Trafficking in human beings for sexual and other purposes - Polisen

6. Analysis and recommendations43for the police authorities and other public authoritiesare contained in the Administrative Procedure Act(1986:223).Despite these commitments, the police authoritiesfind it increasingly difficult to gain access to qualifiedinterpreters and translators, particularly in certainlanguages. These shortages have seriously affectedinvestigations and results in some cases. The mainproceedings in a human trafficking case in Västmanlandin 2011 were characterised by major problems,for example, in the interpretation and translation ofevidence. Two interpreters interpreted the same materialin different ways and one injured-party did notunderstand what was said during the main proceedingsdespite the fact that interpreters were used. Theprosecution for human trafficking was dismissed 62This shows that the rule of law may suffer when victimsand/or suspects speak a language for which onlya few interpreters are available. In some cases, victimsor witnesses and interpreters also belong to thesame social networks in Sweden or in the country oforigin. This sometimes makes the victims anxiousthat sensitive information about them will be spreadto people they know or to the suspected perpetrators.Proposed measures: To improve the availability ofqualified interpreters and translators in human traffickingcases, a national inventory encompassing ananalysis of the judicial system’s future needs for courtinterpreters ought to be drawn up urgently.Need for increased cultural skills within the responsibleauthoritiesIn a multicultural society, the responsible authoritieshave a responsibility to identify the victims and protectthem from and take action against the crime thatcan result when cultural or religious traditions andvalues come into conflict with prevailing legal principles.At the same time, officials of the responsibleauthority must carry out their duties in a respectful62 Västmanland District Court 25.08.2011, Case no. B 406-11.manner with regard to individuals and groups withdifferent traditions, cultures and values. This setsstrict requirements for cultural skills and awarenessof their own and others’ values.Proposed measures: Responsible authoritiesshould be given the opportunity to enhance their culturalskills through skills development and a multidisciplinaryapproach in collaboration with otheragencies and experts in cultural diversity, to increasetheir staff’s ability to perform their duties and toimprove efficiency in these investigations.6.1.2 Proposed measures – Human trafficking forsexual purposesIn recent years there has been a steady increase inhuman trafficking for sexual purposes within the EU.There may be a number of reasons for this. Theenlargement of the EU and the abolition of visarequirements for citizens of the new accession countrieshas made it easier for human traffickers torecruit and transport particularly vulnerable youngwomen and girls, to be exploited for sexual purposesin EU member countries. The increase may also bedue to certain countries within the EU opening uplegal prostitution markets. During the same period,the difficult economic situation in certain Europeancountries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, has led to adeterioration in opportunities for profiting from theprostitution markets in these countries. Traffickersand pimps looked instead to new and more financiallyprofitable markets in the Netherlands and Germany,but also in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.From 2010 to 2011, the decrease in the number ofconvictions in Sweden for sex trafficking and procuringmay be due to a lack of perseverance within thepolice authorities over time but also to differences inthe commitment of the police authorities and theirability to detect and combat these types of crimes. Atthe same time, however,there was an increase in thenumber of legal proceedings concerning the purchaseof sexual services from 2010 to 2011. This may be