Finnish expert says clients sustain prostitution market

Clients finance the prostitution market and are responsible for its existence, says Catarina Mikkonen, head of the Finnish organisation Elpida, which supports people affected by human trafficking. She made the comments in an interview with LRT.lt.

Mikkonen says people who sell sexual services should not be punished, but prostitution should not be decriminalised. She argues that laws should prohibit buying sexual services. Even people who provide them voluntarily can cross boundaries they set for themselves and become trapped, she says.

Elpida began by helping asylum seekers who had been trafficked. Mikkonen says the organisation often worked with Nigerian women taken to Italy, where they became pregnant before escaping to Finland or other countries. Elpida continued to support them even if they were returned to Italy or deported to Nigeria.

The organisation later expanded its work to people trafficked or exploited in Finland. For more than four years, it has tried to reach people involved in the sex industry, including those working in Thai massage parlours and those selling sex from apartments, who are harder to contact.

Mikkonen says building trust is the first step. Initial meetings often last only a few minutes, with staff offering hygiene products and other necessities, handing out information leaflets and listening to people involved in prostitution. Elpida also offers foreign victims of human trafficking the chance to learn Finnish, while providing support to people regardless of their nationality. Most of the women the organisation has met came from other countries, including parts of Asia, the Americas, the Baltic region and Eastern Europe.

Migrants are more likely than native Finns to be targeted by exploiters, Mikkonen says. Young people can also face a high risk of sexual exploitation when someone pays for their companionship or intimacy, or gives them gifts.

Mikkonen recounted the story of Itohan Okundaye, who was trafficked from Nigeria to Italy at the age of 16 and forced into prostitution. After eight years of exploitation, Okundaye escaped and arrived in Finland as an asylum seeker, where she sought help but faced deportation to Italy.

Many victims want to forget what happened and live peacefully, Mikkonen says, adding that their experiences are still surrounded by shame. Okundaye, however, spoke publicly about her exploitation. Although she was due to be deported, politicians from several parties and thousands of people signed a petition, and Finnish authorities allowed her to stay. She now has permanent residence in Finland and is a member of the International Advisory Board of Human Trafficking Victims.