De osynliga kvinnorna i svensk prostitution och människohandel : En kritisk policyanalys av huruvida thailändska kvinnor som utsätts för kommersiell sexuell exploatering omfattas av svensk prostitutions- och människohandelspolitik.

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the extent to which Thai women’s vulnerability within commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in the Swedish Thai massage industry is made visible or rendered invisible in Swedish policy. The study takes as its point of departure the Swedish Police Authority’s situational report from 2023, which indicates that a substantial proportion of the approximately 2,000 Thai massage parlours in Sweden are linked to prostitution and human trafficking, and that Thai women are frequently subjected to complex and overlapping forms of exploitation. Against this background, the analysis focuses on two central government bills: Government Bill 1997/98:55 Kvinnofrid and Government Bill 2017/18:123 The Criminal Law Protection against Human Trafficking and Human Exploitation. The study employs a qualitative, critical policy analysis based on Carol Bacchi’s (2016) WPR approach (What’s the Problem Represented to be?), in combination with Eriksson’s (2019) concept of particular vulnerability. The analysis is conducted in two steps. First, the overarching problem representations constructed in each bill are identified. Second, the analysis examines what is left unrepresented, with specific attention to the inclusion or exclusion of Thai women’s vulnerability. To systematise the material, tables are used to document the occurrence of concepts related to particular vulnerability across the bills. The findings indicate that while prostitution and human trafficking are framed as significant social problems in both bills, the specific and compounded vulnerability of Thai women within the Thai massage industry is largely absent from the problem representations. This absence may contribute to limitations in how these women’s needs are recognised and addressed within policy and institutional practice.