– It is so sickening and horrible to read. These are people who have had a dream to come to Norway to have a wonderful life, and then they are so grossly exploited, says Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (KrF) to TV 2.
On Wednesday, he presented a proposal to the Storting to make major changes to the criminal framework for human trafficking.
GETTING AWAY CHEAP: Kjell Ingolf Robstad thinks that those convicted of human trafficking get away too cheaply. Photo: Morten Leander Kristoffersen / TV 2
He does so, among other things, as a result of a judgment from the Oslo District Court.
In 2018, a teenage girl from Romania was lured to Norway with a promise of a job and a better life. Instead, she was kept as a forced prostitute in an apartment in Oslo.
Without her being aware of it, the Romanian men who lured her to Oslo had advertised on an escort site that she offered the sale of sexual services.
The men instructed the girl what to do and say to the customers, and threatened her with violence if she did not do what they said.
According to the girl, she was subjected to violence by them several times, the judgment states.
– Should be increased to 15 years
– In desperation, they try to escape, but they don’t. Instead, they are just cynically forced to have sex with strange men. It is so terrible to read, and there are horrific examples from the victims, says Ropstad.
The accused masterminds in this case were convicted of human trafficking. The ringleader was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, while the rest of the defendants received between three and four years in prison.
Ropstad believes it is far too low, and that gross sexual exploitation is in reality rape.
PROSTITUTION: The woman from Romania was subjected to forced prostitution. Here from Karl Johans gate in the evening. Photo: Ingvild Gjerdsjø / TV 2
– I want a higher level of punishment. For the usual human trafficking cases, I believe that the penalty must be increased from six years to ten years. And those described as serious cases should be increased to fifteen years, says Ropstad.
– Unsatisfactory
The public prosecutor in the case would also like to see that the penalty for human trafficking in the current legislation was higher.
LOW PENALTY: Public prosecutor Monica Krag Pettersen believes that the penalty framework does not allow what they believe is the correct punishment. Photo: Magnus Nøkland/ TV 2
– All human trafficking cases are serious, but we do see in some cases that concern human trafficking for forced prostitution, that the penalty of six years is too low, says public prosecutor, Monica Krag Pettersen.
– Does that mean that you believe that the penalty should have been higher?
– Yes, we do. If, for example, we draw the comparison to rape, where a rape is normally punished with imprisonment for four years, and forced prostitution involves elements that are close to rape, then we see that the six-year sentence is not enough to make a claim for what we believe to be a proper punishment, says Pettersen.
– How is it perceived as a public prosecutor’s office?
– It is perceived as unsatisfactory to be prevented from imposing what one believes to be the correct punishment in a case, says Pettersen.
