Human Trafficking

THE YEAR 2005 OSLO KOMMUNE “Restructuring” In December 2004, Pro Sentret carried out an evaluation of its organisational structure. The question we asked ourselves was whether our organisational structure was appropriate to the requirements of the market. Prostitution in Oslo had undergone dramatic changes in recent years, particularly through the growth in foreign prostitution. The ensuing evaluation and discussions resulted in us restructuring our organisation in order to make it more simple and flexible than it had been, and so as to make better use of our resources. We split the centre into two main areas: 1. A documentation department 2. A clinical department The documentation department deals with documentation and research, public debate, education and information, national and international networking and our monitoring of the prostitution market in Norway. The clinical department covers all of our welfare and health services for both Norwegian and foreign prostitutes. This includes all of our outreach work both in the indoor and street markets, as well as out-patient health care for individuals. This annual report is also divided into these two sections. The publishing of this report in English is partly sponsored by two EU projects: "TAMPEP" (a project under the EU public health program) and "Safe return to Motherland in the enlarged Europe" (a project under the Daphne II program). “SAFE RETURN TO MOTHER LAND IN THE ENLARGED EUROPE” The project is financially supported by Daphne II Programme of European Commission - Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security. The Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. - 2 - Contents Introduction page 4 Documentation “Nigeria all over the place” page 5 Foreign prostitution in Norway page 6 Human trafficking page 16 How should we deal with the buyers of sexual services? page 23 Children and young people page 25 Networking and other partnerships page 26 New knowledge page 29 Clinical work Pro Sentret’s ideological platform page 33 New groups, new challenges page 34 Individual case work page 35 Drop-in centre page 36 Outreach work on the streets page 38 Outreach work in parlours and flats page 39 Health care page 40 Projects page 45 Statistics page 46 Appendices: Cultural mediation page 47 - 3 - Introduction Time flies. Pro Sentret has now been helping women and men in prostitution for over 22 years. No-one can predict the future, and that’s probably a good thing. None of us who have worked at the centre for a number of years would have predicted recent developments in Norway, which have seen foreign, organised prostitution becoming dominant. Perhaps we would have lost heart. However, we did realise what was happening earlier than many other people in Norway. This is because we have forged close links with various foreign networks and organisations. Most EU countries had experienced this kind of cross-border prostitution for a long time. They had both described these developments to us and started working in ways that we were unfamiliar with in Norway. When the first Eastern European women arrived in Norway to sell sex, we were not entirely caught napping. Norway may have been the last country in Western Europe to experience this wave of organised prostitution. It was obvious that when the European markets came under pressure, the phenomenon would reach us. Here there was money to be made, both by the facilitators and by the women themselves. When Sweden criminalised prostitution and Holland legalised it, this affected Norway. Both countries wanted to get prostitution under control, albeit using diametrically opposed approaches. In some areas, both approaches can have the same effect. When you regulate a market, the parts that do not fit into it will be displaced. In Sweden prostitution went underground or across the border. In Holland, the same thing happened to the illegal sections of the market. It is in the years following these policy changes that Norway has experienced a large wave of foreign, organised prostitution. It is certainly true to say that no country is an island to itself. What we do in Norway will have ripple effects far beyond our borders. Fortunately, Norway is participating in international efforts to combat human trafficking. One of the ways that we can do this is by implementing helpful measures in our own country. We have made some progress through plans of action, but there is still some way to go in terms of implementing them. Pro Sentret proposes that the necessary measures be implemented, and above all that these measures result in women who have been trafficked being given the best help and protection that Norway has to offer. We are one of the richest countries in the world, and can offer much more than we currently do. We must build on the best of our Norwegian humanist traditions, and we must not be so afraid of assistance being abused that we create hurdles that prevent all but a few from receiving help. As none of the political parties in Norway can claim to have the perfect solution, the problem will be solved more quickly if combating human trafficking is seen as a cross-party issue. But this must not cause us to forget about the Norwegian women involved in prostitution. Their problems have not been solved – in fact, perhaps they have been exacerbated – by the arrival in Norway of foreign women who also need help. In the coming year we should focus more on global poverty and the money involved in prostitution, and less on the morals of the women. Perhaps that would both extend our understanding and combat some of the prejudices that we have. There is a risk that we would all become a little bit wiser. Liv Jessen Director - 4 - “Nigeria all over the place” In 2005 Pro Sentret encountered 393 women from Nigeria as opposed to 128 in 2004. Throughout the year there were public discussions about the flow of Nigerian women coming to Norway to work as prostitutes. The women are black, visible and pushy. They mainly work as street prostitutes, and have gained a reputation for being aggressive towards potential customers. They dominate street prostitution in Oslo. It has been reported that they do not just work in the traditional area for street prostitutes, but also on Oslo’s main avenue Karl Johan, and that they occasionally pop up in other parts of the city. Trouble occurs, and some people get angry. The market is changing rapidly. Competition has been tough over the past year. Prices are falling, and there is a lot of movement and anxiety. Is this a sign that the market is becoming saturated? Some of the Nigerian prostitutes have appeared in Bergen and Stavanger. There too, the women work as street prostitutes, and have moved outside the traditional areas for street prostitutes. The cities respond. This situation has led to the police, health workers and politicians wanting to take action. It is difficult to know how to limit the flow of women from Nigeria. Most of them do not come straight from their home country. Many have lived in a Schengen country for several years, particularly Italy or Spain. They are therefore legally entitled to visit Norway as tourists. The Oslo police district sent a proposal to the National Police Directorate asking for foreign prostitutes to be expelled from Norway. The proposal was rejected by the directorate. The same proposal was raised in the public debate in Stavanger when the problems arrived there. Bjørg Tysdal Moe, the Deputy Mayor of Stavanger, responded to the challenge by asking Odd Einar Dørum, the then Minister of Justice, to hold a city conference focusing on: Human trafficking –what can be done? The first meeting was held in Oslo in August 2005. The next meeting was held in Oslo on 12 December 2005. The meeting was attended by representatives of the police and health and social services officials, as well as some politicians and individuals who are involved in the field. Several cities were invited: Tromsø, Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand and Oslo. Although some of these cities do not currently have much foreign prostitution, they could see the benefits of learning from other people’s experiences in order to be as prepared as possible for any influx. Over the past year, the police in Trondheim and Bergen have put the issue on the agenda and have gained experience that the police forces in other cities could profit from. The city conferences will continue in 2006. In addition to the exchange of knowledge between the cities, another important benefit has been the creation in each city of networks of health and social services personnel, police and public officials, and the issue has also now moved on to the political agenda. The City of Bergen even has a plan of action on prostitution for the period 2005-2008 – an example worth emulating. (Also see separate report on Nigerian prostitution.) - 5 - Foreign prostitution in Norway (also see separate detailed report) The Norwegian market for prostitution is in a constant state of flux. The various arenas are changing rapidly, both in terms of where the arenas are, who is operating in them at any given time and how they are organised. Pro Sentret has worked with this market since 1983, and has watched it develop for more than 20 years. The most noticeable change in recent years has been the influx of foreign women working as prostitutes. These women come to Norway for a brief period purely in order to sell sexual services, either as street prostitutes or in the indoor market. The increase in the number of foreign prostitutes has in turn resulted in an increase in the level of organised prostitution in Norway.

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