The arrival was announced. The men had sent an SMS and arranged an appointment before knocking on a door in an apartment in the center of Bergen. A woman in her 20s opened the door, dressed in a white top and short lace shorts. They immediately recognized her from photos online. The woman led them into the bedroom. The candles were lit. The music slowly flowed out of the speakers. The bed was made and ready. But something was jarring. The woman did not speak Norwegian, hardly any English. The visitors asked to speak to someone else. She pointed towards the living room. A woman and a man sat on the couch. The guests introduced themselves and said that they had not come for a massage. They were police officers. Convicted for the third time The investigation and the trials that followed were to reveal that the woman and the man on the sofa were the mother and husband of the woman who opened the door. The young woman had come to Norway from Thailand just three months earlier and immediately started prostitution. The mother, whom we call Boa, denied in court that she had sold her daughter. But the police found NOK 190,000 in cash in the apartment. Both she and her son-in-law were convicted for the sale of their daughter and wife. It was the third time for Boa. Sentenced as a pimp in Stavanger and Oslo, now also in Bergen. This time she was suspected of human trafficking. The police pointed out that the daughter was in a vulnerable situation, could not speak the language, was dependent on her mother and in reality had no choice. Six years later, we are standing outside a brick house in a town in Eastern Norway. There is a massage parlor in the basement. We go in, introduce ourselves and ask: – Are you Boa? Brothels throughout Norway For almost two years, news Brennpunkt has mapped the extent of prostitution that takes place in Thai massage parlors in Norway. Three out of four salons in parts of Bergen close to the center opened to sell us sex. It corresponds to a recent police investigation in Sweden. It states that 80 percent of the massage parlors in our neighboring country sell sex. news’s shows that over 300 women travel between 80 massage parlors that appear to be pure brothels. Women rent beds in the salons and sell sex. Those who rent out the beds can be hit by the pimping clause in the Norwegian Criminal Code. What happens behind covered windows? For two years, Brennpunkt has surveyed an industry where customers expect sex. When we looked more closely at the women who work in this industry, we discovered something new. What had happened in 2016 in an apartment in Bergen was not an isolated case. Undercover – Hush, we can’t talk here. We go downstairs, the lady whispers and points towards a basement staircase. She is in her 50s and runs this massage parlor in Bergen. It is June 2022 and we have gone in to find out if they offer sexual services. But we have to have that conversation in a room below ground level. In the stairs is a bat in a hook. It can be a tough life working as a masseuse. Several of the women in this industry have had to defend themselves against threatening customers. Photo: Anette Berentsen / news In the basement we agree on a price. NOK 1,400 for extra services. As we stand there, a young woman comes out of a room. The two women talk to each other in Thai. We say we have to think about it and come back later. On the way out the door, the salon owner comes up with a new proposal. – When you come back, do you want the youth? I can trade with her. – OK. At the same price? – Yes. I can take the other one and she’ll massage you. The young woman is her own daughter. She grew up in Norway, went to a Norwegian school and now works in her mother’s salon. The daughter herself says that she works voluntarily. – I am 22 now. Not 16. Then she throws out her arms and asks: – What should I do? What should I work on? This is how we have worked – this is what we found Since March 2021, news Brennpunkt has surveyed the Thai massage industry. The main method has been observation. We have followed the activity in the salons from the street, we have followed advertisements online, and we have followed other activity in social media and online forums. We have called around 100 massage parlors to check what they offer. We have also filmed with a hidden camera inside selected salons in Bergen. We have collected information from 1451 advertisements from Norway’s largest sex and escort website. Including 13,716 pictures. We have mapped all companies that do Thai massage in the Brønnøysund registers. 851 companies in total. This is what we found: A large majority of massage parlors opened to sell sex. In Bergen, where the investigations have been most thorough, we received sex offers from 75% of the salons. More than 300 women travel between different places in Norway to earn money in massage parlors. 