Nordic model approach to prostitution

The Nordic model approach to prostitution,[1] also known as neo-abolitionism, the sex buyer law and the Swedish model, is an approach to prostitution law.[2] Though it is often called the "Nordic model", it has only been adopted in three of the Nordic countries, and has no connection to the socioeconomic model of the same name.

Nordic model approach to prostitution
Pillars of the Nordic model
Also known asNeo-abolitionism
Sex buyer law
Swedish model
Adopted bySweden (1999)
Norway (2009)
Iceland (2009)
Canada (2014)
Northern Ireland (2015)
France (2016)
Ireland (2017)
Israel (2018)

The Nordic model is based on four pillars, namely criminalising the buyers, decriminalising the prostitutes, offering help and services for the prostitutes to leave the sex industry and awareness and education of the general public. The main objective of the model is to decrease the demand for prostitution by punishing the soliciting of sexual services in order to decrease the volume of the illegal sex industry overall.[3] In 2014, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution[4] in favour of the Nordic model urging member states to criminalize the purchase of prostitution and offering support for trafficking victims to exit the sex trade.[5] To date, only 4 of the 28 member states have adopted the model in full or in part.[6][7][8][9] The model was developed by Scandinavian human rights lawyers together with the former child prostitute and author Elise Lindqvist.[10]

Amnesty International opposes this type of legislation and calls for the repeal of these laws.[11] The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) also favor the decriminalization of sex work.[12] Some academics have argued that there is insufficient evidence that this form of legislation actually reduces demand, others have argued that prostitution is not reduced, but simply pushed underground.[13]

Adoption of the model
Countries that adopted the Nordic model approach on prostitution (2019)

The model was first instituted in Sweden in 1999 as part of the Kvinnofrid law (Violence Against Women Act). The model came into effect in Norway in 2009 as part of Sexkjøpsloven (Sex Buyer Law).[6] Iceland adopted the model as well in 2009. Opinion polls had shown that 70% of the population supported banning the purchase of sexual services.[14] Canada enacted the Nordic model in 2014 as part the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act.[15] Northern Ireland adopted the model in 2015.[7] France adopted the model in 2016.[8] In Ireland, the purchase of sexual services was made illegal in 2017 as part of the Sexual Offenses Act.[9] In 2018, Israel became the latest country to adopt the Nordic model approach.[16]

Evaluation of the model's efficiency

Sweden

In 2008, the Swedish government appointed a special committee of inquiry known as the Committee of Inquiry to Evaluate the Ban against the Purchase of Sexual Services headed by the former Supreme Court Justice Anna Skarhed. Its purpose was to evaluate how the law had affected the sex industry since its implementation in 1999 until 2008. The report stated that street prostitution had been reduced by half. The report noted that in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, street prostitution was at similar levels in 1999, but it was three times higher in Oslo and Copenhagen than in Stockholm in 2008.[17] The police had focused on reducing street prostitution also as a signal to the public, as that form of prostitution was the most visible. The committee further stated that public opinion had changed more in comparison to that in Norway and Denmark, and that 70% of the population were in favour of the ban on the purchase of sexual services in Sweden.[17] The committee added a caveat that as prostitution and trafficking are complex issues often carried out in secret and surveys are often limited in scope, any data should be treated with caution.[13]

The Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality of the European Union stated in 2013 that "Sweden's prostituted population is one-tenth of neighbouring Denmark's where sex purchase is legal and has a smaller population. The law has also changed public opinion. In 1996, 45% women and 20% men were in favour of criminalising male sex purchasers. By 2008, 79% women and 60% men were in favour of the law. Moreover, the Swedish police confirm that the Nordic model has had a deterrent effect on trafficking for sexual exploitation."[18] It has also been reported that 12.5 % of men used to solicit prostitutes before the implementation of the law in 1999, whereas in 2014 only 7.7 % of men purchased sexual services.[5]

A 2013 report by the Swedish government stated that street prostitution had halved in the previous 10 years, but that escort advertisements had increased from 304 to 6,965. However the report also stated that an increase in advertisements did not necessarily mean that the number of escorts had increased.[13]

Norway

A report conducted by the Norwegian authorities five years after the law came into effect found that the model had a dampening effect on prostitution and that it contributed to making Norway a country that is less attractive for sex trafficking.[19] However, this has been questioned by academics on the basis that there are too many uncertainties in the data used to claim success,[13] and the Co-ordination Unit for Victims of Trafficking in Norway (KOM) reported that the number of identified potential victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation increased every year between 2007 and 2012. Although the figure dropped in 2013, the number of victims was still higher than in 2007. The number of victims again increased in 2014.[20] The Government report also stated that there were no indications found by the police force that the violence against sex workers had increased. Research indicated that the street prostitution market fell to 45–60 % in comparison to the levels before the law was introduced,[19] but the reliability of the figures leading this claim has been questioned by academics.[21][22] It was estimated that the total prostitution market decreased in volume by 25%.[23]

