Nail-salon trafficking ruling will have major impact, center head says

A three-year prison sentence for the head of two nail salons in Helsingør has been welcomed as a landmark ruling by Denmark’s Center against Human Trafficking.

The defendant was convicted of subjecting eight Vietnamese women to human trafficking. Center director Trine Ingemansen said the judgment could have major importance for both victims and authorities.

“For more than ten years, we have seen people exploited through forced labor, and previously we had not succeeded in obtaining a conviction. It has enormous significance for our work,” Ingemansen said.

The center assessed last year that 101 people had been victims of human trafficking. Of those, 27 were identified by the center and the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration as having suffered forced labor.

Those cases involved nail salons, construction, restaurants and cleaning companies. The center reported 26 cases to police and said it seeks to report every case. Human trafficking involves recruitment, transportation, housing and retention of a person. Forced labor can succeed when victims become deeply dependent on their employer.

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For more than ten years, we have seen people exploited through forced labor, and previously we had not succeeded in obtaining a conviction. It has enormous significance for our work.