Eva Biaudet

A familiar face in Finnish politics for twenty years, Eva Biaudet, as the Ombudsman for Minorities, advocates for better responses to trafficking.

She was a member of the Finnish parliament as early as 1991, and has had a successful career. She began combatting human trafficking in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was the Minister of Health and Social Services from 1999-2000, and the Minister of Gender from 2002 to 2003. During those periods, she was able to create a network of similarly interested government officials in surrounding countries to address the problem of human trafficking through public awareness. She was appointed as a Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings in the OSCE in 2006. She became the Ombudsman for Minorities and the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings for Finland in 2009, after already being recognized as an international leader in the anti-trafficking field.

Since then, she has continuously advocated for better policies, and researched human trafficking in Finland. Every year, her office publishes a comprehensive report on Finland’s situation with regards to human trafficking. Since 2009, Finland has continuously responded to her criticism with action to improve their methods, legal provisions, and enforcement techniques in order to more effectively and more humanely combat trafficking, both in the way in which traffickers are prosecuted, and the way in which victims are treated. Her first report, in 2010, led to a re-evaluation of the trafficking laws themselves, and increased victim identification efforts. Ms. Biaudet’s efforts, and Finland’s response, provide an incredible example of the power that self-monitoring can have. In 2011, she was honored as a "TIP Report Hero Acting to End Modern Slavery" in recognition of her efforts to combat human trafficking. In 2015, she stepped down from the Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities, and became a Minister of Parliament. 

In the 2014 TIP Report, Finland was listed as a Tier 1 country. It is primarily a transit and a destination country for both sex trafficking and forced labor. Their victim assistance was praised in the report, but more vigorous prosecution of offenders is necessary. The National Rapporteur’s office was recognized again for being an incredible example of self-monitoring.