- There is a preliminary investigation in progress concerning suspicions of possible human exploitation. We will proceed with the preliminary investigation to see if crimes can be substantiated and whether we should proceed to prosecution, says Eva Wintzell, prosecutor.
But the Law on Human Exploitation is relatively new and was first introduced in the summer of last year - and so far no one has been convicted of the crime according to the Equality Authority.
- As far as I know you have no convicting verdicts, but there are several cases that are under investigation, so we will see where they land, says Mats Pålsson, senior investigator at the authority.
"Initially been a little careful"
Mats Pålsson believes that the absence of convictions is mainly due to two factors.
- Firstly, it is a new heading and you have initially been a bit cautious, but at the same time more notifications are being written today. Since then we have not been good at looking at human exploitation, but it was a bit of a late awakening. But today, the focus is on those issues and the law is really very useful, he says.
The classification requires fewer props than human trafficking.
- We have had a law against human trafficking for many years. When it comes to human exploitation, it doesn't require as many props. But in this particular case, the heading can also change over time, says Eva Wintzell.