• No results found

THE FIGHT AGAINST COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF MINORS EXAMINING NGO AND GOVERNMENT COLLABORATIONS IN COSTA RICA. WHAT CAN WE LEARN?

N/A
N/A
Protected

Academic year: 2021

Share "THE FIGHT AGAINST COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF MINORS EXAMINING NGO AND GOVERNMENT COLLABORATIONS IN COSTA RICA. WHAT CAN WE LEARN?"

Copied!
60
0
0

Loading.... (view fulltext now)

Full text

(1)

Examensarbete i kriminologi Malmö högskola

THE FIGHT AGAINST

COMMERCIAL SEXUAL

EXPLOITATION OF MINORS

EXAMINING NGO AND GOVERNMENT

COLLABORATIONS IN COSTA RICA.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN?

(2)

THE FIGHT AGAINST

COMMERCIAL SEXUAL

EXPLOITATION OF MINORS

EXAMINING NGO AND GOVERNMENT

COLLABORATIONS IN COSTA RICA.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN?

SARA LÖVSTEDT

Lövstedt. S. The fight against commercial sexual exploitation of minors. Examining NGO and government collaboration in Costa Rica. What can we learn? Degree project in criminology, 30 högskolepoäng. Malmö University: Faculty of health and society, Department of Criminology, 2015.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) is an increasing global issue, which is especially evident in developing countries with growing tourist industries. Costa Rica has made extensive efforts in the prevention work against these crimes, however, there is evidence that these efforts are insufficient, especially in terms of assisting victims. CSEC has received substantial attention over the last few years and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) has joined the fight against these crimes. The aim of this study is to understand the current challenges NGOs and the government is facing in helping victims and combat CSEC, as well as to investigate the collaboration between the Costa Rican government and NGOs who work within counter-trafficking departments. By using a qualitative approach during a field study in Costa Rica, the questions of issue has been answered by interviewing NGOs and government officials about their experiences. The results show that the largest obstacle in combating CSEC is the lack of awareness about the prevalence of these crimes along with financial struggles in the prevention work. Moreover, the results regarding challenges in helping victims was embedded in discrepancies on how to assist the victims, along with a lack of reintegration programs. Regarding collaboration, the results show that the communications and collaboration is overall satisfying. However, there is a clear lack of organizational coordination and counter-trafficking NGOs are not known to the government, which is pointed out as major challenges in terms of collaboration.

Keywords: Challenges, Collaboration, Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), Costa Rica, NGOs, Sex tourism, Sex trafficking of minors

(3)

KAMPEN MOT SEXUELL

EXPLOATERING AV

MINDERÅRIGA FÖR

KOMMERSIELLT SYFTE

EN UNDERSÖKNING AV SAMARBETET

MELLAN FRIVILLIGORANISATIONER OCH

REGERINGEN I COSTA RICA. VAD KAN VI

LÄRA OSS?

SARA LÖVSTEDT

Lövstedt, S. Kampen mot sexuell exploatering av minderåriga för kommersiellt syfte. En undersökning av samarbetet mellan frivilligorganisationer och

regeringen i Costa Rica. Vad kan vi lära oss? Examensarbete i kriminologi 30 högskolepoäng. Malmö högskola: Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle, institutionen för kriminologi, 2015.

Kommersiell Sexuell Exploatering av Barn (KSEB) är ett ökande globalt problem, vilket är särskilt tydligt utvecklingsländer med en växande turistnäring. Costa Rica har gjort omfattande insatser i det förebyggande arbetet mot dessa brott, men studier visar att dessa ansträngningar är otillräckliga, särskilt rörande hjälpinsatser till offer. KSEB har fått betydande uppmärksamhet under de senaste åren och frivilligorganisationer har anslutit sig till kampen mot dessa brott. Syftet med denna studie är att förstå de nuvarande utmaningarna som frivilligorganisationer och Costa Ricas regering står inför, i kampen att hjälpa offren och bekämpa KSEB, samt att undersöka samarbetet mellan Costa Ricas regering och

frivilligorganisationer som arbetar för att förhindra dessa brott. Dessa frågor har besvarats genom kvalitativa intervjuer med frivilligorganisationer och statliga organisationer under en fältstudie i Costa Rica. Resultaten visar att det största hindret i kampen mot KSEB är bristen på medvetenhet om förekomsten av dessa brott tillsammans med finansiella hinder i det förebyggande arbetet. Resultat rörande hindren av hjälp till offer visar att diskrepanser på hur hjälpen ska förmedlas är det allvarligaste problemet. Utöver detta saknas det fungerande återanpassningsprogram. När det gäller samarbete, visar resultaten att

kommunikationen och samarbetet totalt sett är tillfredsställande. Det finns dock en tydlig brist på organisatorisk samordning och resultaten visar att regeringen är ovetande om de frivilligorganisationer i landet som arbetar med att förhindra dessa brott, vilket utpekades som ett stort hinder för samarbetet.

Nyckelord: Costa Rica, frivilligorganisationer, samverkan, sexuell exploatering av minderåriga för kommersiellt syfte, sex trafficking av minderåriga, sex turism, utmaningar

(4)

Acknowledgements

I want to thank all of the participants in this study, who helped me to understand the complex situation regarding sex trafficking of minors in Costa Rica, who answered all my questions, and agreed to let me interview them.

I also want to thank all the wonderful people who helped me and supported me during my time in Costa Rica, who helped me with the Spanish language and those of you who brightened my time in this wonderful country, without your help, this study would have never happened. I would also like to thank the girls at the safe-house that I had the pleasure of getting to know during my time in Costa Rica, I believe and hope you have a wonderful future ahead of you.

I would also like to thank SIDA for the scholarship that made my field trip to Costa Rica possible. I am eternally grateful.

A big thank you also goes out to my supervisor Charlotta Holmström for your feedback and support during this study. Your vast expertise in the field has given me much new knowledge and inspiration.

Last but not least, I want to thank my partner, my friends and my family, for your tremendous support and patience during this time.

