Trafficking in the Northern Countries : Eastern Prostitution from Russia to Sweden and Finland

• Trafficking is a relatively new phenomenon in the research agenda on organized crime. In this article the spread of the phenomenon in Scandinavia is described and discussed. Special attention has been given to Russian-organized prostitution in the Tornio Valley (the borderarea between northern Finland and northern Sweden). The data for the article consist of observations at special 'deposit-sites' in Finland and interviews with the authorities concerned (police, customs, social services, Center for Disease Control (CDC), etc.) in Sweden, and also newspaper articles that have reported on the phenomenon. The methological projection of the article is exploratory in character with the purpose of describing the phenomenon, rather than being able to explain it. The results show that there is an organized trade in women in the Tornio Valley (set rendezvous points, pick-up sites, transport via Russian-registered minivans etc). Despite this the phenomenon cannot be tied conclusively to Russian-organized crime. One conclusion is that further research on this phenomenon should gather information from the Russian authorities and from the prostitutes themselves.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Sex-TRADE

Trafficking

Tornio

Valley

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)