Analyzing the Threat of Human Trafficking in Europe: The Swedish Sex Purchase Act of 1999

Introduction

Of all the diabolical forms of criminal activity propagated via international organized crime syndicates, human trafficking (whether for the sex trade or forced slave labor) is bar none the most insidious. As the third largest money making opportunity for organized crime (Canada-National Action Plan To Combat Human Trafficking 2012, 43; Europol-SOCTA 2013, 24), rivaled only by the illegal drug trade and weapons sales, human trafficking is a serious problem facing states.

Human trafficking (HT) in its various forms transports, ‘on average, each year, worldwide, at minimum, 2.45 million people…(Canada-National Action Plan To Combat Human Trafficking 2012, 43).’ Ethically intolerable for human kind, yet financially opportune for organized crime, international governments have targeted the sale of human souls with a high priority threat rating. Europol, the police service of the European Union lists, ‘…facilitation of illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings…’ as the top two high priority threats in the EU (Europol-SOCTA 2013, 39). In May of this year (2015), during auto racing’s biggest event, the Indianapolis 500, and NCAA Men’s Basketball Final-Four, over 100 advertisements selling sex with children were seen on local websites (DeMar 2015). Incidents of trafficking and slave labor were reported in preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil (Johnson 2014). In a study completed after the 2014 Super Bowl, the authors concluded that, ‘…demand for commercial sex continues to be the driver of sex market conditions (Roe-Sepowitz et.al. 2014, 4).’ Though certainly not a shocking conclusion, it is clear that organized crime (national or international) targets large urban events that cultivate a joyful party atmosphere to provide commercial sex (Ibid. 2014, 3).

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) human trafficking is defined as:

‘…The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs (UNODC 2015).’

Put plainly, trafficking is a deceptive act, deploying illegal means for the purposes of human exploitation (UNODC 2015). In the 2014 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, released by the UNODC, trends in trafficking of children have increased by 11% over the last decade especially in Europe (UNODC 2014, 11). This trend is specifically intriguing if not sickening in light of the growing penetration of the Sex Purchase Act (SPA or “Swedish Model”) of 1999, first authored and adopted into legislation by Sweden. To consider human trafficking one must first consider the commercial sex trade and its predominant definition of ‘prostitution’. The legalizing of prostitution or blindly ignoring it by law enforcement causes the basic business principles of supply and demand to manifest. As long as there is a demand for commercial sex (prostitution) then there will be a need to supply that demand with workers (whether consensual or not) to service this demand. This is what the Sex Purchase Act in Sweden seeks to do, regulate the demand for sex thus decreasing the need for supply or at the very least making the commercial sex market a volatile one for buyers and suppliers. Not long after the Swedish law came online, Norway added their version; England, Holland, and finally even Canada this last December 2014 (Wofford 2014). According to the Swedish model, trends in violence done to women in the commercial sex industry and human trafficking were predicted to decrease (Swedish Institute 2010, 3). After 16 years as law, one would expect the statistical data to support the proposed effects of the government regulation.

The hypothesis of this analysis, however, is that the Swedish Sex Purchase Act of 1999, has not achieved its intended outcomes. In fact, data is inconclusive and the records that have been collected seem to suggest several unintended consequences of the regulatory law—namely the increase of the trafficking of children (UNODC 2014, 11).

Research will show that one of the shaping factors of the regulatory law in Sweden is the unintended consequence of international organized crime groups finding a new path of least resistance continuing to supply the “commodities” needed for the high demand for the commercial sex industry in Europe (Clark 2013, 248; citation). One might assume that after 16 years Sweden will have clear raw data in which to defend the SPA of 1999, and answer the prevailing question of this paper—namely, has the Swedish Sex Purchase Act of 1999 decreased human sex trafficking amongst women and children in Sweden?

Literature Review

Since the inauguration of the Sex Purchase Act in Sweden, there has been one major report released by its government evaluating the impact of the model. That particular report was released in 2010, and has since then come under significant scrutiny. In considering the volume of literature, and the scope and depth of the content with which to evaluate the Swedish Sex Purchase Act of 1999, there was an immediate challenge with the style of data collection. It appears that the Swedish report released in 2010 lacked clear scientific methodology and practice. Therefore the literature review will consider content from two main camps of presentation. First, the Swedish report and other material that is more ideological in its methodologies and content. Data from these reports, essays and opinions are based mostly in qualitative practice. Second, reports and essays that carry clear scientific methodologies are considered. These would include but not be exclusive to UNODC and EUROPOL reports, and those of other international organizations who conducted studies employing scientific methods. With this point in focus, we will divide the literature into three camps: International Legal Frameworks; Affirmative Supporting Literature; Negative Dissenting Literature.

