Victim or Criminal? A study of identified human trafficking victims in Denmark convicted for criminal acts committed whilst trafficked

Abstract: Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world, the International Labour Organisation estimate that there are 50 million people in modern slavery. In Denmark 294 trafficking victims were identified between 2019-2022, but only two traffickers were convicted of the crime. Trafficking victims are identified as such by Danish courts but also criminalized for crimes committed whilst trafficked. The questions this study seek to answer are “how can a trafficking victim be a criminal?” and “what does the conviction and criminalization of trafficking victims tell us of how international human rights law is implemented in Denmark?” This is analyzed through six court cases and three appeals of identified trafficking victims convicted for criminal acts whilst trafficked in Denmark between 2009-2021, along with six interviews of experts with experience of working with trafficking victims in Denmark. A content and discourse analysis with theory of the human rights-based approach, a law- enforcement approach and international law is implemented in national law is analyzed with the data. This study is anchored in a pre-theoretical commitment that the implementation of international human rights law in national law is important for a state to fulfil their human rights commitments in the field of human trafficking. Based on this study, it can be said that a victim can be a criminal due to the lack of non-punishment through the implementation of international human rights law in Danish national law of identified trafficking victims in Denmark.