Finland is a transit, destination, and a limited source country for women, men and girls subjected to forced marriage, forced labor and sex trafficking. Finnish legislation condemns trafficking as a crime and has met the standards of the EU Protocol even before the convention came into effect. NGOs and the government cooperate in providing help for the victims of trafficking in Finland. Although the Finnish Police investigated and referred more people to care in 2013, prosecution and conviction numbers of suspected offenders remain low relative to the number of potential victims. The government is currently working on improving the anti-trafficking laws and practices to improve the situation.
Finland ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2006. United Nations Treaty Collection website, Chapter XVIII Penal Matters section, Section 12a, retrieved August 19, 2024
The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 1" in 2017 and 2023. US Government website, Trafficking in Persons Report 2023
In 2023, the Organised Crime Index gave Finland 3.5 out of 10 for human trafficking. Organised Crime Index, Finland: 2023 It noted an increase in numbers of victims and the prevalence of gangs from Europe and Vietnam in this crime. Organised Crime Index website, Finland, retrieved August 31, 2024
The 2024 GRETA report noted that the annual number of identified trafficking victims had gone up from 229 to 367 in three years, with a low number of prosecutions. Council of Europe website, GRETA publishes its second report on Finland, article dated June 10, 2024
Human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans that can occur internationally or within a nation, often with a goal of forced marriage, sexual slavery, forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation or the removal of organs. Newest forms of human trafficking include ova and surrogacy trade. Persons that are victims of human trafficking are usually recruited or taken by the means of the threat or use of force, or by fraud, kidnapping, deception, abuse of power or a vulnerable position with the aim of exploitation. Some of the biggest reasons for human trafficking are poverty, the global level of gender inequality and the feminization of poverty as well as different kinds of conflicts, cataclysms, religious and ethnic persecutions, violence and discrimination (of especially women).
Prevalence
Identifying a person as a victim of trafficking is one of the most difficult tasks when measuring human trafficking. According to Eurostat's 'Trafficking in human beings': "In accordance with Directive 2011/36/EU, the term "identified victim" refers to persons who have been formally identified by the relevant authorities as a victim of trafficking in human beings. The term "presumed victim" on the other hand is used for trafficking victims who have met the criteria of the EU Directive but have not been formally identified by the relevant formal authorities as a trafficking victim or who have declined to be formally or legally identified as a trafficking victim."
A total of 30,146 identified and presumed victims were registered in the 28 EU Member States in 2010–2012, out of which over a thousand were children trafficked for sexual exploitation. 80 percent of registered victims were female, and 65 percent of registered victims were EU citizens. Of the registered victims who are confirmed as EU citizens, the top 5 countries of citizenship are Bulgaria, Romania, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland. Over the three years, the top 5 non-EU countries of citizenship of registered victims were Nigeria, Brazil, China, Viet Nam and Russia. There has been an increase in the number of ¨unknown¨ citizenships from 2010 to 2011. In addition, 71 percent of labor exploitation victims were male in the EU Member States during these three years.
Finland is both a transit and a destination country for human trafficking, but human trafficking is less prevalent in Finland than it is in most other EU countries. To some extent Finland is also considered a source country for human trafficking. No incidents of organ trade have been detected in Finland, and trafficking tends to mostly appear in forms of prostitution and procuring (pimping), as well as labor exploitation. Labor exploitation is especially prevalent in berry picking, restaurant, cleaning, metal, transportation, construction and gardening industries as well as in personal households. According to statistics provided by Eurostat, in 2010–2012 there was a total of 231 registered victims of human trafficking in Finland. The Finnish Police estimate that about 200-250 women cross the Finnish border from the East weekly to work as prostitutes in Finland. Annually about 10,000–15,000 prostitutes spend some amount of time working in Finland. These women are mostly from Russia, Estonia and to some extent from Lithuania and Latvia. A chance of these women being forced to work as prostitutes cannot be excluded. In comparison, the corresponding number of registered victims of human trafficking in Sweden was 311, 179 in Denmark, 125 in Norway, 135 in Estonia and 4,474 in United Kingdom.
Finland is also known to be a transit country for trafficking in children. The children that pass through Finland come mostly from East Asia and they are headed elsewhere in Europe. In Finland, children of immigrants still in the process of seeking asylum are considered to be at risk for being trafficked: a number of children have disappeared from the centers where immigrants stay during the asylum process, so trafficking of children with the aim of exploiting them sexually might also take place in Finland.
Fewer than a hundred people seek help from the aid shelters annually in Finland.