Pura Vida. Sara Lövstedt

(5)

From childhood's hour I have not been As others were; I have not seen As others saw; I could not bring My passions from a common spring. From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow; I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tone;

And all I loved, I loved alone. Then- in my childhood, in the dawn

Of a most stormy life- was drawn From every depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still: From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain, From the sun that round me rolled

In its autumn tint of gold, From the lightning in the sky

As it passed me flying by, From the thunder and the storm, And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view. ”Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe (1829)

(6)

List of Abbreviations

CONACONES Comisión Nacional contra la explotación sexual commercial de niños, niñas y adolescents/ National Commission against the Sexual and Commercial Exploitation of Children and Adolescent

CONATT Coalición Nacional Contra el Tráfico llícito de Migrantes y la Trata de personas/ National coalition against illegal trafficking of migrants and trafficking in persons. CSE Commercial Sexual Exploitation

CSEC Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents

FONATT Fondo Nacional contra la Trata de personas y el Tráfico Ilícito de Migrantes/ National Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Trust Fund

GOs Governmental Organizations

ILO/IPEC International Labor Organization/ International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labor NGOs Non Governmental Organizations

PANI Patronato nacional de la infancia/ Costa Rica´s Child Welfare Agency

SIDA Swedish International Development Agency TIP Trafficking In Persons report

TVPA Trafficking Victims Protection Act

UN United Nations

UNCRC The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child UNPD United Nations Development Programme

(7)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

1.  INTRODUCTION  CHAPTER   7  

1.1  Aim  and  significance  of  the  project   8  

1.2  Questions  of  issue   9  

1.3  Selection  and  Delimitation   9  

1.4  Definitions   9  

1.5  Definitional  issues   10  

2.  BACKGROUND   11  

2.1  Costa  Rican  legislation  on  CSEC  and  sex  trafficking  of  minors   11  

2.2  United  Nations  Legal  Instruments   12  

2.3  Trafficking  in  persons  report  (TIP)   12  

2.4  Current  efforts  to  combat  CSEC  and  sex  trafficking  of  minors   12  

3.  PREVIOUS  RESEARCH  AND  LITERATURE   13  

3.1  Research  challenges  on  human  trafficking   13  

3.2  Challenges  in  helping  victims  and  combat  CSEC  and  sex  trafficking  of  minors   14  

3.3  Risk  factors   15  

3.4  Assistance  and  reintegration  of  victims   16  

3.5  Collaboration  between  GOs  and  NGOs  that  support  and  help  victims  of  CSEC   18  

4.  THEORETICAL  FRAMEWORK   19  

4.1  Organizational  theory   19  

4.2  The  state  as  an  organization   22  

5.  METHOD  AND  METHODOLOGY   23  

5.1  Data  Collection  Method  and  processing  of  data   23  

5.2  Sample  selection   24  

5.3  Reliability  and  validity   25  

5.4  Pre-­‐understanding   26  

5.5  Generalizability   26  

5.6  Methodological  discussion   26  

5.7  Ethical  considerations   28  

5.8  Data  analysis   29  

6.  RESULTS  AND  ANALYSIS   29  

6.1  Challenges  in  combating  CSEC  and  sex  trafficking  of  minors   30  

6.2  Challenges  in  helping  victims  of  CSEC  and  sex  trafficking  of  minors   35  

6.3  Collaboration  between  NGOs  and  GOs   39  

7.  DISCUSSION   42  

8.  WHAT  CAN  WE  LEARN?   51  

9.  REFERENCES   53  

10.  Appendices   56  

10.1  General  Interview  guide   56  

10.2  Interview  guide:  NGOs   56  

10.3  Interview  guide:  Government  officials   56  

(8)

1. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER

Trafficking in persons affects almost every country in the world. Internal trafficking generally flows from rural areas to urban- and tourists areas within a country, while international trafficking generally flows from developing to developed nations (Ribando, 2008). Trafficking can occur in different forms and for different purposes but one type of trafficking that receives a lot of attention is child trafficking (Guinn, 2008). This is specifically evident in countries that do not provide any programs to combat trafficking of women, but they do have some kind of prevention program to combat child trafficking, especially for sexual purposes. Trafficking in children is often related to sexual exploitation and sex tourism (Guinn, 2008). Sex tourism is a major global problem, the desire of the tourist to escape the everyday life and seek the “four Ss” – sun, sand, sea and sex – has an enormous impact on the rise of sex tourism (Aas, 2007). Even though travel has long been linked with sexual experiences with exotic locals, today Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) has become ordinary components of many different tourist destinations around the world (ibid).

Trafficking of women and children was acknowledged as a significant problem within Latin America by the League of Nations in 1928. In the late 1990s trafficking began to receive enormous attention. This was particularly driven by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in persons, also known as the Palermo protocol (Guinn, 2008).

Costa Rica is a country of origin, transit and destination for trafficking in persons both for sexual- as well as labor exploitation. As a country of origin, individuals are often trafficked internally but they are also trafficked for prostitution to the USA, Europe and Canada (Burke et al., 2005). As a transit country, victims of trafficking are brought through Costa Rica from Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Asia and Cuba on their way to Canada or the USA (Burke et al., 2005). As a country of destination, girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation primarily from neighboring countries such as Nicaragua and Panama but there is also evidence that girls and women are brought from Colombia, Dominican Republic, Russia, the Philippines and China (Burke et al., 2005). The majority of the victims come from poor homes that often are characterized by domestic violence (Sorensen & Claramunt, 2003).

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and trafficking of minors has been acknowledged as a serious problem within Costa Rica by the

government, security officials and child advocacies (Burke, Ducci & Maddaluno, 2005), but it was not up until recently that it started to receive public recognition (Burke et al., 2005). The country has developed a significant tourist industry, which attracts tourists from all over the world. Costa Rica is defined as a

developing country. An expanding tourist industry in a developing country often leads to a similar expanding sex industry (Claramunt, 1999). Furthermore, Costa Rica is one of the most popular destinations for sex tourists from Europe and North America and the capital of Costa Rica – San José is regarded as a business

(9)

epicenter for the sex tourism in Costa Rica and Central America (Burke et al., 2005). There are no existing official statistics of victims of trafficking in Costa Rica, but the National Institute for Children (Patronado Nacional de la Infancia – PANI) has previously identified street children in the urban areas of Limon, Puntarenas and San José as being at the greatest risk of becoming victims of CSEC (Burke et al., 2005).

The impacts on victims of CSEC and sex trafficking often consist of malnutrition, psychological and emotional consequences, substance abuse, and low academic attainment (Roby, 2005), as well as exposure to health risks and long-term social stigmatization (Reid & Piquero, 2013). Low self-esteem, self-hate and feelings of unworthiness are often leading victims to enter a series of exploitative

relationships (Roby, 2005). Many sexually exploited children live in horrifying conditions and are often victims of physical and psychological abuse. They are targets of assault, abuse, torture and murder by traffickers and costumers (Andrews, 2004).

Due to the Costa Rican governments acknowledgement of these crimes, they have made significant efforts to prevent and counter human trafficking, but current policies and measures still needs to be strengthened in order to prevent the issue (Department of State, 2014b). According to the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report from 2014, the Costa Rican government did neither fund nor provide specialized services and shelters for trafficking victims and they relied on

religious organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to provide care for victims of trafficking. Nevertheless they provided approximately

$134,000 to one NGO to provide services for children and adults in prostitution (Department of State, 2014b).

