Torture in [Denmark] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Denmark Street Children in [Denmark] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Denmark] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years
of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Denmark.htm
Denmark is primarily
a transit and destination country for women and girls trafficked from
Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Brazil, Nigeria, and
other West African countries for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. Victims from Africa are trafficked to Denmark primarily through
Italy and Spain. In 2008, authorities noted an increase in the number of
potential child trafficking victims from Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania,
Guinea, Hungary, Algeria, and China to Denmark for the purpose of forced
petty theft.
- U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Trafficking in children in Denmark Red Barnet, Save the Children www.redbarnet.dk/Default.aspx?ID=2209 [Last accessed 1 February 2011] Children are sold
to They come to Denmark from poor Eastern European countries such as Rumania and Albania. Their families cannot offer them a future. And one day, a stranger might come by, "I can give your child a better life in Western Europe." And the child goes along. The child is possibly sold to a ringleader, transported over borders under the cover of darkness. The offer of a better life turns out to be a life on the streets. Perhaps in Copenhagen. The children are schooled in crime. The path to prostitution can be short. And the road back home very, very long. ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61645.htm [accessed 1 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The country was both a destination and a transit point for women and
children who were trafficked from the former Soviet Union, Traffickers lured
victims with the prospect of higher wages and a better life, then forced them
into prostitution, often withholding their passports. Authorities suspected
traffickers had ties to organized crime, specifically in Russia and the
Baltic countries, and subjected them to police investigations and
prosecutions. Concluding Observations of the Committee on
the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2001 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 8
June 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/denmark2001.html [accessed 1 February 2011] [32] While the
Committee notes that financial and special assistance programs for single
parents have been established, including at the municipal level, it remains
concerned about the vulnerability of children belonging to single-parent
families. Concern is also expressed about the situation of children belonging
to ethnic minority families. Putting a stop to human trafficking - The government has implemented a four-year plan to battle human
trafficking with a focus on women and children The At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] Human trafficking
is a growing problem in many Western European countries, and Denmark will now
attempt to gain control of the situation through a four-year, DKK 70 million
(EUR 9.4 million) plan to battle the crime. The national police
indicate that half of the estimated 5,000 prostitutes in the country are
foreigners forced into the lurid business, and the new plan aims to make
closer contact with the exploited persons by better coordinating the 'street
teams' that have already been set up to visit and help the groups. In addition to the DKK 70 million, portions
of Denmark's foreign aid going to developing countries will also be used to
combat human trafficking from the points of origin. MINISTER TO TACKLE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ( The [accessed 1 February
2011] 25/10/2006
- A new initiative from the Ministry for Social Affairs and Gender Equality
hopes to make inroads into the underworld of human trafficking by offering
confidential health checks to the illegal workers. The minister for
social affairs, Eva Kjer Hansen, plans to intensify
scrutiny of areas where slave labour may exist, particularly prostitution. As
part of this initiative, fully discreet health care clinics where illegal
workers can receive treatment will be established nationwide. Besides the obvious
health risks involved in prostitution, another major concern has been the
problem of what happens to those women when they are expelled from Denmark The Protection Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/denmark.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING
-
Women are trafficked to A recent study
undertaken by Save the Children Denmark uncovered two primary purposes for
which children are trafficked to Denmark: for commercial sexual exploitation
and for criminal exploitation, such as pickpocketing and shoplifting. At
least 20 cases of this second form were detected from spring to December
2003. In that year, police observed
that an increasing number of boys, primarily from Romania, were being
trafficked for criminal exploitation. Many appeared to belong to the Roma
minority. A combination of trafficking
for both purposes can also occur. Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/denmark [accessed 26 June 2012] One in 12 children forced into world's
'worst forms' of labor: UNICEF Agence France-Presse, www.worldrevolution.org/news/article1773.htm [accessed 20 April 2012] UNICEF UK lauded
the pledge of developed countries, made more than 30 years ago, of allocating
0.7 percent of gross domestic product to development aid but regretted that
only five countries today fulfill that promise -- Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden. Trafficking in children in Denmark Red Barnet, Save the Children www.redbarnet.dk/Default.aspx?ID=2209 [Last accessed 1 February 2011] Children are sold
to They come to Denmark from poor Eastern European countries such as Rumania and Albania. Their families cannot offer them a future. And one day, a stranger might come by, "I can give your child a better life in Western Europe." And the child goes along. The child is possibly sold to a ringleader, transported over borders under the cover of darkness. The offer of a better life turns out to be a life on the streets. Perhaps in Copenhagen. The children are schooled in crime. The path to prostitution can be short. And the road back home very, very long. A Report on Child Trafficking - European Network Against Child Trafficking
ENACT, Marc h 2004 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] [page 42] 7.3 TRAFFICKING PRACTICES - AVAILABLE DATA - There is very
limited knowledge about the number of minors that are trafficked to Denmark.
