Four Finns were recently convicted of procuring Thai prostitutes in a ruling in Helsinki District Court, Swedish YLE reports.
Procuring, also known as pimping out, is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer and according to the ruling, the four people took advantage of two Thai women who sold sex.
Swedish Yle first reported on the case in April 2020 and at that time, the police suspected human trafficking, but when the case went to the prosecutor the criminal classification was changed. In total two charges were brought for aggravated procuring and two for procuring.
The two Thai women arrived in Finland from Hungary in March 2020. They had a work permit in Hungary but due to the pandemic, there were no customers.
The Thai women had to pay 300,000 baht (over 8,000 euros) to their pimp, who was a 39-year-old woman, to come to Europe. The 39-year-old organized the sex trade in Finland, mainly together with another 60-year-old woman who has lived in Finland for 33 years and worked as a masseur for 25 years.
After arriving in Finland, the 39-year-old took the two Thai women to the town of Hyvinge to sell sex, but there were no customers there. The 39-year oil, therefore, arranged that the two Thai women could sell sex in the 60-year-old woman’s home in Tölö instead.
The two Thai women felt they had to work hard to pay off their debt to the 39-year-old.
The third defendant in the case is a 34-year-old who took the Thai women to Oulu for vacation and more work and a 48-year-old who has admitted to helping the Thai women get tickets to Finland and who has also created an ad for one of them on Finland’s largest adult entertainment site “seksitreffit”
According to the Helsinki District Court, the case involves organized procuring where different people have different roles. Everyone participates only as much as their own role allows, but is nevertheless aware that their own participation makes the crime possible.
The court found that the two Thai women had not had any alternatives to prostitution even though they have not been forced to sell sex. They did not know the Finnish language and had no friends in Finland. Thus, they have been dependent on their pimps.
The women are said to have sold sex in Thailand and Hungary before coming to Finland.
In connection with the investigation of this case, the police began to investigate another case of procuring where the same two women are victims. That case is now with the prosecutor.