International Legal Framework Literature

Two major international organizations (IOs) have sought to provide international legal frameworks in dealing with the illegal sex trade and human trafficking, as watchdogs over the international laws they create and as evaluators of regulatory impact globally.

First the United Nations established global legal precedent via its Palermo Protocol, namely—Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, a supplement of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. This document sets the legal precedent and definitions for human trafficking, the jurisdiction of international tribunals to punish international criminals, punishments, the scope of the protocols application, and several other defining articles. For the purposes of this essay, this protocol serves to bring definition to the term, ‘human trafficking’ creating an international standard for all member signatories.  Article 3 of the protocol establishes the definition, which has already been stated in the introduction of this study. Also defined in Article 3, sub-paragraph (d), ‘“Child” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age (UN 2000).’ This age is an interesting factor in that most member nations carry domestically a ‘statutory rape’ age between 14-18 years (Economist 2012). Spain is the lowest in the EU at 13 while Sweden has established 15 years in their Penal Code, Chapter 6—Sex Crimes (Economist 2012; Swedish Penal Code 1962, 24).

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was established in 1997 and renamed to its present title in 2002 (UNOV 2015). Two documents will serve their purpose as plumb lines for the Swedish Model. First, the UNODCs, Comprehensive Strategy to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (2012), establishes the three pillar strategy of the UNODC. One of the pillars of that strategic plan is to set in place, ‘…an accurate baseline of information…critical to ensuring that the development of global policy and coordinated action are predicated upon sound understanding and analysis (UNODC 2012, 11).’ Second, therefore, as a direct result of the UNODCs strategic policy, the office produced the, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2014). The latest edition of the Global Report is the second of its kind since the UN Protocols of 2000. The Global Report provides up to date statistical reviews of human trafficking via scientific research model. This report stands as a major contributor to statistical research globally, and for the purposes of this study, a challenger to Swedish statistics and research gathering methods.

A final document rounds out this section and is produced by EUROPOL, the policing agent of the European Union. EUROPOL published SOCTA 2013, the EU Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA). The 2013 SOCTA report lists, ‘trafficking in human beings…’ as one of its most serious key threats, second only to the facilitation of illegal immigration (SOCTA 2013, 39). One of the key factors SOCTA identifies with the trafficking of human victims for sexual exploitation is the ability of international organized crime cartels or syndicates to be, ‘…very flexible and adapt quickly to changes in legislation and law enforcement tactics, …[and] provides low risk and high profitability…’ for traffickers (SOCTA 2013, 24).

It’s this adaptability by international organized crime, the leads to the next author considered in this analysis—namely Robert M. Clark. Clark’s 2013 work, Intelligence Analysis, reviews shaping forces that every intelligence analyzer needs to consider as they complete their report. His assessment of these shaping forces (Chapter 13) detail the nature of government ‘regulation’ and the potential of ‘unintended consequences’ to new legal regulations (Clark 2013, 247-250). As we juxtapose Clark’s theoretical perspective with EUROPOLs, SOCTA analysis, it is observed that organized crime is adapting to a more covert, targeted age group of trafficking victims—namely children, to supply the growing demand in global sex trade markets (SOCTA 2013, 24).

Affirmative Supporting Literature

At the turn of the millennium, Sweden led the way in addressing the growing amount of human trafficking and violence towards women in the commercial sex industry (Gov. Sweden 2011). As a result, the Government of Sweden initiated new legislation called the Sex Purchase Act (1999), otherwise known as the “Swedish Model” which has in various forms penetrated Europe and Canada since its inception (Wofford 2014). Four documents are presented in this analysis in support of the Swedish model. First, is the Swedish Sex Purchase Act (SFS 1998:408) the official legislative Act of Parliament, which established the foundations and renovations to the Swedish Penal Code. SFS 1998: 408 was established to, ‘…act as a deterrent to those who purchase sexual services, so that the number of purchasers would decline…also leading to a reduction of…new recruits (human trafficking) to prostitution (Govt. Sweden 2011).’

The second document under review is the Swedish Penal Code, specifically Chapter 6, Section 11. As stated by the Penal Code, ‘Criminal responsibility as provided for in this Chapter for an act committed against someone under a given age shall be required of a perpetrator…(Swedish Penal Code 1962, 27-28).’ With this amendment to the criminal code in Sweden, the purchase of commercial sex becomes a crime regardless of the gender of the buyer, and criminalizes with greater penalty human trafficking to supply the demand for commercial sex.

