Prosecution is brought against two men - women sold to sex buyers in 16 cities

Two men in their 20s were indicted on Thursday at Uppsala District Court on suspicion of gross embezzlement and human trafficking.

The men are suspected of having sold three women to sex buyers in 16 different cities in Sweden for a total of three months, from November 2018 to January 2019.

Two of the women must have been tricked into prostitution by one of the men by making them believe that they had a love relationship and a common future together.

According to the prosecutor, the women were advertised on a site for sex purchases, and the sex trade itself was then conducted in various apartments rented by the two men.

Uppsala is said to have returned on several occasions to sell the women to various sex buyers.

- It is a ruthless exploitation of women. Especially one of those people who have not been able to keep any money for the sex trade, there is suspected trafficking. These are poor women who have had no other means of sustaining themselves than selling their bodies, and this has been used - that the women had no choice, says prosecutor Victoria Engelkes.

In total, the men must have earned around SEK 400,000 from exploiting the women for sex trafficking.

In addition to the two principal men, who were detained for almost a year while the investigation was underway, several men are charged with having bought six of the women.