Människohandel - Ett nutida slaveri. Svenska myndigheters lokala arbete med ett globalt problem

Sammanfattning: Human trafficking is the world’s third largest organized crime after the illegal trade in arms and drugs. It is a growing problem in our increasingly globalized world and people are daily transported between countries to be exploited for different purposes. Not even Sweden is spared from this cynical business, although we may not hear much about it. The aim of this study was to investigate how Swedish authorities treat and manage the global social problem: human trafficking for sexual purposes. Since it is mainly women who are victims of this form of trading, the focus was on this particular group. To investigate this I did four semi-structured interviews with people who all come into contact with human trafficking victims in their work. The results were analyzed based on Michael Lipsky‘s theory about street - level bureaucracies. The study has shown that there is a wide range of actions that a victim of trafficking are entitled to, if she chooses to cooperate in the investigation and a possible trial. The problem is that most women choose to, as soon as possible, return to their home country and an undetermined fate. The professionals who in their work meet these women senses that if they had more time to build up trust, perhaps more women would have chosen to stay. Much will depend on that the women are identified as victims in order to be entitled to their human rights. This could be difficult in today's society. As the stereotypical image of a trafficking victim is inconsistent with reality, one must learn how to identify the problem. The cooperation between different authorities has been poor, something that they however are working on to improve. A problem is that the professionals lack both education and experience in this field. Since the guidelines for how work should be performed have been vague, the professionals have to deal with the problem in good faith, which is influenced by both lack of resources and time constraints. Up to now access to help and support for a victim of trafficking has been depending a lot on whom within an organization she meets and that person’s commitment. However, as the trafficking issue is highlighted both within government and in society at large, there is hope for an improvement in handling the problem.