Timarit Eflingar

Human trafficking thrives on vulnerability Logan Smith Sigurðsson, victim of human trafficking, activist and chairperson at Stop the Traffik Iceland Logan Smith Sigurðsson will be one of the participants in a symposium organised by Efling, SGS and ASÍ, Discrimina- tion in the labour market, to be held on February 23 rd –26 th 2021. Logan was born and raised in the United States but moved to Iceland the year 2017 after meeting an Icelandic man. She immediately began to get involved in the fight against human trafficking, joined Stop the Traffik Iceland in 2018 and became the chairperson of the association one year later. Stop the Traffik Iceland is a suborganization of the international organization Stop the Traffik. It was founded in Iceland in 2013 and previously fought against human traf- ficking in the chocolate industry. Work had slowed, but with new members and Logan’s participation Stop the Traffik Iceland changed strategy from fighting human traffic inter- nationally to fighting human trafficking in Iceland. Logan’s story and the fight against trafficking Logan was a victim of sex trafficking herself when she was young and knows firsthand what victims of trafficking expe- rience and their vulnerability. As a teenager, she lived in diffi- cult conditions and fled when she was only 16. It was during this vulnerable period of her life she met the people who took advantage of her. Logan was able to escape this situation and has been fight- ing human trafficking ever since. After high school, she began working with victims of human trafficking at the US-Mexico border, including children as young as six. It was in this work she saw the importance of giving people hope. “Hope is important for victims of human trafficking and we as a soci- ety must take action and provide resources for the victims.” Logan did not tell her story for many years. It was not until she went to university in Japan and her professor advised her to tell her story after she worked on a study of human trafficking and the Japanese government’s response. “She said I needed to be more connected to the issue, and that people would connect better with me if I told my story. I would be a person who was passionate about making a change and not just some white woman from the US inves- tigating human trafficking.” However, she also says that it can be difficult to fight human trafficking while simultane- ously being a victim of human trafficking. People are some- times more interested in the story than in taking action against human trafficking. “I don’t just want to tell my story, but everybody’s story. I also want to encourage people to take action against human trafficking.“ She learned from it and always put her story into context with the fight against human trafficking. That is always the main thing – to combat human trafficking and give victims hope for a better life.” Myths about human trafficking Human trafficking encompases a whole range of offenses ranging from organized criminal enterprises that see it as a lucrative business trafficking people for forced labor or sex to small scale operation such as a violent spouse exchang- ing goods and services to rape their partner. Logan says there are many myths about human trafficking and much misunderstanding about what human trafficking even is. For example, Logan mentions the American film Taken, in which a young girl is abducted in daylight from the street to be trafficked. The girl comes from a safe environment, belongs to a family and community that responds to her disappear- ance. Logan says that this is rarely the case as human traf- ficking thrives on exploiting the vulnerable. “Not everybody has the same opportunities and resources to respond to human trafficking. Our best responce is to ensure a strong sense of community and protect those who are defenseless,” she says. Foreigners in a more vulnerable position It is clear that human trafficking thrives in Iceland, but it is difficult to determine the scope. Discrimination is rampant in the labor market and a large number of foreign workers are imported into the country. There are also many marginalized groups exposed to human trafficking such as drug users, sex workers who may be involved in sex trafficking, and there are examples of people forced to beg in the streets. There are also a number of asylum seekers who are in vulnerable positions. Logan says that the circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increase the risk of human traffick- ing. The labor market is much more vulnerable than it was before and there has been a sharp rise in unemployment. She states that when it is difficult to find a job, it is easier to push people into unwanted situations. Additionally, all sex work has become more dangerous not only due to the risk of infection but also the increased harshness brought on by the ongoing pandemic. She reiterates that foreigners in Iceland are in a particularly vulnerable position as they do not have the same support network as Icelanders and strug- gle with language and cultural barriers. No formal system to address human trafficking Logan hopes that the implementation of a new team to address trafficking at Bjarkarhlíð, led by Ragna Björg 30 TÍMARIT EFLINGAR-STÉTTARFÉLAGS