Human trafficking has attracted numerous attention in recent years and many GOs and NGOs has joined the fight, launching their own agenda and programs aimed at addressing trafficking and CSEC. Within this work, little attention has been paid to coordinating the work of the organizations engaged in this struggle (Todres, 2010). However, at an international level, the importance of

collaboration between organizations has lately been recognized. United Nations (UN) has begun to focus on the need for improved collaboration and coordination among stakeholders involved in counter-trafficking organizations (Todres, 2010), which also will be the focus of this study. There are numerous NGOs active in Costa Rica that specializes in human trafficking in different ways. Despite the fact that CSEC and human trafficking for sexual purposes of children is a significant issue in Costa Rica there is today only one NGO to my knowledge who´s main focus is on victimized girls under the age of 18 years.

1.1 Aim and significance of the project

The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges in combating CSEC and sex trafficking of minors as well as to understand the challenges in helping the victims of these crimes. Furthermore, the second part of the study aims to explore the collaboration between the government and NGOs working within counter-trafficking departments. The aim is to reach an understanding regarding potential difficulties and opportunities the government and NGOs meet in their

collaboration with each other in order to help the victims of CSEC and combat these crimes. In order to do this, interviews will be carried out with governmental

(10)

organizations (GOs) and NGOs to understand to what extent these organizations collaborate and their experiences on the existing collaboration.

1.2 Questions of issue

• What are the challenges in order to combat CSEC and sex trafficking of minors in Costa Rica?

• What are the challenges in helping the victims of CSEC and sex trafficking of minors in Costa Rica?

• To what extent does NGOs and the Costa Rican government collaborate to combat and help victims of CSEC and sex trafficking of minors?

1.3 Selection and Delimitation

I have delimited this thesis by only focusing on the case of Costa Rica, which is not the country with the highest amount of CSEC or sex tourism in the world, but still a country that has significant issues with prevention and assisting victims. Costa Rica is a particular interesting case because the government have

acknowledged the problem of CSEC and is one of the few countries in the region that have set up a legal framework to prevent these acts, as well as assisting the victims.

There are both male and female victims of CSEC in Costa Rica but I will only be focusing on female victims, the reason for this decision is that there is a

significant prevalence of female victims (Roby, 2005). All terms of CSEC will be included in this thesis, but sex trafficking of minors and child sex tourism are specifically highlighted. No victims will be interviewed due to ethical aspects. Instead focus will be on the collaboration between the government and NGOs in order to help the victims of CSEC.

1.4 Definitions

Trafficking

In order to be able to attack trafficking worldwide all countries need a common statutory definition. The Palermo Protocol has provided a legal basis for

trafficking. A total of 18 of the 23 Latin American countries have adopted the protocol, Costa Rica is one of these countries (Guinn, 2008).

The Palermo Protocol states that:

(a) ”Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the

prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”(UN, 2004.p, 42).

Furthermore:

(b) ”The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;

(11)

(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article; (d) “Child” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age (UN, 2004.p, 43). Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)

The term CSEC is used to describe various activities that exploit children and adolescents for their commercial value including child pornography, child

prostitution, child sex tourism and trafficking of children for sexual purposes. The term encapsulates that the child is not only sexually being abused but also that a profit is arising from the transaction (Burke et al., 2005).

Sex tourism

Sex tourism refers to when the main purpose of a trip is to have sex with locals (Guinn, 2008). Child sex tourism is defined as “ tourism organized with the primary purpose of facilitating the effecting of a commercial-sexual relationship with a child” (Andrews, 2004,p.418).

Child

United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child defines children as “every being below the age of 18 years” (UNICEF, 1989,p.2). However, adolescents are not really perceived as children, therefore the more accurate term is minors, which here is defined as persons below 18 years of age.

Developing country

There are many ways to define developing countries. Most definitions are based on the measurement of poverty, a country's total assets or economic growth. Another common measure of a country's development is the United Nations' Human Development Index which not only measures a country's development in economic terms but also include indications of social development, such as education level and infant mortality (United Nations, n.d.).

The social and economic life of the citizens in a developing country is often characterized by uncertainty and the economic productivity is often low. The lack of tax revenue reduces further the state's ability to provide citizens with public goods such as health, education and protection against internal and external

enemies (Persson & Sjöstedt, 2010). Costa Rica is in the borderland as the country is relatively well developed in comparison with its neighboring countries. In the United Nations Development Programme (UNPD) report of 2013, Costa Rica was ranked 62 out of 187 countries (UNPD, 2013).

1.5 Definitional issues

The Palermo Protocol resolved a number of definitional problems on what

qualifies as trafficking, however there are still features that are problematic. First, the Palermo Protocol takes for granted that trafficking involves moving

individuals from one state to another. This is contradictory to research, which shows that trafficking can occur within individual countries and internal trafficking is often the stepping-stone into joining the larger stream of

international trafficking (Guinn, 2008). Second, the Palermo Protocol is a part of United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. Even if trafficking is a crime that is common within organized crime groups a lot of trafficking also takes place within small groups and also by individuals alone (ibid).

(12)

Another definitional problem is the term “trafficking” regard the translation from English to Spanish. The most commonly used word in Spanish speaking countries is tráfico, which refers to drug and arms trafficking. In UN official documents “trafficking in persons” are not translated to “tráfico de personas” but as “trata

de personas”. This is the only time where the word “trafficking” is translated as trata and not tráfico (Laczko & Gozdziak, 2005).

Furthermore, confusion often arises in the distinction between human smuggling and human trafficking (Tyldum, Tveit, & Brunovskis, 2005). According to the UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (2000) smuggling of humans are defined as: “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident” (United Nations, 2000,p., 2). The difference between human trafficking and human smuggling lies in the purpose of the movement of individuals. The aim of smuggling is the illegal crossing of borders, while trafficking aims to exploit the individual for sexual exploitation, organ removal or labor. This distinction may be unclear to border officials and they experience difficulties in concluding if an individual is smuggled or trafficked (Tyldum, Tveit, & Brunovskis, 2005). This ambiguity can lead to serious consequences, for example immigration control that are unable to distinguish between trafficking victims and those who are being smuggled illegally often deport the potential victim which in turn leads to victims are being unable to speak up about their situation. As a result, police lose the chance to gather important information about trafficking routes and potential or actual victims are exposed to additional risks (Edwards, 2007).

2. BACKGROUND

In order to understand how Costa Rica are combating CSEC and sex trafficking of minors it is important to review the legal framework set by the country, as

international, regional and national legislation is an essential tool to combat human trafficking (Burke et al., 2005). In this section both international and national legislation of sex trafficking of minors and CSEC will be presented.

