Identifying human trafficking in Norway: A register-based study of cases, outcomes and police practices
| Author | Heidi F. Bjelland |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370816677619 |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| Published By | Sage Publications, Inc. |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370816677619
European Journal of Criminology
2017, Vol. 14(5) 522 –542
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370816677619
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Identifying human trafficking
in Norway: A register-based
study of cases, outcomes and
police practices
Heidi F. Bjelland
Norwegian Police University College, Norway
Abstract
This article examines the identification of human trafficking crimes in Norway. By combining
two different sources of police registry data that contain the total set of human trafficking
cases reported to the Norwegian police between 2003 and 2013, the study examines the
role of the police in the creation of human trafficking complaints, the characteristics of the
complaints and their outcomes. Findings suggest that, despite a growing number of reported
human trafficking complaints, the police seem to play a decreasing part in the identification
of human trafficking crimes. The potential under-representation of police initiatives and its
consequences for case outcomes is discussed in light of a theory of discretionary decision-
making among police officials.
Keywords
Discretion, human trafficking, law enforcement, Norway, police, register data
Introduction
According to the United Nations (UNODC, 2015), nearly all countries are to some extent
affected by trafficking in human beings (THB), which is a complex form of crime com-
prising several different types of exploitation whose details and circumstances are often
very difficult to demonstrate. Recent years have seen the emergence of new forms of
exploitation, and trafficking is being confronted in a continuously broadening range of
businesses and sectors of society (Shelley, 2010). This ongoing change complicates law
Corresponding author:
Heidi Fischer Bjelland, Department of Research, Norwegian Police University College, PO Box 5027,
Majorstuen, Oslo N-0301, Norway.
Email: heidi.fischer.bjelland@phs.no
677619EUC0010.1177/1477370816677619European Journal of CriminologyBjelland
research-article2016
Article
Bjelland 523
enforcement by the police, together with the identification of victims and the subsequent
criminal prosecution of trafficking cases.
A growing body of criminological and criminal justice literature has investigated the
relationship between the police and the THB field (Barrick et al., 2014; Broad, 2015;
Farrell, 2014; Munro, 2006; Segrave et al., 2009; Wilson et al., 2006). Some studies have
also included police registry data such as criminal investigation files in their analyses
(Farrell and Pfeffer, 2014; Farrell et al., 2014; Jokinen et al., 2011). However, there has
been no examination of a complete national set of reported THB cases by analysing
criminal investigation data. Connecting investigation data to official accounts of THB
cases allows linkages to data on outcomes of individual cases and will offer new insights
concerning police methods, roles and strategies.
This study aims to contribute to this growing area of criminological research by explor-
ing the identification of THB by the Norwegian police. Using two unique sources of reg-
istry data, including criminal investigation data obtained from the Norwegian police, I
present a quantitative analysis of the total set of reported THB cases in Norway between
2003, when THB legislation first took effect, and 2013 (n = 358). The study contributes to
the international literature on THB and police organization in several ways. First, I exam-
ine the police’s role in detecting and reporting cases of THB and paint a statistical portrait
of the reported cases and any changes over time in the corpus of complaints. Such over-
views are rarely available in the criminological literature. Secondly, I analyse variations
in initiation practices throughout the period 2003–13. The study thus responds to previous
calls for THB studies to take features of the local context into account (Winterdyk and
Reichel, 2010). Finally, I look at the THB case outcomes and examine whether these cases
result in a legal decision against the person(s) charged with the crime. This study is the
first of its kind to analyse Norwegian police registry data, and accordingly provides reli-
able information about actual police efforts concerning THB crimes.
Background
The Norwegian legal framework
In the early 2000s, THB was a rather unfamiliar type of crime in Norway. With a marked
increase in the size of the Oslo street prostitution market from around 2001 (Skilbrei,
2010, 2012), researchers, as well as the media, began to take a growing interest in traf-
ficking, its victims and perpetrators. Trafficking was eventually considered a serious
form of organized crime that required political action. The first Governmental Action
Plan for fighting THB was presented in 2003 (Justis- og politidepartementet, 2003).
Concurrently, Norway ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons Especially Women and Children (generally referred to as the Palermo
Protocol), and incorporated THB as a separate article in the Norwegian Penal Code.
Based on the Palermo Protocol’s definition of trafficking, Article 2241 in the Penal Code
states that THB takes place when:
…any person who by force, threats, misuse of another person’s vulnerability, or other improper
conduct exploits another person for the purpose of a) prostitution or other sexual purposes, b)
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