It is definitely certain that there are foreign minors in the prostitution
milieu in Denmark, though not in large numbers, and that criminal networks
largely control this milieu. NGOs and police do not doubt that they see
minors in the streets, but there are no counter-trafficking agencies in
Denmark able to provide a general estimate of the number of children who are
victims of trafficking in Denmark. The increased monitoring has not yet led
to concrete data about the dimensions of the problem in general or in
relation to minors. There is knowledge
of the problems related to trafficking in minors in the individual police
jurisdictions and among NGOs that are working on the issue of prostitution.
There are roughly 2000 foreign prostitutes in Denmark.15 About 10% of
prostitution (both Danish and foreign) is purchased on the streets. Danish
NGOs working with street prostitution do meet very young foreign prostitutes
who appear to be minors. Yet, they do not remain in the street milieus for a
long time, as they are in high demand. Customers quickly gather them up.
Local police always stop the prostitutes who appear to be minors, but they are
usually in possession of a tourist visa and money, as well as officially
stamped identification that can be purchased in the countries of origin. In the Danish media
there have been reports of at least four concrete cases of foreign girls
having been sold to prostitution in Denmark. Furthermore, recent research
carried out by Save the Children Denmark16 reports four other concrete cases
of children trafficked to Denmark for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
This research also includes mention to a single group of twenty foreign
children: in this case there is a substantial evidence indicating that they
are victims of trafficking for the purpose of economic crime (i.e. theft). Study Finds Demand Is a Factor Driving
Human Trafficking, January 6, 2004 Niurka Pineiro,
International Organization for Migration IOM, Press Briefing Notes, 06
January 2004 www.usembassy.it/file2004_01/alia/a4010606.htm [accessed 1 February 2011] Research announced
by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) January 6 says that
demands of the marketplace are a factor in causing human trafficking.
Conducted by two British researchers in selected nations of Europe and Asia,
the study suggests that the unregulated labor conditions of sex workers and
domestic workers, and the abundant supply of such workers are factors behind
the exploitation of migrants. The research was
carried out through interviews with employers of domestic workers in Sweden,
Thailand, India and Italy (and subsequently with expatriate employers in Hong
Kong and Thailand), and with clients of sex workers in Denmark, Thailand, India and Italy. The study also includes
interviews with non-employers and non-clients. Women trafficking plan comes under fire - Just 25 women to date have taken part in a government-sponsored plan to
fight sex-trade trafficking. Politicians are pressing Social Affairs Minister
Eva Kjer Hansen for answers The At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] In the year since
the government launched its much-touted initiative to fight
international trafficking of women for the sex trade, 25 women have accepted
an offer of protection at the Reden women's shelter
before being deported back to their home countries. Just one woman has accepted an offer for
help from a humanitarian organisation in her home
country. The government plan was aimed at helping women victimised
by sex trade trafficking in their home countries, to prevent them from
falling back into an abject life of prostitution. Social Affairs Minister Eva Kjer Hansen admits that things are not going well
enough. "The figures aren't very
impressive. Trafficking in Children to Denmark - New
report published by Save the Children Denmark Child Centre for Children at Risk in the
Baltic Sea Region, 20.01.2004 – [full report, next] www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/denmark/dbaFile11025.html [accessed 1 February 2011] Very little is
known about trafficking in children to Trafficking in Children to Save the Children Denmark, December 2003 www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/denmark/dbaFile11026.pdf [accessed 1 February 2011] [page 3] SUMMARY - Save the Children has uncovered two
primary areas in which trade with children to Save the Children
Denmark wanted to interview the aforementioned victims of trafficking;
however, via contact with adults with
close relations to three of the victims we were informed that the children
were not prepared to participate in such an interview. They do not wish to
relive their traumatic experiences via conversations with Save the Children
Denmark. The other area Save
the Children Denmark was able to identify was a group of children trafficked
to Denmark for the purpose of criminal exploitation, where the proceeds from
shoplifting, pickpocketing etc. is often entirely or partially delivered to
e.g. a ringleader residing in Denmark.
Since the spring of 2003, the Danish police and the Social 24-hours
Services of Copenhagen (den Sociale Døgnvagt) have thus observed a disconcerting development.
According to the Social 24-hours Services, there have been at least 20 such
cases in the period from spring to December 2003. Furthermore, it is important to keep in
mind that a combination of these two areas, prostitution and crime, can also
occur; the children in these milieus lead vulnerable existences on the edge
of society where the distance from petty crime to prostitution is not great. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
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