2.1 Costa Rican legislation on CSEC and sex trafficking of minors

Adult prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, but the law 7899 (ley 7899) prohibits sexual exploitation and prostitution of minors. All minors that have been engaged in prostitution are seen as victims. Any individual facilitating or favoring this type of abuse are offenders and depending on the context, the offenders must be seen as procurers, pimps or corrupters of minors (ANNAObserva, n.d.; Burke et al., 2005). An addition to law 7899 was enacted in 2007: law 8591 (ley 8591). This addition further strengthened the fight against CSEC and introduced several additions to the Criminal Code. The amended Criminal Code increased penalties in the offences of rape where the victim is below 13 years of age. Furthermore, increased penalties will take place if the exploiter is a blood relative of the victim. The Criminal Code defines an exploiter as someone who pays, or promises to pay a minor to engage in sexual or erotic action (ANNAObserva, n.d.). Furthermore, the Criminal Code punishes the possession, production, manufacture or

reproduction of pornographic materials involving minors, their voices or their images. In terms of trafficking in persons the Criminal Code punishes individuals

(13)

who facilitate, promote or favor the entry or departure from the country of an individual for the purpose of prostitution, sexual or labour servitude, the penalties increase if the victim is below the age of 18 (ANNAObserva, n.d.).

National Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Trust Fund (FONATT) was enacted in December 2012 where a fund to fight human trafficking was created. The fund is to be financed by one dollar of the country departure tax, which every traveller needs to pay when leaving Costa Rica (Department of State, 2014b).

2.2 United Nations Legal Instruments

In 1989 UN adopted the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The UNCRC is the first legally binding agreement that compels countries to protect children from sexual exploitation. The UNCRC entered into force in 1990 and has been signed by more than 190 countries, including Costa Rica (UNICEF, 1989).

In article 34 the UNCRC addresses sexual exploitation of children:

”States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:

(a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity;

(b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices;

(c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials” (UNICEF, 1989,.p.10).

2.3 Trafficking in persons report (TIP)

The Trafficking in Persons report (TIP) affect all countries as The Department of States places each country into one of four tiers regarding their efforts to combat trafficking annually. The placements into tiers is based on the actions of the government to combat trafficking and are based on the governments efforts to reach compliance with the TVPA´s minimum standards, which is consistent with the Palermo Protocol (Department of State, 2014a).

Tier 1 is the highest ranking, in order to get a tier 1 ranking the government has acknowledged the existence of human trafficking and has made efforts to address the problem by meeting TVPA´s minimum standards. However, a tier 1 ranking does not mean that a country is finished with the job of combating trafficking or that the country has eliminated the problem (Department of States, 2014a). Costa Rica has been ranked as a tier 2 in the TIP 2014, this means that they “do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards” (Department of State, 2014b,p.144).

2.4 Current efforts to combat CSEC and sex trafficking of minors

A number of tour operators in Costa Rica has signed the Tourism Conduct Code in order to combat CSEC in tourism. The code require organizations that has signed the contract to train staff in order to prevent and report cases, notify providers and costumers about the ethical policy of the company and to submit a yearly report on its activities (ANNAObserva, n.d.).

(14)

A National Action plan against CSEC (Plan Marco de Accíon) was created in 1998. The action plan is subdivided into six areas: law, policies, law enforcement, prevention, research and rehabilitation. The National Commission against

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of children and adolescents (CONACOES) which is part of PANI, is in charge of its implementation and is the monitoring mechanism (Burke et al., 2005).

3. PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND LITERATURE

This chapter presents previous research and literature and contributes to further background information into the research problem. As mentioned before, the aim of this study is to understand the challenges in combating and helping victims of CSEC and trafficking, as well as to investigate the current collaboration between NGOs and the government and how they are working together to combat and help victims of sex trafficking of minors and CSEC. In order to reach an understanding of the research problem it seemed essential to outline research on research

challenges on human trafficking, Challenges in helping victims and combat CSEC and sex trafficking of minors, risk factors, assistance and reintegration of victims and collaboration between GOs and NGOs that support and help victims of CSEC.

3.1 Research challenges on human trafficking

There is considerably less research on human trafficking in Latin America in comparison to Asia and Europe. Researchers of trafficking in persons have generally been forced to rely on estimates done by NGOs in order to assess the problem of the global trafficking industry. NGO reports on human trafficking are generally containing more anecdotal evidence than concrete statistics. A problem with information gathered by NGOs is that it is often not categorized as

trafficking or identified as such, as well as the data often is program-specific and difficult to aggregate (Ribando, 2008).

Another challenging problem researchers within the field of trafficking and CSEC are facing is that most of the populations that are relevant to study are part of a hidden population and it is close to impossible to establish a sampling frame or generalize conclusions (Laczko & Gozdziak, 2005). Furthermore, definitional challenges and problems that affect the collection and analysis of data throughout previous studies are other issues researchers face. Efforts to assess trafficking are also complicated by social, political and economic concerns (Guinn, 2008). Research has shown that child trafficking usually takes place within a country opposed to moving international, however this type of data is often biased. Trafficking in children attracts more attention than other types of trafficking, therefore traffickers often get the victims to lie about their age and provide them with false papers (Guinn, 2008).

Furthermore, researchers have argued that human trafficking is a complex

phenomenon and cannot be fully understood by focusing on one area of research. This is an issue as many individuals, governments and international agencies within the counter-trafficking field comes from distinct disciplines (Edwards, 2007). Untied Nations (UN) who are working at an international level view human trafficking with a certain perspective in mind which are usually set by limits and the scope of their mandates (Edwards, 2007). Trafficking crosses a lot

(15)

of different disciplinary boundaries, therefore more interdisciplinary research are needed in order to get a better knowledge from a range of different perspectives, including human rights, migration and law enforcement (Laczko & Gozdziak, 2005).

3.2 Challenges in helping victims and combat CSEC and sex trafficking of minors

Government officials will have to make tough resource allocation decisions in a variety of cases, such as to pursue brothels in countries such as Costa Rica where prostitution is legal because trafficking represents greater commitment of assets than other related crimes (Guinn, 2008). If an immigrant is identified as a trafficking victim in the Palermo Protocol, it requires that the victim have to be offered living assistance and healthcare. In order to avoid prosecution and obligations, many government officials tend to look away and fail to identify victims of trafficking (Guinn, 2008). In addition, international demands such as the TIP report can have a negative impact on the identification of trafficking victims as countries may fear being cited by the U.S government TIP report as having a major trafficking problem (Ribando, 2008). Governments are forced to address the trafficking problem within the country by responding to the demands made by the international community. Indigenous NGOs have joined in to support the trafficking programs but local governments have most often created anti-trafficking programs because of the TIP report. By categorizing countries into tiers, the TIP report has sought to shame countries into compliance. This is especially apparent in developing countries such as Costa Rica where tourism is an important component of their economy (Guinn, 2008).

Another challenge in combating CSEC is enforcing the laws. Roby (2005) argues that there is often a lag between legislation and effective enforcement, which can be explained by disrespect for women and girls, insufficient funding and police corruption. Therefore, according to Roby (2005) it is of great importance to educate the society as well as the demand and supply sides in the sex trade in order to change these attitudes against women and girls.

