together, not least on the issue of women's rights around the world. That issue is extremely urgent, and there our voice must be as united and strong as possible.

Much work has been done during the time that the recruitment of the ambassador has been ongoing - and it is ongoing. I would nevertheless like to emphasize that. We need to work on several fronts simultaneously when it comes to, for example, financing from human trafficking and prostitution linked to organized crime - both by accessing the criminal assets and by working preventatively to reduce the demand for prostitution.

The government has presented a national strategy against organized crime, which is the first of its kind. An important part of this is to dismantle the criminal economy. The proceeds from crime are not only a livelihood for criminals. They are also used to reinvest in criminal activities.

The ban on the purchase but not the sale of sexual services is an important tool in the work against prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes and also constitutes a central link in the work to combat demand in the long term.

The purpose of the Swedish sex purchase legislation is to reduce the demand for sexual services, balance the power dynamic between men and women, and reduce the exploitation of individuals. The legislation also aims to encourage those individuals who are exploited in prostitution to seek help and leave prostitution, and they shall be secure in the knowledge that there will be no criminal consequences for them.

As late as December last year, the government received the report Ut ur utsatthet. In the report, proposals are submitted for individually designed exit programs for adults who are subjected to prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes, as well as proposals for the design and organization of programs specifically aimed at children.

In the report from the Investigation on protection, support, and care for persons who have been subjected to abuse in the production or distribution of pornography, there are, among other things, proposals to strengthen the preventive work to detect children who have been subjected to sexual abuse or who are at risk of being subjected to sexual abuse.

The reports have been sent out for consultation.

The work against human trafficking also takes place in Europe. As I mentioned earlier, a revised human trafficking directive was adopted in the EU cooperation during the spring. The original directive contained, among other things, minimum rules regarding the definition of what should constitute punishable human trafficking and penalties for crimes. Through the amending directive, the requirements for criminal legislation are expanded in such a way that human trafficking offenses shall also include exploitation of surrogacy, forced marriage, and illegal adoption. The requirements on the member states' preventive work as well as help and support for victims of human trafficking are expanded and clarified through this amending directive. It is important.

Sweden is also working to counter the use of terms such as sex work or sex worker, which normalize the purchase of sex and remove the focus from the fact that it is a matter of exploitation. The Government has also pushed the issue within the framework of EU cooperation.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Linnéa Wickman (S)

Madam Speaker! All around Europe, women's bodies can be bought legally in brothels. It feeds organized crime, as we have observed, and it constitutes a part of gender-based violence.

I want to be clear that I do not doubt that the Foreign Minister shares my and the Social Democrats' view that this must be fought with force. Our parties stand behind the Swedish sex purchase law and argue that more countries should be inspired by Sweden. But what I nevertheless still find a bit unclear is why it has taken this government, which has a very high profile when it comes to the fight against organized crime, seven months to land on that the successful work that has been able to take place thanks to the role as a global ambassador against human trafficking should now continue.

I believe it would have been easier to understand if the announcement now had been that the role is to become permanent and that the resources for the work will be increased, but I do not perceive that to be today's announcement.

I also question why the government during these months has not been able to give a reassuring message to all those who have reacted. I am thinking of the concern that has spread in civil society and among women's rights organizations around the world that count on Sweden's support and which have received the impression that the government's plan was to scrap this role.

This has been interpreted as part of the anti-feminist greed in foreign policy that this government stands for. I therefore wonder if it could be that the government, thanks to civil society's great commitment, has now changed its mind in order to save this role. What else can explain the months of silence and that the former Foreign Minister, when asked direct questions a number of months ago, could not provide an answer on this? I still want to argue that the questions regarding the government's sluggishness are now piling up.

Regardless of this, many of us welcome that a new person will be recruited to the important role of coordinating Sweden's work in international organizations and the cooperation with other countries. I am thinking, for example, of France, with which Sweden has a diplomatic agreement that we shall work together to curb human trafficking for sexual purposes by reducing the demand for sexual services.

