Number of victims of sexual exploitation in the system of assistance for the victims of human trafficking has increased
From 1 January to 30 June 2013 a total of 24 people, one of whom is a minor, have been accepted into the system of assistance for victims of human trafficking coordinated by the Joutseno Reception Centre. The 16 people forming the majority of the clients accepted into the system of assistance have been victims of human trafficking related to sexual exploitation.
This spring there have been an exceptional number of victims of sexual exploitation compared to previous years. From 1 January to 30 June 2012, five victims of human trafficking who had been sexually exploited were accepted into the system of assistance (1 January – 30 June 2011: 8 victims).
In previous years, the clients of the system of assistance have mainly been victims of work-related exploitation in the restaurant and gardening business. 72.9 per cent or 35 people of the clients accepted into the system of assistance in 2012 were victims of work-related exploitation (2011: 63.5 per cent, 33 people).
A typical victim of sexual exploitation is a woman with an African background
Victims of sexual exploitation accepted into the system of assistance for victims of human trafficking have mostly been women with an African background, who have been victimized in Mediterranean countries. The clear majority of victims proposed for selection to the system of assistance are from Nigeria. Since June 2006, a total of 52 Nigerians have been proposed for selection to the system of assistance for victims of human trafficking.
The proposal for accepting a person into the system of assistance can be made by an authority, the victim of human trafficking him/herself, or private or public service provider.
The second most common nationality of people proposed for selection to the system of assistance for victims of human trafficking is Thai (1 June 2006 – 30 June 2013: 34) and the third most common is Vietnamese (1 June 2006 – 30 June 2013: 26). The clients of the system of assistance from South East Asia are usually victims of work-related exploitation.
The most common form of human trafficking in Finland is work-related exploitation
In Finland, victims of human trafficking are usually victims of work-related human trafficking. Even though there were more victims of sexual exploitation found in the statistics for the first half of the year, the system of assistance for victims of human trafficking estimates that the number of victims of work-related exploitation has not decreased.
There are grounds to assume that there are many cases of work-related human trafficking that have not yet been discovered. The number of victims of sexual and work-related exploitation is most likely larger than what is found in the statistics.
For example, not all the victims known by the police and the Finnish Border Guard will seek help from the system of assistance.
More detailed statistics available online
A more detailed review of the operation of the system of assistance in January–June 2013 is available in Finnish on the Finnish Immigration Service website www.migri.fi > For the media > Statistics > Statistics on reception.
Further information for the media
Joutseno Reception Centre, Deputy Director Antti Jäppinen, tel. +358 71 876 3220, e-mail: firstname.lastname@intermin.fi
This is a press release of the Finnish immigration Service and the Joutseno Reception Centre, 23.7.2013
What is human trafficking?
Human trafficking is a serious crime and breach of human rights, involving the exploitation and control of another human being. The UN's Trafficking in Persons Protocol defines the phenomenon based on three criteria, all of which must be fulfilled: act, means and purpose:
”Trafficking in Persons means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons (act), by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation (means). Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs (purpose).