A third document under consideration is the Swedish, National Action Plan for Safeguarding Children from Sexual Exploitation (1997; 2001; 2008). First implemented in 1997, and revised in 2001 and 2008, the Swedish Government has sought to protect children from sexual exploitation in all known forms. Sweden seeks to, ‘…ensure that no child in Sweden is subjected to sexual exploitation, no child in another country is sexually exploited by persons from Sweden, child victims of sexual exploitation receive all the support and help they need, [and finally that] Sweden contributes to effective international cooperation on this issue (Govt. Sweden 2008, 4). This national action plan is in response to the on going investigations and attempts to quantify the severity of human trafficking or sexual exploitation of children in Sweden. Admittedly, Swedish authorities state that, ‘…the number of child victims of sexual exploitation in Sweden cannot be stated with certainty (Govt. Sweden 2008, 5).’ Tabulating accurate data is difficult and is often conducted via surveys and interviews, consequently Sweden’s Criminal Investigations Department, ‘…has chosen not to compute estimates of …human trafficking victims…[since] such estimates do not reflect the real extent of human trafficking…’ in Sweden (Govt. Sweden 2008, 13). The policies and efforts of Swedish authorities are noble and effective to a certain extent, and yet, one can understand the challenges that have come against Sweden’s reporting structure regarding the validity of impact from the Sex Purchase Act against human trafficking of children for sexual exploitation.

Fourthly, selected translated extracts from the Swedish government 10-year progress report on the Sex Purchase Act are a critical addition to the defense of the Swedish Model. Entitled, The Ban Against the Purchase of Sexual Services—An Evaluation 1999-2008, the Swedish Institute reports on the progress of the 1999 law. In this report, the Swedish authorities claim to have reduced prostitution by half (Swedish Institute 2010, 7), counteracted the establishment of organized crime (Ibid. 2010, 9), created a volatile environment for commercial sex buyers (Ibid. 2010, 9), increased public support for the law (Ibid. 2010, 9), and identified new threats to side step the regulations (Ibid. 2010, 8). The report goes on to state that, ‘…20-30 percent of women involved in prostitution were of foreign background…many women coming from the Baltic region and Eastern Europe…Thailand, and nations in South America and Africa (Swedish Institute 2010, 20).’ The report also concedes that, ‘…the average age is lower in indoor prostitution than on the street…’ with the average age being 20 years of age or younger (Ibid. 2010, 23). Clearly, there are still issues of human trafficking. Finally, the report does cite extensively the sources of its quantitative statistical data in defense of their claims (Ibid. 2010, 15-18). The report identifies the Internet as a new arena of threat (Ibid. 2010, 8, 20).

Finally, one further document was reviewed, The Online Sexual Solicitation of Children By Adults in Sweden (BRA Report 2007). The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (SNCCP) has identified the Internet as a major contributor to child sex exploitation significantly increasing the demand for human trafficking of children (BRA Report 2007, 5).  Basing their study on three main data sets, the SNCCP has documented that, ‘…slightly over 30 percent of the youths in the…representative sample of fifteen year olds reported that they had been the subject of some form of sexual contact during the twelve months prior to the survey…(BRA Report 2007, 7).’ The study further indicates that, ‘…in almost 40 percent of the reported incidents, a perpetrator who had been unknown to the victim prior to the Internet contact had succeeded in extending the contact outside the Internet (Ibid. 2007, 11).’

Dissenting Critical Literature

Of course, since the release of the Swedish Government Report, The Ban Against the Purchase of Sexual Services—An Evaluation 1999-2008, there have been several critical detractors and dissenters to the claims presented. First of all, ‘…the Nordic Ministers for Gender Equality commissioned the Nordic Gender Institute (NIKK) to carry out an independent study (ANP 2009:756) on similarities and differences in devising prostitution and human trafficking policies (NIKK 2009, 7).’ One of the stated goals of the study was to, ‘Describe and review estimated numbers of men and women in terms of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes in the Nordic countries (NIKK 2009, 9).’ The study states that, ‘It is difficult to judge how many women have been trafficked into Nordic countries, because there are obvious shortcomings in the methods for counting trafficking victims (Ibid. 2009, 13).’ Police and local authorities in several Nordic nations have testified that visible street prostitution has declined but the reality of a decrease in prostitution and human trafficking is unsubstantiated (Ibid. 2009, 13). As the study focused on prostitution and human trafficking in Sweden, evidence was inconclusive regarding the numbers of trafficking victims. Yes, declines in street prostitution was noted over the last ten years, but how to interpret that fact was equally illusive (NIKK 2009, 15). The simple decline in prostitution could not decisively be attributed to the Sex Purchase Act or simply an adjustment in communication methods—namely the Internet or mobile phones (Ibid. 2009, 15). In the end, the NIKK report could not agree with the certainty of the Swedish Report.