A study based on victims of sexual exploitation in seven Latin American countries has been carried out by ILO/IPEC (International labor organization/International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour). Costa Rica was among those countries investigated in the study. The study showed that the majority of the victims came from poor families and was often characterized by domestic violence (Sorensen & Claramunt, 2003).

The researchers interviewed 100 victims in Costa Rica, where 50 were from the capital city and 50 from outside the capital. 84% were born in Costa Rica and trafficked internally. 95 out of 100 victims interviewed was female, which corresponds to the general perception that being a female seems to be a vulnerability factor in itself. In cases of CSEC, 94% of the abusers were men, independent of the sex of the child (Sorensen & Claramunt, 2003). The research showed that there were few cases where an institution assisted the child. One of the most serious findings were that institutions that aided the children did not always report it, 15 of the children in the study reported that they had received assistance but only six complaints had been filed and the complaints did not always come from the institutions. One of every ten cases of sexual abuse after the age of twelve, offered assistance to the victim by an institution. Most of the

(16)

victims of CSEC in the study had low levels of schooling and 73% of the interviewed children had dropped out of school and reported that the school had not contacted them after they dropped out (ibid). Furthermore, 51% of the interviewed children responded that they had not received any institutional help. The victims that had received institutional help is almost most worrisome as it means that they have been in contact with a institution but had not received adequate help as they were still victims of CSEC when the study was conducted (ibid).

3.3 Risk factors

First and foremost, identification of human trafficking victims is an important starting point for protection measures. Failure to identify victims of human trafficking can lead to victims of human trafficking are deported from the destination countries instead of receiving the help they need (Brunovskis & Surtees, 2012b). In order to formulate policies and identify potential victims, it is of great importance to understand the underlying cause that leads victims to fall into the sex market. These causes can be divided into macro-level and micro-level causes (Roby, 2005).

Macro-level causes

The major macro-level factors for sex trafficking are economic injustice and poverty. Many developing countries have to deal with wars, profound poverty and other national crises whose impacts can be heightened by the payment of national debts and structural adjustments efforts, which are generally trimming budgets related to medical resources, social services and education (Roby, 2005).

Poverty is known to lead indirectly to sexual exploitation, for example, children living on the streets might need to offer sexual services in order to survive or offer sexual services to other street dwellers for protection from gangs (Roby, 2005). Furthermore, other forms of inequalities that gives minors a low social status and make them more vulnerable to become victims of CSEC can stem from ethnicity, caste or national origin (Henschel, 2003).

Global sex tourism, which is increasing at an alarming rate, is another important macro-level factor for victimization, especially within developing countries. Tourists bring money into struggling economics that rely heavily upon tourism as their main income. Brothels and bar owners, taxi drivers, guides and parents offer children to tourists for sex (Roby, 2005). Furthermore, there are many unattached men in construction operations and military organizations in developing countries, which attracts those who wants to exploit children for big profits (Roby, 2005).

The majority of previous research highlights that women and girls are more vulnerable than men to end up in sexual exploitation. An explanation to this is a tradition of low respect for females and the beliefs that they can be treated as objects that belongs to their male relatives (Roby, 2005). Some researchers have argued that one background factor for women and girls are ending up in

trafficking for sexual purposes is the feminization of poverty (Tyldum, Tveit, & Brunovskis, 2005). The term “feminization of poverty” describe trends where it is argued that the majority of poor people are women. Different claims over the years have drawn different numbers in different regions throughout the world, this has been heavily criticized by some researchers that argue that there is no

scientific study that can prove these numbers. There are studies that have showed that women only are slightly overrepresented among the poor. Nevertheless, it is

(17)

arguable that these types of findings are challenged by the fact that poverty usually are measured on the household-level, and assumptions are made that the money is shared equally among the family members, which in a lot of cases are not true (ibid). Tyldum et al. (2005) argue that even if it is questionable that women really are poorer then men, it is without a doubt true that women have fewer opportunities than men in terms of making a living. Women are often dependent of their families or husband in order to make a living and they have a hard time to be independent, which puts women and girls at risk of trafficking (ibid).

Micro-level causes

Individual and family risk factors include family breakdowns, poor family relationships, mental illness of parents and/or children, abuse and, neglect in the home. Many children leave their homes due to physical or sexual abuse (Roby, 2005). Studies in Latin America has shown that the growth of street child prostitution are linked not only to poverty and urbanization but also to violence against girls who are suffering continued male incest in their homes (Roby, 2005). Moreover, the risk of commercial sexual exploitation becomes greater if another member of the family is or has been involved. The pattern is often repeated with more than one child (Roby, 2005).

Other micro-level factors that contribute to the rise of trafficking include

unemployment, illiteracy, history of physical or sexual abuse, homelessness, drug use and, gang membership (Ribando, 2008). Studies have shown that sex

offenders have reported that they often choose to exploit children with family problems that lack supervision and often are out on the streets (Reid & Piquero, 2013).

Reid and Piquero (2013) studied risks for Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) of male and female youth. Findings of the study showed three main risk markers that influence girls initiation into CSE, which are similar to the risk factors of CSEC: (1) financial pressure and the need to provide for dependents (2)

consequences resulting from family dysfunction and childhood maltreatment (3) drug or alcohol addiction (ibid).

Risk factors are according to Reid & Piquero (2013) depending on the entry into CSEC and on the developmental life stage of age. Researchers can use onset age or age of entry, which are a common center in the criminal career paradigm to understand pathways into CSEC. By identifying risks associated with different ages of onset into CSEC it is possible to find accurate prevention and intervention strategies (ibid). However, it is important to keep in mind that there is not a singular path into CSEC and trafficking, instead studies have shown that multiple pathways exist (Reid, 2011).

3.4 Assistance and reintegration of victims

There are several different perceptions on how to assist victims of CSEC, these perceptions can differ between NGOs and GOs, which might contribute to failed collaboration. According to previous research, victim’s rights and victim-friendly procedures are of great importance. Victims must be seen as victims first and then as witnesses; moreover, protection during the criminal process is crucial (Roby, 2005). Victims needs often shift over time, meaning that first, the victim is in need of services regarding their health and safety, which require immediate

(18)

attention, over time their needs might shift to more psychological service needs (Ferguson, Soydan, Lee, Yamanaka, Freer & Xie, 2009). Studies has shown that sexually exploited youths tend to experience higher levels of psychosis; this is a very important factor as numerous studies have shown that traumatized children who have symptoms of psychosis are at a higher risk of self-harm and because of their risky behavior they are difficult to treat (Reid & Piquero, 2013). Another important factor in the assistance of victims of CSEC is that they often suffer trauma symptoms, which can contribute to victims changing their stories that are related to their sexual exploitation. Government officials and NGOs that are coming in contact with victims and who has not been trained, may perceive this behavior as manipulative, untruthful and non-cooperative. This in turn can lead to victims being withheld from assistance, which can lead to secondary

victimization. (Ferguson et al., 2009).

