(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[15. December 2006] It is not often necessary for prime ministers and secretaries from five ministries to submit an action plan. The plan presented by Justice Minister Knut Storberget and Minister of Gender Equality Karita Bekkemellem on Tuesday, December 12, was nevertheless and definitely worth the celebre. The government's action plan against human trafficking is a correct and important step in the fight to fight globalization's darkest form of outsourcing: trafficking in women and children.
There are slaves in Norway. In the last couple of years, several of them have told their stories in court – stories of rape, massive torture and sadism over months. Hell is found in Scandinavian back rooms and in basements, where women and children have been locked up and abused in the most serious way. The women come especially from the former Eastern Bloc countries and from Nigeria, they are illegal immigrants and just as afraid of the police as of the culprits who have brought them here.
So far, everything society has had to offer those who want out of this hell a so-called "reflection period" of 45 days, associated with stringent conditions that will ensure that time is spent on effective prosecution against the backers. The problem, of course, has been that while the police put the women on the first flight home when they were done with, the backers have had networks to pursue the women and their families.
From New Year's, it will be easier for women like these to get out of the situation they are in. Now, trafficking victims are getting the right to the assistance lawyer even before they report the bailiffs. Those without legal residence in Norway are given a six-month deadline to find out if they dare to report their human traffickers and pimples, instead of the old and useless rule of 45 days.
In addition, the authorities will invest resources in securing single, minor asylum seekers from similar fates. More outreach activities will be conducted in the prostitution environment, it will be possible to testify anonymously in several criminal cases and tools will be developed for better identification of minors. These are just some of the 30 measures in the plan, which also include NOK 200 million to implement.
With this, the government introduces the most offensive policy against human trafficking in Europe. Just to congratulate you on a brilliant job. This is what we want more of – also in 2007.?