Sussane Dodillet and Petra Ostergren wrote a second dissenting opinion entitled, The Swedish Sex Purchase Act: Claimed Success and Documented Effects (2011).      Dodillet and Ostergren cite the NIKK report making the conclusion that, ‘…the material available regarding the scope and existence of prostitution [and human trafficking] shows knowledge gaps, and that research…is limited (Dodillet et.al. 2011, 8).’ Dodillet and Ostergren, ‘question whether or not the decline [in prostitution and human trafficking in Sweden] was a direct result of the Act or not (Ibid. 2011, 8).’ The authors continue with their review stating that there are various reasons numbers in street prostitutes can be considered lower challenging Sweden’s claim that the Act is the sole trigger mechanism for the decline. Increased police surveillance, a natural decline in street prostitutes triggered by new forms of communication (Internet, mobile phones, etc.), and sex workers and clients connecting in bars and hotels just to name a few (Dodillet et.al. 2011, 10). Research by the authors demonstrates that, ‘…when it comes to youth being exploited in prostitution, the Internet is a new arena that has increased with avalanche proportions (Ibid. 2011, 11).’ Dodillet and Ostergren concur that the opportunity for organized crime via the Internet is a new threat with little monitoring as of yet. The authors cite the National Police Board in a March 2010 press release:

Serious organized crime, including prostitution and trafficking, has increased in strength, power, and complexity during the past decade. It constitutes a serious social problem in Sweden and organized crime makes large amounts of money from the exploitation and trafficking of people under slave-like conditions (Ibid. 2011, 12).

This quote is a challenge to the Swedish Government since their report was released, July 2^nd, 2010, just five months later.

In yet another critical opinion, Laura Agustin cites the critique of Louise Persson, author of, Classical Feminism, regarding the Swedish Government’s Report. Persson systematically attacked the methodology, statistics and general guiding principles of the 2010 Swedish Report. Quoting Persson, Austin cites, “I didn’t expect an astounding absence of objective and unbiased guiding principles, a lack of solid evidence and a confusing methodical picture that could mean outright guesswork (Austin 2010).” “Sources are mentioned, “ Persson continues, “but absolutely nothing is explained about methodology…there is nothing about how interviewees were chosen, why they were relevant and what questionnaire was used or how interviews were analyzed (Austin 2010).” Furthermore, Persson points out the conflicting rhetoric during the presentation of the Swedish Report. “One the one hand, they [Swedish Govt.] haven’t got a clue about how many sex workers there are in Sweden, and, on the other hand, that the law has successfully reduced street prostitution by 50%…and significantly reduced human trafficking (Austin 2010).” Certainly, the Swedish Report appears contradictory.

Finally, several smaller articles and press releases by Swedish government officials, disputing the 2010 Report will be cited. As will be seen, the common dissenting argumentation focuses on Sweden’s scientific model, data gathering process, and reporting methodology. All detractors claim that Sweden’s statistics are over stated, evidence unconfirmed, and findings, therefore, inconclusive.

Methodology

Using primarily qualitative research strategies, our analysis will focus on a review of documents, personal testimonials, and significant video documentation formats. Statistical quantitative data will also be considered, however, that statistical data was not produced by this author’s research but is part and parcel of the qualitative scope of material available. The focus of this data and goal of our methodology is to analyze the impact of our independent variable (SPA 1999) upon our dependent variable (increase or decrease in prostitution and human sex trafficking). Therefore this study first presents scientific data collected from three sources: international law protocols criminalizing human trafficking, and both affirmative and negative proponents of the SPA of 1999. Next, an analysis of the literature seeks to compare the data from Sweden’s 2010 Report to the critiques leveled against the reliability and validity of the Swedish reporting processes and methodologies. Very little raw data has been presented by Sweden over the course of the 16 years the SPA has been in operation, which provides an added complexity to the research being evaluated. To overcome this challenge, scientific research by reliable international organizations (UNODC, EUROPOL) are considered. And finally, via the research available, we can analyze the impact and effect of the Sex Purchase Act of 1999 on human trafficking for the purpose of exploitation in the commercial sex industry in Sweden.