Direct assistance is crucial in helping trafficking victims, but for successful assistance it is also important to have a long-term aim in mind; reintegration programs are often seen as long-term assistance of the victim. Reintegration refers to a process of socio-economic inclusion and recovery (Brunovskis & Surtees, 2012c). Furthermore, lack of public policies that goes beyond the short-term government plans are shown to increase the risk for victimization and re-victimization (Herschel, 2003).

Brunovskis and Surtees (2012a) studied the reintegration process for post-trafficked victims and their families. In cases where minors have not been exploited or trafficked by their parents, the reintegration with their parents is crucial. However, reintegration processes are rarely proceeding without struggles. The study showed (ibid) that dynamics between parents and children could be very complicated. Parents who feel that they have failed in protecting their

children may feel guilt, shame, and frustration. Other parents were less supportive and found it difficult to deal with the consequences of trafficking, in some cases the parents were frustrated because the child or teenager did not return with money or they were upset for the shame brought upon their family (ibid). In other cases some families were aware of the trafficking and the prostitution situation, which also complicated the victim´s reintegration with their family. Moreover, it is not possible to make assumptions that a victim that has been pressured by their family will choose to break contact with them. Family relations are complex, especially emotionally, particularly when the victim lacks other relations or support systems (ibid). Two of the main sources of additional conflict and stress within families post-trafficking are tied to stigma and economic hardship. When it is known in local community that a girl has been trafficked, this can be a risky and sometimes dangerous situation. Victims of trafficking often described different signs of discriminations and stigma, such as verbal abuse, insult and being rejected by friends and neighbors. This has direct effects for other family members in their interaction with the victim and the community. The study also showed that some families excluded girls after they had been trafficked (ibid). Additionally, there were cases where families took advantage of the financial support the victims received and then abandoned them when the financial assistance subsided or ended. This emphasizes the importance of contemplating both the social and the economic environment of a returning victim (ibid).

Another important feature in the reintegration process of victims is to offer different forms of assistance that take the needs and situation into account of

(19)

different families and constellations. When assistance only takes place in a shelter, this can lead to issues for trafficked victims in their relations to their families (Brunovskis & Surtees, 2012a). When shelters are closed and restricted, a side effect is that prolonged absence can contribute to distrust between the family and the victim. This may be worsened when the family is unaware of what happened to the trafficked victim. Shelters are not always an option for victims, especially children that not have been exploited by their families (Brunovskis & Surtees, 2012a).

3.5 Collaboration between GOs and NGOs that support and help victims of CSEC

Collaboration between different sectors is an important factor in terms of combating CSEC and assisting the victims. Lack of coordination and weak support between the different institutions of the government is a major hindrance to an effective prevention of human trafficking at a national level (Edwards, 2007). Stakeholders must recognize that failure in effective collaboration with other organizations puts victims in risk and leads to their neglect in terms of needed services and protection (Todres, 2010). Therefore, more emphasis must lie on the collaboration with successful programs within NGOs and the private sector that work with CSEC (Fong & Cardoso. 2010). Combating CSEC and sex

trafficking of minors will be enhanced if attention is focused on addressing collaboration among all stakeholders, both internationally and nationally as well as within all relevant sectors (Todres, 2010). Furthermore, In order to identify and help victims, child welfare workers and social services providers must work closely with court systems and emergency shelters (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). When assisting victims of CSEC a victim-centered approach has been shown to work most powerfully through collaboration and coordination between law enforcement officials and NGO representatives. Nonetheless, differences among professions in their legal responsibilities and code of ethics can complicate collaborative efforts (Ferguson et al., 2009). In cases where immigration, NGOs, police, and the society do not cooperate or communicate, prosecutions tend to collapse. A consequence of this occurrence is that victims do not receive the protection and stability they need and therefore refuse to testify (Edwards, 2007). Therefore, partnerships must be formed between local and national government and NGOs as well as between different professions (Roby, 2005).

Different NGOs have joined the fight against CSEC in Costa Rica. NGOs have an important role in the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking, however, it is

important to keep in mind that all NGOs have their own agenda. Experiences, routines, and rules may differ significantly between organizations, which in turn can have negative impacts on effective collaborative efforts (Tyldum, Tveit, & Brunovskis, 2005). There are NGOs that implement strict rules at shelters, which often contributes to victims choosing not to live there as they might feel that the control or entrapment are just replaced by another. The intentions in counter-trafficking policies are good but there may be side effects that are unintended or undermined (ibid).

As mentioned, collaboration is crucial in terms of prevention and assisting victims. Therefore, it is important to increase CSEC awareness among law enforcement officials, prosecutors and NGOs through a collaborative training. In this way participants gain knowledge and skills that are necessary to identify

(20)

instances of CSEC and can in turn efficiently intervene and help the victims (Ferguson et al., 2009). Collaboration between NGOs and law enforcement agencies can contribute to prosecution of CSEC exploiters, which is seen when NGOs report cases to the law enforcement and encourage the victims to cooperate with investigations (Ferguson et al., 2009).

In the case of Costa Rica, the child welfare agency Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI) is the principle entity of the protection of children. PANI has created a program called “Program of streets”. The aim of the program is to protect street children by providing them with shelter and food. Through this, PANI has established agreements with local NGOs to give the children shelters and psychological support. However there are some loopholes in the area of attention and support for children and adolescents (Burke et al., 2005), which will be examined in this thesis.

4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theory selected in this thesis is organizational theory. This decision have been made in order to explain the challenges in helping victims of CSEC and combat these crimes, as well as to understand the collaboration between government and NGOs.

4.1 Organizational theory

Organizational theory is a multidisciplinary social science research area with many different perspectives (Ahrne, 1998a) but organizational concepts should be central in any social theory (Ahrne, 1991). Primarily, organizational theory analyzes the forms of human interaction, how an organized interaction occurs and how it is maintained. Secondly organizational theories examine the interaction content, what is being done and the relationship between form and content (Ahrne, 1998b). Organizations exist as a societal phenomenon and are more than just a collection of individuals, but in order to understand the phenomenon of the organization it is necessary to understand the relationships between the

individuals (Ahrne, 1998b). As the purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges that GOs and NGOs face in helping victims and combat CSEC, as well as the challenges they meet in the collaboration with each other, this theory will help to explain how they perceive the interactions with each other.

