Trafficking in women and children for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation is a contemporary phenomenon tangent to a wide range of issues including, among other things, gender, migration, organised crime and human rights. Moreover, when ever debated, human trafficking is a phenomenon causing much conflict and polarisation among academics and politicians alike, regarding definition, causes, consequences and solutions. 

Historically, feminists mainly residing in the disciplines of sociology and anthropology have, and continue to dominate the field of research on the subject. As a consequence, the academic focus has for long been on the female victim's experiences prior to, during and after the trafficking process. Additionally, depending on their ideological and theoretical belonging, feminists differ in their opinion on whether or not trafficking in women and children first and foremost is driven by male demand for commercial sex, or if other contributing factors mainly are to blame. As a direct consequence, feminist theoreticians and practitioners therefore also differ in opinion with regards to what they believe to be the proper and most efficient governmental legal counter trafficking approach to prostitution.

At the very same time, the base of knowledge concerning the effect of different prostitution regimes is very limited. This further co-sides with an almost infinite base of knowledge on the subject of the operational and organisational features of the criminal organisations and networks operating various local and regional trafficking routes and markets for commercial sex.

Inspired by these two apparently grey areas in the existing field of research, the purpose of my ongoing PhD-project is twofold.

First, to describe the operational strategies and organisational structures of the criminal organisations and networks operating the Baltic trafficking route with the purpose of supplying women and children for the Danish and Swedish market for commercial sex.

And second, to explore, through the means of a comparative set up and a criminological and economic theoretical conceptualisation, if the differences in the operational and organisational features of the criminal organisations and networks involved can be explained by the profound differences in the Danish and Swedish prostitution regime.

Empirically, the project draws on investigations and reports conducted and made available by various national authorities, IGOs and NGOs. These include, among others, the Danish and Swedish Police, the International Organisation for Migration, EUROPOL and various local rehabilitation and reintegration centres for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Further, the intention of the project is to generate a substantial amount of fresh primary data through the means of expert interviews carried out with individuals who, as a part of their profession, come in direct contact with the problem of female trafficking in the region in question. These typically include police officers, criminal intelligence analysts, legal investigators and prosecutors and representatives from women's organisations specialising in providing assistance to female victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Finally the deadline for handing in the dissertation is set to November 2008. Additionally, apart from the main dissertation, the intention is further to write and publish a training guide for Scandinavian police officers who wishes to improve their knowledge in human trafficking and sexual exploitation in the Baltic and Scandinavian region.