Background: Norwegian prostitution law: In the footsteps of Sweden

Norway will follow in Sweden’s footsteps in two weeks when buying sex will become illegal. 10 years after the implementation of Sweden’s prostitution law, politicians and experts are still discussing whether the changes have been for the better or worse.

“Sweden’s efforts to help women involved in prostitution have been pushed aside after they made buying sex illegal a decade ago, May-Len Skilbrei, Nordic Gender Institute researcher, said in Dagsavisen.

To avoid falling into the same trap as Sweden, Skilbrei argues that is important for Norway to look to its neighbour to learn from their experiences.

She presented the findings of Nordic Gender Institute in their newly published study on Nordic prostitution.

One of the most profound findings was that growing trafficking and an increase in foreign prostitutes the last ten years have forced the law changes we now witness.

Norway, Finland and Denmark have seen large groups of foreign women on the visible prostitution market, while that has not been the case in Sweden, Skilbrei said.

Reduced street prostitution and blurred indoor market

Being the first country in Europe to make buying sex illegal, Sweden’s law was implemented in 1999 as part of the Violence Against Women Act, where prostitution was defined as a serious form of male violence against women.

Ten years on Swedish police report on increased difficulties in trafficking investigations and a blurring of the prostitution market.

According to Nordic Gender Institute’s study prostitutes are experiencing more violence and they have become more dependent on pimps to get work .

The reduction in Sweden’s street prostitustion is drastic, but it’s important to remember that most of the prostitution in Scandinavia goes on indoors, from mobile escort services to brothels and apartments, Skilbrei said.

According to Nordic Gender Institute’s research, looking at numbers is not sufficient to understand the effects of Sweden’s law.

“The Swedish government might have felt that they had “solved” the prostitution problem by getting the prostitutes off the streets, but making a new law cannot be the final step”, Skilbrei warns.

She is curious to see whether “giving out condoms to prostitutes while arresting the buyers” will prove to be a sufficient method for Norway too deal with the world’s oldest profession”.

Click here to go to main article: Norwegian prostitution law will ‘hit the weakest’

Extra: Click here for comment piece on Norwegian prostitution debate: Save a punter

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