For the first half of 2019, in a six-month period from January to June Finland's Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking (Migri) reported 115 human trafficking cases, of which most common were forced marriage and being made to work without workers rights in agriculture or restaurants. Seven reported having been sexually harassed. The victims were mainly from Afghanistan (17), Nigeria (16), Iraq (15), Somalia (15), Cameroon (7) and Romania (5).
Reporting and conviction rates
A total of 8,551 prosecutions were reported by EU Member States over the years 2010-2012 for human trafficking. Of those cases, in 3,786 the prosecuted was convicted for human trafficking. More than 70 percent of suspected traffickers were male in the EU Member States. Traffickers are often adult males who operate in the country where they are from, but more women and foreigners are involved in human trafficking than in most other crimes. Although most of those prosecuted and/or convicted for trafficking in persons are men, trafficking has a quite high rate of females involved in it. Very few other crimes record a level of female participation in committing the crime such as that of human trafficking. Venla Roth, Senior Adviser in Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities and the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, has stated that the conviction rates are so low because in many cases in which the trafficker controlled the victim, the trafficker can say they were not aware of the fact that the victim was dependent on them. Taking advantage of a person's dependence is one of the details defining trafficking in the Finnish Penal Code.
Since 2006, sentences have ranged from 1.5 to 5.5 years imprisonment: there were no reports of suspended sentences. The government did not prosecute any persons for suspected child sex tourism offenses in 2009.Trafficking in Persons Report 2010. U.S. Department of State (June 14, 2010).
There were 23 trafficking investigations in Finland in 2012, while the number of people prosecuted for trafficking in 2012 was eight. Eight trafficking offenders were prosecuted in 2012.
In 2013, there were 12 sex trafficking investigations and 15 labor trafficking investigations in Finland, and 19 persons were prosecuted for trafficking. Two labor trafficking offenders were convicted in 2013 with sentences of 30 months’ imprisonment, which was a smaller number of convictions than the year before. In four additional cases, five other people were persecuted for trafficking but not found guilty. However, they were convicted on lesser charges. Additionally, the prior convictions of three human trafficking offenders were upheld by two appellate courts. No offenders were convicted for sex trafficking in 2013."Finland". Trafficking in Persons Report 2010. U.S. Department of State (June 14, 2010). The government also encourages victims of human trafficking to assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offenders. In 2013, 12 victims assisted law enforcement in pre-trial investigations, 10 of whom participated in the prosecutions of alleged traffickers.
Illegal immigration is also criminalized in Finland. It is an offence often associated with human trafficking because the persons being trafficked are considered clients of the smugglers or traffickers. The number of persons using fake or illegal travelling documents in border controls was over 200 in the year 2000. Only a few of these cases have resulted in prosecution.
Law Finland has ratified the Conventions of 1926 which deals with slavery, and the Convention of 1949 which deals with trafficking in human beings and counteracting the exploitation of other people's prostitution, with their subsequent amendments. The national legislation on human trafficking and prostitution is mostly based on these conventions and their requirements. The whole 25th chapter of Finnish Penal Code deals with crimes on freedoms of persons. However, the only part in Finnish Penal Code that directly addresses human trafficking is § 25:3 and § 25:3a (9.7.2004/650). According to these two sections, both human trafficking and aggravated human trafficking, as well as the attempt of either, are punishable crimes in Finland. The laws on human trafficking came to effect in the Penal Code 1. August 2004. Prior to this, cases of human trafficking were punishable bylaws that dealt with procuring and discrimination at work. If convicted for human trafficking, the offender is prescribed a minimum of four months and a maximum of six years in prison. The penalty scale for aggravated trafficking in human beings is 2 to 10 years in prison. Penalties commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Although the government does not have a specialized anti-trafficking law enforcement unit, it integrated formal anti-trafficking awareness into police and border guard training curricula for new recruits and in-service personnel. The government has also provided anti-trafficking training to its prosecutors for the past four years. The government also distributed leaflets to thousands of visitors at a major annual travel fair warning that child sex tourism is a crime. Finland's laws provide extraterritorial jurisdiction over child sex tourism offenses perpetrated overseas by Finnish nationals.
Definitions of human trafficking in the Penal Code The definition of human trafficking is strict in the Penal Code. To fulfill the criteria for human trafficking it is crucial that the victim has been deceived or that the victim's dependent or insecure position has been taken advantage of when subjecting the person to work as, for example, a prostitute. Trafficking in persons is a crime against the individual.
The sections below are translated from the Finnish Penal Code.
Human trafficking 3 § (9.7.2004/650) A person who takes advantage of the victim's dependent or insecure position or the victim is pressured deceives the victim or takes advantage of the victim's deception is paid compensation to a person who is keeping a victim under his/her control