First and foremost, a definition of organizational theory is needed; in this study, the definition according to Repstad (2005) along with Brunsson and

Sahlin-Andersson (1998a) will be used and supplemented with Ahrne´s (1998a) theory of states as organizations. Repstad (2005) argues that behind most organizational analysis there is a system of theoretical thinking. In this system, which is an organization, there are a number of factors that work well or less well, which has great importance for the organization. These factors influence each other. No part of a system is isolated and untouchable by others (Repstad, 2005). This can easily be applied to both NGOs and the governmental institutions that work directly with CSEC because they have an impact on each other and are in some way affected by each other.

(21)

Most of what happens in society is organized and organizations are the backbone of society. Human action is complicated in the relationship between content and form (Repstad, 2005). It is not just what people are dealing with that is important, but also how they deal with it. Organizations create a certain social order, but between organizations there are often a disorder (Ahrne, 1991) and this disorder can create issues regarding the collaboration between the government and the NGOs.

Organizations often find themselves at an intermediate level of society, that is, between the society and the individuals. They are close to the individual but at the same time usually under the influence set by conditions in society and other organizations (Repstad, 2005). When evaluating an organization a number of variables are important to take into account in order to understand how the organization make are using their strategies and their financial resources (ibid). The different organizational variables according to Repstad (2005) that attaches importance are: (1) The organization's objectives (2) The organization's ideology, i.e., norms, perceptions of reality and values that exist within the organization (3) Defining the technology and methods available within the organization (4) The organization's structure, i.e. how the organization is structured, both formally and informally (5) The organization's resources, such as material, financial and human resources (6) The relationship to the outside world, how the interaction looks with other organizations, but also the dependency on other organizations (ibid). All these variables are important to have in mind during the analysis of the study as they impact on the collaboration and the specific challenges that they meet in their work.

Organizations typically want to have as much control over their work as possible, which may contribute to the difficulty in cooperating with others. In a

collaboration, organizations must more or less let go of the control over their own work (Repstad, 2005). According to Repstad (2005), cooperation only occurs when organizations are forced to cooperate or when they consider that a benefit can arise from the cooperation by replenishment of resources from the outside. In other words, effective collaborative efforts are difficult to achieve when NGOs and GOs feel that they cannot benefit from the collaboration. These resources can consist of either economical- or human resources (ibid). In this study, both

human- and economic resources will be discussed, that is, both human and financial resources that can help organizations forward in assisting the victims of CSEC.

Finally, it is difficult to find a clear definition of organization theory that everyone agrees on, still, it is important to define the theory before the analysis can take place. The three aspects of Brunsson and Sahlin-Andersson (1998a) are in this study used to define an organization; identity, hierarchy and rationality. Identity

To regard something as an organization it is important to first give them an identity. An identity is a relation with others, a boundary between those who belong to certain categories and those who do not. An organization is defined both through the boundaries between organization and environment and by conceptual boundaries between categories of devices (Brunsson & Sahlin- Andersson, 1998). The difference between organizations and environment is a basic assumption in organization theory. Organizations have limits and one distinguishes between

(22)

what happens inside and outside the organization and evaluate these things

differently. The organization must distinguish between individuals, resources, and activities that belong to the organization and what is outside of it (Brunsson & Sahlin-Andersson, 1998). Organizations have a certain degree of independence. Independence means that the organization can hold and control the resources of various kinds, and to a certain extent self- control their borders (ibid). In other words, both NGOs and the government have some freedom to decide their goals and how they are going to archive them.

Identity also includes the idea that one is special that they have certain characteristics, or a combination of characteristics that distinguish them from others. An organization has a specific task or a special purpose and causing

individuals to participate in the process of developing goals and programs can also enhance the identity as an organization. To create an identity an organization may also mean that you start presenting something as belonging to a particular

category (Brunsson & Sahlin-Andersson, 1998). In this study the state will be identified as one organization while NGOs will be identified as organizations outside the state. There are clear boundaries between the state and the

surroundings as well as there are clear boundaries between NGOs and their surroundings. At the same time there are clear boundaries between NGOs and the state.

Hierarchy

Organizations coordinate the individual’s actions. Organizations consolidate individuals or resources to work together in order to produce actions they would not be able to handle on their own (Brunsson & Sahlin-Andersson, 1998).

Members of an organization cannot do whatever they want, they must act in a way that contributes to a concerted and coordinated action. This means that even if a person within the state or the NGO is dedicated to prevent CSEC and sex trafficking of minors, it is not possible to coordinate this without having the agreements from the management.

A key instrument for coordinating is hierarchy. All collective contexts

characterized by authority relationships, typically for organizations, is that the hierarchy is more pronounced. There is a leadership that will guide the

organization's activities. The hierarchy translates the organization’s distinctive identity into action. Management's power and choice gives the responsibility to operate the organization's results. Hierarchy also defines the organization. The leaders of an organization have authority to give orders to members but not to outsiders. Leaders take their own initiative to design and develop their

organization into something special with special characteristics (Brunsson & Sahlin-Andersson, 1998). Therefore, the leaders of the state are the ones that decide how to combat sex trafficking of minors and help the victims. Leaders of organizations are thought not only to comply with the objectives and directives issued by others but they are also expected to formulate the goals with which the results can then be compared (ibid).

Rationality

A further aspect of the organization is rationality. First, organizations are intentional. An organization is required to have a particular goal, purpose or a special task. Governing bodies are assumed to have intentions that the

(23)

members and their activities based on their intentions and decisions (Brunsson & Sahlin-Andersson, 1998). Secondly, organizations are adopted to be rational; which means that goals and actions are linked together in a more systematic way. Decision-makers are trying to predict preferences, alternative actions and their consequences. This in turn leads to comparisons are being made of these factors, which determine the choice of action (ibid).

Large organizations are expected to explain their actions by using rational models. To introduce rationality means to set goals and to ensure that these objectives guide operations. Results of operations and effects should be monitored by means of reports and evaluations, which results are compared with the targets (Brunsson & Sahlin-Andersson, 1998). NGOs are usually small organizations that are made up outside the government and have their own set of agendas, the founder of the NGO most often sets the goals and therefore they may lack the same kind of rationality and follow-ups on their objectives.

Furthermore, Christensen, Lægreid, Roness and Røvik (2007) pinpoint the notion of bounded rationality. This means that decision-makers and members of

organizations have limited cognitive capacity or knowledge and will act based on the support of simplified models of the world. Decision-makers have a limited amount of time, analytical capacity and attention for the problems and tasks that they are facing. This in turn, leads to actions and attitudes are strained by the organizational structure they settled in and by the environment and external actors they are associated with. They have neither the capacity nor the possibility to review all goals, all the potential consequences or all the alternatives of the different options. This is constrained by a process of selection. Some aspects capture their focus and attention, other aspects are neglected and ignored (ibid). In other words, the leaders of the state and the NGOs have different notions of the world and will act upon what they know.

Identity, hierarchy, and rationality are important aspects of any organization. They define organizations and if they are completely lacking in any context, it is

doubtful whether it is really an organization. However, these aspects are just like variables, they can differ in extents and with different strengths in different organizations (Brunsson & Sahlin-Andersson, 1998).