Surveys conducted among prostitutes indicated that the customers had changed after the law was introduced. There were fewer young men, fewer upper-class men and more foreigners. Just like in Sweden it was also found that the attitudes towards men buying sex had changed, especially among young men who developed a more negative opinion on it.[24] The report also acknowledged though that prostitutes might be more afraid to file charges against violent customers due to a fear of being evicted from the place they use to sell their services.[25] The evictions are due to the law prohibiting profiting from the work of prostitutes. Landlords profit from the income of the prostitutes thus as soon as police find out that a place is used for prostitution they contact the landlord and ask them to evict the prostitutes.[26]

Iceland

In 2009, paying for sex was outlawed, criminalizing the clients while selling sex remained decriminalized. The new law placed Iceland in line with Sweden and Norway. However, prostitution in Iceland is thriving despite paying for sex being illegal.[27] A report published in 2017 by the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police states that prostitution had "exploded" in the previous 18 months.[27] The vast majority of prostitutes in the country are foreign.[27] Police believe prostitution in Iceland is partially tied to organised crime and human trafficking.[27] The country has become a sex tourism destination.[28] It is believed that there are several factors which prevent the full implementation of the law. One is that suspected victims of human trafficking refuse to cooperate with the police and refuse to testify against their traffickers. Another factor is that tourism has increased significantly in Iceland overall during recent years, heightening the demand for prostitutes. Because Iceland is part of the Schengen zone, it is easy for traffickers to smuggle victims from poorer countries of the EU to Iceland and have them stay there within the three-months rule without them being registered officially.[29] Furthermore, The report further stated that no substantial change in attitude has yet occurred within the justice system of Iceland. Trials are often held privately without there being any effect on the reputation of the man being tried for buying sex. The fines that are given out are also comparatively low.[30]

Women from Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and South America are subjected to sex trafficking in Iceland, often in nightclubs and bars. The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons downgraded Iceland's ranking in 2017 from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2 country.[31]

Comparison to legalisation

In 2012, researchers in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom examined the effect that legalisation of prostitution had on human trafficking. The overall conclusion was that human trafficking inflows increased and that trafficking was overall not reduced because the substitution of illegal prostitution with legal prostitution could not compensate for the higher number of people being trafficked.[32][33] The increase in illegal prostitution following the legalisation of prostitution might be caused by two factors: illegal supply can masquerade as legal, and legalisation reduces the stigma associated with the consumption of the banned service. An example of the increase of prostitution after legalisation is Denmark, in which the volume increased by 40% between 2002 and 2009 after it was legalised in 1999.[34] Some studies within Europe have suggested that human trafficking is lower in countries where prostitution and its procurement are illegal and highest in countries in which prostitution is legalised.[35]

Lobbying and political implementation process worldwide

Internationally, the Nordic model is supported and opposed by various parts of the political spectrum, including feminists, leftists, liberals and rightists. This varies depending on the general culture and attitudes towards sex and prostitution in the respective culture and country.

Norway

The model came into effect in Norway in 2009 as part of Sexkjøpsloven (Sex Buyer Law).[6] It was introduced in 2008 under the government of Jens Stoltenberg from Labour. The government run under a coalition of the Centre Party (Senterpartiet), the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) and the Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti). The law had first been debated in 1997. Norway then criminalized the purchase of sex from people under the age of 18 in 2000 (Law 76, 11 August; Penal Code art. §203).[36][37] Initially there was opposition to the implementation of the model and Norway decided to conduct an evaluation of the prostitution laws in the Netherlands and Sweden in order to come to a conclusion which model should be adopted. Both countries law approaches were seen as faulty.[37][38] With an increase of human trafficking in the 2000s Norway however decided to try to implement a model that would dampen human trafficking for the sex industry.[39][40][41][42] and then decided to go for the Nordic model.[43]

In their manifestos for the 2013 parliamentary election, the Conservative Party (Høyre), the Green Party (Miljøpartiet de Grønne), the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet) included repealing the Sex Purchase Act, claiming a lack of political support for the law.[21][44] However, the Conservatives, the Greens, the Liberals and the Progressives did not manage to gain the majority in the 2013 election, so that law was not repealed. In the 2017 parliamentary election, they did not manage to get a majority in total either. At the moment, they hold 80 out of 169 parliamentary seats combined. The parties holding the majority among those, namely the Centre Party, the Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti), the Labour Party and the Socialist Left Party, are in favour of upholding the law and have managed to do so until now.[45]

Canada

The Women's Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution, a pan-Canadian coalition of equality-seeking women's groups has been campaigning to end prostitution in Canada. They were instrumental in lobbying for the legislation to be introduced in Canada.[46]

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