The need for Sweden's efforts in this area is greater than ever. There are strong forces that want the exploitation of women's bodies to continue. When, for example, serious political discussions are now being held in Germany, where they are weighing the question of whether they should criminalize sex buying like the Swedish model, I think it is particularly important that we quickly get a person in place who can work with this and describe the advantages of the sex buying laws. An introduction in Germany would make a big difference for all of Europe. It would affect more countries than today, countries where sex buying is currently legal, and it might even, in the long run, be able to pave the way for the sex buying law at the EU level that we Social Democrats want to become a reality.

There is simply a great need to step up the work, make the role permanent and increase the resources for this. My question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs is therefore whether this is something she is prepared to do.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! The position of Ambassador against human trafficking is a time-limited function. The previous appointment expired, and the work of appointing a new ambassador has taken place through customary preparation within the Government Offices. The intention has not been to let the position remain vacant, but rather to create good conditions for a new ambassador to be able to take office through the existing routines and requirements. As stated, such a person shall also take up the position as soon as possible.

I would like to continue describing what the government is doing. We are working on a united front with challenges linked to human trafficking, and a large number of authorities, departments, and foreign agencies - which must also not be forgotten in this context - participate and contribute actively. The Swedish Police Authority has investigative resources working against human trafficking, and they also participate in the international cooperation. The Swedish Prosecution Authority has specialized prosecutors at the national unit against international organized crime, who shall always be responsible operationally for preliminary investigations and indictments in human trafficking cases. The Swedish Gender Equality Authority has an overarching mandate at the national level to coordinate the work against human trafficking for all purposes as well as to promote the development of preventive measures against both prostitution and human trafficking.

An important part of the work with the aid policy and the reform agenda is to promote women's and girls' rights to decide over their lives and bodies. Sexual and reproductive health and rights constitute a prerequisite for women's and girls' empowerment and active participation in society.

I strongly oppose the description of a Swedish aid policy in free fall. Rather, it is that we are now able to prioritize through the new aid policy, and where the question of women's and girls' rights is completely fundamental. The Government is actively working to strengthen women's and girls' enjoyment of human rights, including SRHR. We support the work against all forms of sexual and gender-related violence, exploitation in prostitution, human trafficking and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and forced sterilization. The Government also prioritizes the work against child marriage. Where this occurs as a custom or is legal, we work to strengthen the legislation and take measures that also counteract child marriage.

I can assure Linnéa Wickman that this government has never made an anti-feminist turn and will also never do so.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Linnéa Wickman (S)

Madam Speaker! I want to start by thanking the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the debate. As a result of this debate, we have finally succeeded in pushing forward a decision from the government regarding the future of the global ambassador against human trafficking, and I know that many have been waiting for that decision and welcome it.

During the debate, I have also raised a decisive issue, and that is why it has taken the government seven months to refill the role of Sweden's global ambassador against human trafficking, even though we are in a time where human trafficking, particularly for sexual purposes, is growing in Europe and globally. I still want to assert that the government has been passive and silent and contributed to Sweden's voice not being heard as clearly in international bodies by the role having stood vacant.

The government has, as said, finally confirmed that the role will now be refilled. I still want to point out that I think it is concerning that it has taken so long and that one has not reassured all those who have been worried and who have engaged in the issue and around the world stand up for women's rights in the very toughest environments.

In conclusion, I hope, Madam Speaker, that it will not take another seven months to have a new person in place in the role of global ambassador. We cannot afford any more delay. The role deserves to become permanent, and the resources need to be expanded to ensure a continued strong Swedish commitment against the exploitation of and abuse of people that the gross organized crime is responsible for.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! I would like to thank Janine Alm Ericson and Linnéa Wickman for a very important debate, and I am just as impatient as the interpellants regarding the appointment of the position of ambassador against human trafficking.

I look forward to that, and I look forward to continued debates that mean we can continue to raise these important issues.

The interpellation debate was hereby concluded.

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