80 salons scattered around Norway have various sex advertisements attached to them, and appear to be brothels for traveling women. We have found several cases where daughters and mothers work together, possibly working in the same industry, and sell sex. The Church’s City Mission believes that the women often did not intend to become prostitutes, but a lack of language and social understanding means that prostitution is perceived as the only way to survive in Norway. The police fear that many women are exploited to a greater or lesser extent in the massage parlors. Common with family ties We have found at least six cases where mother and daughter work in Thai massage, and where the daughter advertises on sex and escort sites. Several of the daughters have grown up in Norway. Some come here as young adults and take the same job as their mother. Such close relationships worry the police and emergency services. One is afraid that the young women do not feel they have any other choices. If a person is forced to sell sex, they are affected by the section on human trafficking. State Attorney Rudolf Christoffersen has brought several such cases to court. He says the line between pimping and human trafficking is fluid. NORMAL: Family ties occur frequently in human trafficking cases, says State Attorney Rudolf Christoffersen. Photo: Anette Berentsen / news – It depends on the degree of dependence between the people, and whether they have any real options that enable them to get out of the situation they are in, says Christoffersen. – It also matters if they operate in their own country, or if they are in another country where they do not speak the language. Then they are much more vulnerable, he adds. It is quite common to find close family ties in human trafficking cases, says Christoffersen, who speaks on a general basis. – Family ties make it even more difficult to testify against the person who exploits you, says Christoffersen. – The consequence is a dilemma for the police and the prosecution: We can only protect those who are not afraid to tell. The others may be labeled as doing it voluntarily, while in reality it may be precisely these who have it worst. Boa tells In a cellar in a town in Eastern Norway, there is a strong smell of perfumed oil. It is hot. An exercise machine stands in the corner. Thai art adorns the walls. The woman we meet looks at us a little anxiously with clear, brown eyes. – Yes, I’m Boa, she says. We ask if we can talk to her about the verdicts. Boa draws on it. – Have I done something wrong? It is six years since she was sentenced for selling her own daughter in Bergen. Boa was sentenced to seven months in prison for pimping. Now Boa works here. The daughter lives far away and has a family of her own. She looks at us, thinks a bit. Then Boa chooses to tell. – Can’t read or write – I have lived in this country for 30 years. I have helped others, but never accepted money, says Boa. – I can neither read nor write. But I’m good with numbers, she says and smiles. Despite all the years in Norway, it can still feel like a foreign country. Selling sex is her way of life. But the verdicts, they don’t add up, she believes. – I am not a pimp. The police say so. But I’m not. I know it in my heart, says Boa and places her right hand on her chest. Photo: Anette Berentsen / news That time, in 2016, her daughter came to Norway. Her children were at home in Thailand. Boaz’s grandson. – My daughter wanted to work to get her child to Norway. But she had no money. I had little money. You must have an apartment and money in your pocket first. Otherwise it won’t work, says Boa. That’s why the daughter started prostitution, she says. Boa says she knew what her daughter was up to. – But I didn’t take money from her. She worked for her child. When the police came, they took the money. And the child remained in Thailand, says the woman. – He was a bad man. She is in her 50s now. Throughout her adult life in Norway, she has sold sex to raise money for food, for a house, for the children, for the family in Thailand. Boa works in her own salon. She also travels to other cities and other massage parlors, like several hundred women of Thai origin. – I had a husband. But he was a bad man. Alcoholic. – Wasn’t he kind? – No. He was not kind to me. I had to look after him. He didn’t look after me. The days are spent sitting here in the salon and waiting for customers. Sometimes she works together with several women in the same situation. – I have no friends, other than those who do massage. Doesn’t want to go to social services Once Boa ended up on the street after a police operation. The money she had earned was confiscated. After the action, she had to build herself up from scratch. The whole family depended on her and the money she earned from prostitution. Her eyes go blank when she thinks back. Boa is angry with the police and cries. After each prison stay, she has stood on bare ground. She has needed the help of her friends to rebuild herself. But she will not receive money from the state. – The whole time, as long as I’ve lived in Norway, I’ve said that I don’t want to go on welfare. – Is it better to be a prostitute than to go to welfare? – Yes. Photo: Anette Berentsen / news Boa has children who do not know what she does. She is terrified that it will come out. We therefore tell her story without a photo or real name. She has sent much of the money she has earned home to her mother in Thailand. – I am like a mother. She is very kind. Don’t talk bad to children. When I think about my mom, I don’t get sick. I think about training and life, says Boa. All her children are adults. Stands on its own legs. Boa now only works for herself and prostitutes herself in order to have money for her old age. – The only thing I spend money on now is a psychologist, says Boa. And adds: – When I retire, I want to live in Thailand. – I don’t need a lot of money. To sleep well and eat well. That is life. Do you know anything about this?Some people sell sex of their own free will. Others are exposed to a greater or lesser degree of coercion. Do you suspect that someone is involuntarily involved in the sale of sex? Then we would like to hear from you. If there is anything else we should know about the topic, please get in touch. We treat all tips confidentially. If you suspect something criminal, you can also call the police on 02800.
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