NAS Trained Industrial Union Staff

The National Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking (NAS) organized a training session for the staff of the Industrial Union, attended by approximately sixty participants. The NAS cooperates with trade unions to identify work-related exploitation.

The session introduced the tasks of the NAS and explained how victims of human trafficking can be recognized and victims referred to the system. Human trafficking was examined from the perspective of the NAS, with a particular focus on labor exploitation in Finland.

Several High-Risk Sectors in the Industrial Union

The Industrial Union has a four-person unit for foreign labor, which actively works to train both staff and members, to identify work-related exploitation. Within the sectors represented by the union, the NAS has noted cases in forestry and logging, greenhouse work, and other agricultural or horticultural work. Some industrial sectors have also been identified as high-risk.

Factors that increase vulnerability to exploitation have been well documented within the NAS. These include, for example, homelessness, foreign background, lack of language skills, debt to the employer, low educational level, and challenges related to residence status (e.g., no legal right to reside, residence dependent on the employer, or being an asylum seeker). Various forms of disadvantage may also constitute risk factors.

Indicators for Identifying Exploitation

Potential victims of exploitation or even human trafficking are often difficult to identify. We have listed several commonly observed indicators. These include situations where a person lacks normal rights to refuse tasks or to stop performing them, or where there are irregularities in wage payments. Freedom of movement and autonomy may have been restricted, or the person may have been deliberately isolated from broader (Finnish) society. Vulnerability may be exploited, or the person may be misled.

Very often, there is a debt relationship between employer and employee, and the employee or their relatives may be subjected to intimidation or threats from the employer, such as reporting to authorities or even direct threats of violence (physical, psychological, or sexual). In some cases, passports or personal documents have been taken, though this is now less common. Mobility is often restricted through fear.

In this context, we highlighted the concept of coercive control, which explains the victim’s weakened position and inability to escape a difficult situation. Most of the indicators listed above fall under this concept. More information on coercive control can be found in the guide published by HEUNI:

Trafficking in human beings: Psychological coercion and investigative interviewing / Julia Korkman by HEUNI Institute – Issuu