Analysis and Findings

Based on the documentation examined for this research, what clear findings present themselves as we consider the impact of the independent variable, Sweden’s Sex Purchase Act of 1999, on the dependent variables of decreasing prostitution and human trafficking?

First, the research shows that the international community is beginning to address the threat of all forms of human trafficking. The United Nations Palermo Protocols (UNGA Res. 55/25), in concert with legal frameworks within the EU (P7_TA(2010)0018), have created legal foundations necessary to criminalize and punish international criminal organizations for their actions (UNHCHR 2000; EC 2010, 1). In light of the UN conventions, many member nations are developing domestic legal foundations that strengthen the protocols. Sweden being one of those nations has created a unique framework in efforts to protect women from prostitution and human trafficking. The Swedish Sex Purchase Act of 1999 (SFS 1998:408) is the nation’s offering to the global community, and over the last 10 years has penetrated Europe in various forms. The purpose of the act was to aggravate opportunities for buyers of commercial sex, legalizing the sales but criminalizing the purchase. In this way, the legislation would force a decline in the commercial sex industry, decreasing the demand thereby decreasing the supply chain directly impacting prostitution and human trafficking (Govt. Sweden 2011).  With the additions to the Swedish Penal Codes (Swedish Penal Code 1962), and the National Action Plan for Safeguarding Children from Sexual Exploitation (1997; 2001; 2008) the web pressuring illegal purchases of commercial sex and the challenge to human trafficking created a hostile environment for the sex trade.

However by 2010, when the Swedish Government released its report, analyzing the impact of the SPA, their findings were met with severe criticism and skepticism. Several dissenters attacked the Swedish report on two main fronts. First, the report was criticized for its confusing methodology in data gathering and analysis protocols. In essence, the report was challenged for its poor scientific methods and statistical data collection. The Nordic Gender Institute (NIKK) led the way in dissent, ‘It is difficult to judge how many women have been trafficked into Nordic countries, because there are obvious shortcomings in the methods for counting trafficked victims (NIKK 2009, 13).’ Dodillet and Ostergren continued the dissent citing the NIKK report in their challenge questioning the material gathered in support of the Swedish Report, stating that too many knowledge gaps existed to accurately determine the impact of the SPA with prostitution and human trafficking (Dodillet et.al. 2011, 8). In their opposition, Dodillet and Ostergren cite the National Police Board, as late as 2011, stating that prostitution and human trafficking had increased not decreased in Sweden (Ibid. 2011, 12). And lastly, Louise Persson also challenges the scientific methodology of the data collection and analysis of the Swedish Report arguing that the, ‘…astounding absence of objective and unbiased guiding principles, [and] lack of solid evidence and a confusing methodology…’ lead to outright guesswork by the Swedish Government (Austin 2010). One thing is clear from the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2014), there is still a major concern in the Nordic nations regarding the demand for commercial sex, and human trafficking to meet that demand (UNODC 2014, 7-8). Included in this fact is the significant increase in trafficking of children in the last 10 years into Nordic nations coming from Eastern Europe and the Middle East (Ibid. 2014, 11). From 2004 to 2011, the UNODC charted a 5% increase globally in trafficking of children and a Nordic regional increase of almost 6% with young girls (UNODC 2014, 11, 68).

A second line of dissent with the Swedish report came from the police force and prostitutes themselves attacking the validity of the decrease in commercial sex activity and decrease in demand (Dodillet et.al. 2011, 12). Through the work of local police forces, NGOs who work with former prostitutes and trafficking victims, the decline in prostitution and human trafficking is more due to relocation of commercial sex activities than an actual decrease in activity (Waters 2014). Pye Jakobsson, a former sex worker and coordinator of Rose Alliance argues, ‘I hear [sex workers] complain about a lot of things. But no one complains about lack of clients…the only baseline [for the Swedish government study] was the known street zones,…but there are many different settings. Some work in casinos…in bars or online (Waters 2014).’ Police forces, present sex workers and former sex workers all agree that the ‘hook up’ locations are mostly off the streets via other means therefore decreasing street presence but not necessarily decreasing activity. As argued by Ethan Kapstein, in his article for Foreign Affairs, ‘…it is possible that the law has merely driven Sweden’s prostitutes and their clients deeper underground (Kapstein 2006, 6).’