4.2 The state as an organization

As the aim of this study is to investigate the collaboration between NGOs and the government in helping the victims of CSEC, the decision has been made to view both the NGOs and the state as organizations that have a complex relationship with each other.

There is a disagreement about how the state can be seen as an organization. Some argue that the state is a type of organization, while others claim that the different parts of a state can be seen as organizations (Ahrne, 1998a). In this study the whole state will be seen as an organization but the focus will remain on the branches within the state that are working directly with victims of CSEC and sex trafficking of minors.

Ahrne (1998b) argues that it is reasonable and interesting to understand states as organizations, but it is important to keep in mind that states are not as other organizations. States are different from other organizations as they have special

(24)

possibilities for action with deed restrictions that distinguish them from

companies and NGOs. The environment of the state is not only the community plain and simple but also consists of other organizations that integrate with them to their particular circumstances (ibid). In states, a decision is often seen as a result. The decision process is so complicated and occupies so much of the

attention that it can be understood as the operation itself. Through the compulsory citizenship in states there are also a higher dispersion of opinions and major disagreements among residents than there is in NGOs. Decision problems in states are often due to disagreements of many different opinions (ibid), which can affect the collaboration with NGOs. NGOs and the government are different from each other as they are intertwined into different complex political and social networks of organized interests, citizens, user groups and clients. They experience

competing loyalties, logics and sources of influence that are entrenched in their organization´s administrative and political leadership, as well as in its external environment and culture (Christensen et al., 2007).

Furthermore, the state is challenged and tested in practice both from the inside and outside. From the inside questions are raised about the government´s ability to control and manage the country's economic development and welfare of its citizens. From the outside authorities challenge the state by various transnational processes including economic globalization and increased international

cooperation between states (Ahrne, 1998a). This is obvious in the TIP report where the Department of State (2014) is placing countries into tiers of how they are combating human trafficking, in other words the environment can be both an obstacle to the state´s operations and cause changes in how operations are performed (Ahrne, 1998a).

An important factor in this study is that Costa Rica is considered a developing country. Developing countries do not have the same resources as developed countries do. The state of the so-called developing countries generally differs from the one the citizens in the richer parts of the world experience. The state in developing countries is generally much smaller in scope than richer countries and management can tend toward unpredictability and arbitrariness in the form of corruption and inefficiency (Persson & Sjöstedt, 2010).

5. METHOD AND METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the methods that have been used in order to carry out the study will be presented.

5.1 Data Collection Method and processing of data

This study adopts a qualitative approach in order to answer the research questions in a satisfactory way. The choice of using a qualitative approach was made because, unlike quantitative interviews, the interview guide is less structured and the researcher is not complied to follow a script. Quantitative interviews do not open up for supplementary questions, which is possible by in a qualitative approach. Furthermore, in comparison to quantitative interviews, qualitative research is usually much less structured and interest is directed towards the respondents’ viewpoints, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the issue that is being investigated (Bryman, 2011).

(25)

I have chosen structured interviews as a data collection method. A semi-structured interview is neither an open conversation nor a strictly semi-structured questionnaire; instead, the interview covers a number of specific themes using an interview guide with relevant questions (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2010). The

respondents had great freedom to design the answers in their own way. Issues not included in the interview guide could also be added if I regarded something that the respondents said important to follow up on. The emphasis has been placed on how the respondents perceived and interpreted the issues and events, that is, on what the respondents perceived to be important in order to explain and understand events, behaviors and patterns (Bryman, 2011).

In the design of the interview guide (see appendix 1) I have taken Brymans (2011) advices into account. Bryman (2011) emphasizes that it is important to ask oneself what it really is in this case that is puzzling or unclear. One may use this matter in each of the questions being formulated but also as a technique to generate more questions. It is important to use a comprehensible language that fits the

respondents and to not ask leading questions (Bryman, 2011). I have chosen to use relevant questions that could answer to my research questions, these were after the interviews divided into themes. My interview guide was relatively structured but it often changed due to the respondents’ answers and when I decided that statements were worth following up on. Some questions were not asked as I already got an answer to the question through previous statements.

One respondent was interviewed at a time. In total eight interviews was

performed, during all interviews the interview guide was used (see appendix 1). The first part of the interview guide consisted of general questions that were asked to all respondents; the questions in this part were mainly about the interviewees’ work and was used to open up the interview before I started to ask questions about challenges and collaborations. The answers of these questions are not used in the analysis as comprehensively as the other part was; however, some useful

information came out during this part of the interviews. As interviews were conducted with various individuals who were active in different fields, three different interview guides were created, these three groups were divided into: NGOs, government officials, and international organizations that are working with trafficking questions. The interview guides were used as guides to stick to relevant issues and avoid turnouts. All interviews were recorded so I could

concentrate on the conversation with interview participants, and avoid information loss and misinterpretations in the analysis (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2010). Follow-up questions were asked during the interview when something was unclear, or when I felt it was relevant. As the interviews were semi-structured, it meant that they took a different amount of time depending on how the interview developed. The longest interview took about an hour while the shortest took 30 minutes. After each interview, I transcribed the interview by listening to it several times. All the interviews were written down word for word, but faltering words was removed.

5.2 Sample selection

I have chosen to use a targeted selection to reach respondents. This type of sampling technology is strategic and involves an attempt to create compliance between the research questions and the selection. The selection is done by a desire to interview people who are relevant to the research questions (Bryman, 2011).

References

Related documents

46 Konkreta exempel skulle kunna vara främjandeinsatser för affärsänglar/affärsängelnätverk, skapa arenor där aktörer från utbuds- och efterfrågesidan kan mötas eller

The increasing availability of data and attention to services has increased the understanding of the contribution of services to innovation and productivity in

Regioner med en omfattande varuproduktion hade också en tydlig tendens att ha den starkaste nedgången i bruttoregionproduktionen (BRP) under krisåret 2009. De

Generella styrmedel kan ha varit mindre verksamma än man har trott De generella styrmedlen, till skillnad från de specifika styrmedlen, har kommit att användas i större

Parallellmarknader innebär dock inte en drivkraft för en grön omställning Ökad andel direktförsäljning räddar många lokala producenter och kan tyckas utgöra en drivkraft

Närmare 90 procent av de statliga medlen (intäkter och utgifter) för näringslivets klimatomställning går till generella styrmedel, det vill säga styrmedel som påverkar

• Utbildningsnivåerna i Sveriges FA-regioner varierar kraftigt. I Stockholm har 46 procent av de sysselsatta eftergymnasial utbildning, medan samma andel i Dorotea endast

Den förbättrade tillgängligheten berör framför allt boende i områden med en mycket hög eller hög tillgänglighet till tätorter, men även antalet personer med längre än