Chapter IV Anti-Traffi cking Strategies and Activities in : Current Achievements and Future Challenges

1. Introduction It took a rather long time before traffi cking in human beings succeeded in gain- ing any political attention in Finland.588 Despite the increased foreign , often connected with organised pandering operations at the end of the Cold War, the authorities and politicians widely believed that traffi cking in human beings did not concern Finland, and that all foreign prostitutes engaged in prostitution volun- tarily. Th e conditions in which women sold sex were little considered and discussed, although foreign women in prostitution were reported to be selling sex under the strict control of transnational organised crime groups that resorted to various meth- ods of coercion, oppression and intimidation so as to keep the women obedient to the unilaterally set rules and to prevent them from giving up prostitution when they so desired. Politically, human traffi cking was recognised as a domestic problem only in 2005. Th e intensifi cation of the anti-traffi cking strategies and activities in Finland was mainly a result of the adoption and implementation of international and legal instruments against traffi cking in human beings. As described in the previous Chapter, these instruments obligate states to take legal and other measures to prevent traffi cking, to assist and protect traffi cking victims, and to ensure pros- ecution of those who commit the crime of human traffi cking. Based on the international and EU legal instruments, Finland has by now adopted a considerable number of legal and other measures to address traffi cking in human beings. In 2004, Finland enacted the special penal provisions concerning traffi ck- ing and aggravated traffi cking in human beings in the Penal Code (39/1889). A year later, Finland adopted the fi rst National Plan of Action against Traffi cking in Human Beings and established an inter-ministerial steering group to monitor the imple- mentation of the Action Plan, to coordinate the counter traffi cking strategies and activities among authorities and non-governmental actors, as well as to draft a more

 Th e issue of human traffi cking was dealt with at the Council of Europe meeting in Tam- pere, Finland, in October , but it took a few years until traffi cking was recognised as a domestic issue that would require measures on the national level. Finland has been a member of the European Union since . 156 Chapter IV

detailed national plan of action against traffi cking. In June 2008, the Government adopted the second National Plan of Action, which appointed the Ombudsman for Minorities to the post of National Rapporteur on human traffi cking. Th e National Rapporteur started her work in the beginning of 2009, and during her fi rst year she evaluated Finland’s anti-traffi cking strategies and activities and made proposals for improvement. Moreover, Finland has created a special system to assist (potential) traffi cking victims (Act on the Integration of Immigrants and Reception of Asylum Seekers, 439/1999) and also enacted special sections in the Aliens Act (301/2004) according to which traffi cking victims who stay in the country illegally may be issued with a refl ection period and a temporary or continuous residence permit on certain condi- tions. In 2006, Finland criminalised the purchase of sexual services from procured prostitutes and victims of traffi cking. Th is amendment to the Penal Code aims to re- duce the demand for sex and, thus, diminish the market for prostitution, pandering and traffi cking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Finally, the police and the Finnish Border Guard have sought to intensify the law enforcement and border controls so as to prevent and combat traffi cking as well as to ensure the prosecution of perpetrators. Irrespective of these considerable legislative reforms and organisational establishments, the eff orts to counteract traffi cking have proved to be confusingly ineff ective: the number of identifi ed victims of human traffi cking as well as the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions for traffi cking have remained low. Th e main purpose of this Chapter is to concretise the challenges and diffi culties that the anti-traffi cking strategies and activities may meet during implementation on the national level. Th e Chapter discusses the most important legislative amend- ments to the Finnish Penal Code, the Act on the Integration of Immigrants and Reception of Asylum Seekers and the Aliens Act. Furthermore, it seeks to critically analyse their achievements and demonstrate the most diffi cult problems in the ac- tual process of implementation. Finally, the Chapter makes some recommendations for improvement. Th e Chapter is divided into two main parts. Th e fi rst part provides a study on the current legal framework of anti-traffi cking strategies and activities, with critical conclusions, discussing the most crucial problems in actual implementation. Th e second part of the Chapter seeks to analyse the reasons and explanations for the dif- fi culty to recognise victimhood in foreign . Th e study argues that the current understanding of traffi cking as forced or deceitful recruitment and/ or transportation distinguishes innocent traffi cking victims from guilty prostitutes who have initially consented to travelling to Finland and engaging in prostitution. Th e Chapter considers the impacts and implications of this restrictive understand- ing, and presents some explanations in order to show that the current anti-traffi ck- ing strategies and activities do not exist in isolation but carry a heavy historical bur- den which infl uences the image of a “real” or “proper” victim of human traffi cking. After the analysis of the reasons and explanations for the restrictive understand- ing of human traffi cking, the Chapter provides a model of interpretation concerning the legal boundaries between traffi cking in human beings for the purpose of sexual