Human trafficking in sex trade

For persons who work in the sex trade, becoming a victim of human trafficking may in practice be that

• someone forces or pressures you into doing more or some other kind of sex work than you would like to
• someone making your situation such that you feel you are bound to do it and have no other options
• you are forced to work without really being able to influence to whom or what kinds of services you offer and whether a condom is used
• everything or a significant portion of the earnings from your work is taken from you (for instance as compensation for your apartment, work space, or advertising)
•  someone else clearly profits more from your work than you yourself do
• you cannot decide yourself when you can take time off work
• you have been promised some other kind of work, but in reality you have to provide sexual services
• you cannot quit sex work even if you want to

Forcing and coercing in relation to criminal human trafficking may entail that

• someone by means of violence threatens your health or life
• someone by means of violence threatens your family or persons close to you
• you are blackmailed with, for instance, intimate photographs or someone threatens to reveal that you are a sex worker to your family
• someone pressurises you with the contract of employment that you have signed
• you are threatened with different fines and penalties if you do not do as you are told
• someone threatens to report you to the police if you do not do as you are told
• someone threatens that if you break the oath you have taken, you will be punished
• your passport and/or other important documents are seized
• your contact with other people is restricted and controlled

If you suspect that this may apply to you or a friend of yours,

• you can confidentially discuss it with us, on your own terms
• you decide yourself whether and in what way you want to proceed
• you can obtain information about options for aid and protection in Finland
• if needed, we can assist in legal proceedings and in matters concerning residence permits
• if you want us to, we can assist you in applying to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM, victim assistance system) for victims of human trafficking. The Pro Centre staff also work with people who are a part of the assistance system.

In the Criminal Code of Finland, trafficking in human beings denotes an act whereby the offender seeks to financially benefit by subjecting someone to sexual abuse or labour exploitation, or to other circumstances that offend human dignity. Trading in bodily organs or tissues is also considered human trafficking.