At the same time as the Norwegian police investigated a large prostitution network in Norway, the police in Stockholm rolled up a similar network in Sweden. Extensive travel activity in and out of Sweden with a man from Moldova eventually led to the network being revealed. Simon Häggström is a police inspector in the Stockholm police. He is an expert on prostitution and human trafficking, and was very involved in the investigation of the network. Pictures news has gained access to show how the police kept an eye on the network: One of the culprits in the Swedish network is handed an envelope with money from one of the women. Photo: The police Things that emerged in Häggström’s investigation led him to tip the Norwegian police about activity in this country. The tip led to Kripos and the Oslo police’s human trafficking group starting the investigation against the Norwegian network. The Swedish investigation was named “Operation Odessa”. It’s not entirely coincidental. The Ukrainian port city of Odessa has been much talked about since the outbreak of war this spring. It has been hit hard by Russian attacks. Swedish police have seen a change in where the prostituted women come from. – This is the first time we see more Ukrainian than Romanian women. We have never seen this before, says Häggström to news. – The war is the reason Häggström believes it is quite clear that the war in Ukraine is to blame for this development. He is clear that many of the women have not enlisted voluntarily. – What is interesting is that the women we meet are not refugees. They have not applied for asylum. These are women who are sent here by the pimps. The war is the reason why they have ended up in this, the police inspector believes. Police Inspector Simon Häggström sees a large increase in the number of Ukrainian women who come to Scandinavia to work as prostitutes. Photo: Ola Axman / Ola Axman Several of the women had good jobs in their home country. The investigation shows that everything from psychologists to café workers worked as prostitutes for the Swedish network. – Many of the Ukrainian women lived ordinary lives with ordinary jobs before the invasion. They were salesmen, photographers and lawyers. Now they have lost everything, says Häggström, and adds: – It makes it very clear that the war has been a triggering factor. They would never have been recruited if it were not for the invasion. Ukraine’s economy has been in free fall since the outbreak of the war. The World Bank estimates that Ukraine’s economy will collapse by 45.1 percent this year due to the invasion from Russia. Half of all companies in Ukraine have closed due to the war and 90 percent of grain production has stopped, the World Bank estimates. Ukrainian head woman The Norwegian network with the brothel apartment in Oslo is also connected to Ukraine. – We know of transports of Ukrainian women both before and after the outbreak of war, says police lawyer Jens Andenæs in the Oslo police district to news. According to the police, as many as 200 women, most of them from Ukraine, have been transported to Norway in the last year and a half. A woman in the Swedish network puts money in a locker. These were later retrieved by the behind-the-scenes apparatus. Photo: The police The police describe it as a Norwegian-Ukrainian network. They believe the Oslo brothel was run by a Norwegian man in his 30s and a Ukrainian woman in her 50s. See the overview of the network, and see how they react to the charges below: The Ukrainian woman married the Norwegian and came to Norway a few years ago. She is now charged with pimping and human trafficking. She only pleads guilty to pimping. – She wanted to get involved first and foremost so that the women would have safer and more secure working conditions. Then she has then seen an opportunity to get an income from this she too, says the woman’s defender Helene Elness. Gunhild Vehusheia is an assistance lawyer for one of the prostituted women. She too is from Ukraine. She found the job via a website. The whole trip to Norway from Ukraine was organized by the culprits. She had to pay back the travel costs through deductions, Vehusheia explains. Have contact with some of the women About 100 women lived and worked in the brothel in central Oslo. Police attorney Andenæs does not want to comment on where the women are now, but says that they have contact with some of them. Police attorney Jens Andenæs says they have contact with some of the women who worked at the brothel in Oslo. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news – Three women have been given status as offended in the human trafficking case, and we have contact with these through the development assistance lawyers, says Andenæs. All the women had the opportunity to explain themselves to the police. They also received information about help services, and what rights they have in Norway. A lot of money in circulation Several of the women the Swedish police have identified and questioned have said that they sold sex in Norway, as well as in Sweden and other countries, says Häggström. He believes there are more networks than the two that were recently uncovered. – There are many of these pimp organizations. I get the feeling that right now there is an incredible amount of money in circulation. The network in “Operation Odessa” raised NOK 3 million in a few months. Large sums of money were in circulation in the network revealed in “Operation Odessa”. Photo: The police – As long as there is a lot of money, criminals see the opportunity to make money, says Häggström. The Ministry of Justice: – Norwegian police are hunting for them The Ministry of Justice takes networks such as those in Norway and Sweden seriously. – It is very serious that vulnerable women are grossly exploited and exposed to serious crime. The government has stepped up its efforts against this crime to better enable the police to prevent, deter and investigate human trafficking. This is what State Secretary Hans Petter Aasen in the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness tells news. Among other things, the ministry has increased the allocation to the police and prosecutors. They have also requested that work on this type of crime be given high priority. – The fact that criminals try to exploit and profit from other people’s vulnerability is reprehensible. Both victims and perpetrators must be aware that in Norway this is taken seriously, says Aasen, and at the same time comes with a clear message: – Victims must be taken care of and given help, the perpetrators and cynical culprits should not feel safe. Norwegian police are hunting for them. In June, the Nordic Ministers of Justice met. The situation with Ukrainian refugees and human trafficking was then discussed. It was decided to establish a Nordic working group against human trafficking, with the first meeting this autumn.
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Large increase in the number of Ukrainian prostitutes after the war – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
