VIKTEN AV ATT IDENTIFIERAS SOM OFFER - Sveriges och Litauens hantering av offer för sexuell exploatering och människohandel

Abstract

Trafficking of humans has become one of the greatest challenges of our modern age, with crossborder organized crime being one of the five most serious threats to EU Member States. Despite the development of common goals against human trafficking, esearch shows that attempts to coordinate national laws often fail, which can lead to violations against human rights. Previous research also shows the importance of being identified as a victim of sexual exploitation and human trafficking, to be able to benefit from the help and protection you can have as a victim. Against this background, the thesis intends to examine whether there is a connection between who is considered a victim, based on Sweden's and Lithuania's prostitution laws and who is identified as a victim according to the criteria in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. To gain an increased understanding of who can be considered a victim, the study applies Nils Christie's theory of the ideal victim. The thesis uses a qualitative text analysis to analyze evaluation reports from the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, GRETA. This is to make visible how Sweden and Lithuania meet the criteria with a focus on victim management. The analysis shows that the countries meet the criteria in the convention in different ways, where one of the explanations can be their different views on prostitution and on who can be considered a victim. The thesis aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the importance of identifying victims and how different national laws can affect the adherence to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.