Finally, evidence analyzed from the documentation seems to suggest that international organized crime has simply shifted focus for human trafficking to children (UNODC 2014, 11, 67-68). Since it is so difficult to track human trafficking, evidence is weak for both Sweden and IOs to conclusively determine the extent of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Yet, this seems to prove what Clark refers to in his presentation on shaping forces for analysis as the Law of Unintended Consequences (Clark 2013, 247-249). As Clark argues, ‘the law of unintended consequences, …says that: 1] any deliberate change (regulation or legislation) to a complex (social) system will have unintended (and usually unforeseen) consequences; 2] those consequences are normally undesirable (Clark 2013, 248).’ Therefore, in the case of the Swedish Sex Purchase Act, we can argue that the Act has not decreased the number of sex workers in Sweden but simply relocated them, and has not decreased human trafficking only driven it further underground as an unintended consequence of the law. If this is plausible, then the demand for commercial sex may not have decreased, the number of prostitutes have probably not decreased, and the door is now even more wide open for organized crime to increase its supply for continuing demand. What is more, since the trafficking of children was already illegal, and therefore likely more covert, we could argue that the potential increase of trafficking of children is likely, though difficult to prove without clear evidence. One thing is certain, the claims made by Sweden in their 2010 report on the impact of the SPA of 1999 are significantly objectionable.

Conclusions

As long as there is a market for commercial sex (prostitution) then there will be a need to supply that demand with workers. This is what the Sex Purchase Act in Sweden seeks to do, regulate the demand for sex thus decreasing the need for supply or at the very least making the commercial sex market a volatile one for buyers and suppliers. After 16 years as law, one would expect the statistical data to support the proposed impact of the government regulation. From the documentation and arguments presented we can clearly see that the SPA has made the ‘street’ prostitution environment extremely uncomfortable for sex buyer and seller alike (Swedish Institute 2010, 9). But, it appears also from the evidence that the Swedish Report is over reaching and over stating its impact on prostitution and human trafficking. Relocation of commercial sex is not the same as decreasing its availability or demand.

It is unclear whether the Swedish Sex Purchase Act of 1999, has achieved all its intended outcomes. In fact, data is inconclusive and the records that have been collected seem to suggest several unintended consequences of the regulatory law—namely the increase of the trafficking of children (UNODC 2014, 11). It is the belief of this author that research shows that one of the shaping forces of the regulatory law in Sweden is the unintended consequence of international organized crime groups finding a new path of least resistance continuing to supply the “commodities” needed for the high demand of the commercial sex industry in Europe (Clark 2013, 248; BRA Report 2007, 7, 11; SOCTA 2013, 39).

For Sweden’s Model to work effectively, a more synergistic approach to the commercial sex industry needs to be taken (Clark 2013, 242-244). As of 2008, with the addition of Sweden’s National Action Plan for Safeguarding Children from Sexual Exploitation, a greater quantity of regulatory laws are creating the appropriate roadblocks to human trafficking, especially on the Internet (Govt. Sweden 2008, 10-11). This multilayered approach is critical for creating the necessary hostile environment for international organized crime in order to deter advancement of human trafficking.

Finally, if the demand for commercial sex were checked then the need to supply such demand would be significantly checked as well. Yet, how does one decrease the demand for commercial sex even the demand for children for sexual purposes? What are the driving motivators of the commercial sex industry and the factors that propagate the selection of minor children to satisfy that demand? The demand for commercial sex doesn’t seem to be a fad that will decrease, wear out or go away. Governments need to regulate with a greater web of laws coupled with more severe punishments for perpetrators. Can human trafficking be stopped? Not as long as there is a demand for commercial sex and the financial opportunity vast. At best it seems that the only resistance governments and communities can provide is in checking the market increase and making the purchase of commercial sex culturally shameful. Full eradication seems unlikely for the present.

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Written by: Dale Anderson
Written at: American Military Academy
Written for: Dr. Joseph Direnzo
Date written: September 2015

Further Reading on E-International Relations

• North Korean Female Defectors in China: Human Trafficking and Exploitation
• Human vs. Feminist Security Approaches to Human Trafficking in the Mediterranean
• Assessing Globalisation’s Contribution to the Sex Trafficking Trade
• The Bio/Necropolitics of State (In)action in EU Refugee Policy: Analyzing Calais
• The Resonance of Name-Shaming in Global Politics: The Case of Human Rights Watch
• Integrating under Threat: A Balance-of-threat Account of European Integration