Is There a Nordic Prostitution Regime

Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence, 2017

This article analyses the history and rationale behind "the Swedish model" of regulating prostitution. The most controversial and debated part of this model is the 1999 ban on purchases of sexual services. To be fully understood the ban and the comprehensive policy regime of which it is a part, the new model has to be placed within a broader framework of policy areas such as gender, sexuality, and social welfare. Thus, the contemporary policy regime will be traced back to the mid-1970s when gender norms and sexual mores were renegotiated in Sweden, which in turn led to a radical reconsideration of men's role and responsibility in heterosexual prostitution. Also, the outcomes, critiques, and controversies of "the Swedish model" will be discussed. A reduction of demand for prostitution implies changes on many levels, both societal and individual. From a normative point of view, it has been women who have played a leading role when it comes to working for such a change. A radical change would presuppose men's participation in the process. If so, the crucial question is: Is there reason to believe that men are prepared to engage in anti-sexist politics that can challenge existing beliefs about gender difference and the idea of men's rights to use women in prostitution for their sexual purposes?

2021

02/2021 - Research paper for university purposes.

Abstract The article describes and analyzes debates on prostitution policies in Norway from 1970 until the introduction of a ban against the purchase of sexual services in 2009. Throughout these decades, it has varied whether prostitution as such, that is in principle, has been considered a problem and if so, whether it has been seen as predominantly a legal or a social problem. In some periods, only particular forms of prostitution have been considered problematic, while prostitution as such has not been considered in need of legal intervention. In other periods, prostitution per se has been considered the problem, and in these periods attempts to differentiate between different forms of prostitution have been resisted. The coming together of the pragmatic and principled concerns of various political actors was an important reason for the actual passing of the legal reform criminalizing the purchase of sexual services. The effective coming together of principled and practical concerns must be simultaneously understood in the context of other developments, both locally, nationally, and internationally.

Crime, Law and Social Change, 2018

The so-called Nordic model to respond to prostitution has been considered in legislative debates across Europe and internationally, and hailed by some as best practice to tackle sex trafficking and is believed to support gender equality. Yet, when we interrogate the utilisation of the Nordic countries laws by law enforcers, it is not being implemented as per the law. We argue that 'all that is occurring is the transfer of rhetoric and ideology' in these countries ((Stone Politics, 19 (1): 51-59, 1999) at 56). In this article, we expose the cracks in the so-called Nordic model, thereby discrediting the 'persuasive' nature of a unified Nordic approach to prostitution. We draw on policy transfer and comparative law literature to illuminate the problems and challenges of naïve adoption of this socalled model, arguing that this can lead to uninformed, inappropriate and incomplete transfer of the Nordic model, which then becomes a policy irritant, further exacerbating the very problems it seeks to address.

2014

"A group of academics has written an open letter supporting the Nordic Model of prostitution, which criminalises the client instead of the prostitute, ahead of a vote at the European Parliament regarding the law. We do this on the basis of deep and systematic expertise in researching the dynamics of prostitution and the sex industry, trafficking and violence against women. Our research draws on contemporary evidence, on historical and philosophical inquiry, and importantly on the testimony of survivors of the prostitution system. Many of us have worked directly with prostituted women. We have individual and collective links with a wide variety of organisations working for the abolition of prostitution as an institution of gender inequality and exploitation."

Michigan Journal of International Law, 2011

The Swedish prostitution law from 1999, now followed by Norway and Iceland, criminalized the purchaser and decriminalized the prostituted person. This is analyzed as a cogent state response under international trafficking law, particularly to the obligations set forth in the United Nation’s Trafficking Protocol from 2000. The Protocol states that a person is regarded a trafficking victim when, e.g., a third party abuses her “position of vulnerability” in order to exploit her. International jurisprudence and social evidence strongly suggest that prostitution, as practiced in the world, usually satisfies this definition. Further, the Protocol urges states to reduce the demand for prostitution and to protect and assist victims, for instance by adopting laws deterring purchasers of sex, and by supporting those exploited in prostitution. Policy makers, such as the U.S. Department of State, are criticized for taking an inadequate position in face of the growing evidence from the Swedish law's impact. The article shows that Sweden has significantly reduced the occurrence of trafficking in Sweden compared to neighboring countries. It also scrutinizes some misinformation of the law's impact, showing for instance that claims alleging a more dangerous situation for those still in prostitution after 1999 were unfounded. In addition, the article addresses remaining obstacles to the law's effective implementation, arguing that in order to realize the law's full potential to support escape from trafficking, the civil rights of prostituted persons under current law should be strengthened to enable them to claim damages directly from the purchasers for the harm to which they have contributed, and for the violation of the prostituted persons' equality and dignity - a position now recognized by the government to some extent by clarifying amendments made in 2011.

Turkey's Necropolitical Laboratory, 2019

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Springer eBooks, 2020

Since its invention in the nineteenth century, detective fiction has never been more popular. In novels, short stories and films, on the radio, on television and now in computer games, private detectives and psychopaths, poisoners and overworked cops, tommy gun gangsters and cocaine criminals are the very stuff of modern imagination, and their creators a mainstay of popular consciousness. Crime Files is a groundbreaking series offering scholars, students and discerning readers a comprehensive set of guides to the world of crime and detective fiction. Every aspect of crime writing, from detective fiction to the gangster movie, true-crime exposé, police procedural and post-colonial investigation, is explored through clear and informative texts offering comprehensive coverage and theoretical sophistication.

2021

Written Abstract NSfK Research Seminar, 2021: Sexual Violence in the Nordic Countries that summarizes the findings of my dissertation research.

The Australian Quarterly, 1980

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

In recent decades, news media all over the world have increasingly covered the issue of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a notoriously complex subject involving migration, border politics, gender, consent, agency and morality. Yet, simplistic ideas and framings of human trafficking often end up shaping broader understandings of human trafficking in policy and the public sphere. This report is written by DIIS Senior Researcher Sine Plambech and journalist Maria Brus Pedersen. The aim is not only to provide insights into the framing of human trafficking in the Danish media, but furthermore to serve as a learning tool for journalists covering human trafficking. An analysis of this type has not been undertaken in Denmark before and thus provides the reader with new insights into the evolution of how the Danish media framed human trafficking from 2010 to 2019. The report has three main findings: First, the framing of human trafficking in the Danish media has changed significantly over the past decade, from mainly covering human trafficking solely as a matter of prostitution and a human rights issue for women in 2010 to becoming an issue of migration with security and legal implications in 2019. As such there has been a development away from a focus on women’s ‘bodies’ to a focus on ‘borders’ and migration politics. Secondly, in comparison to 2010, today the media more commonly describe the trafficking of men to forced labor and human trafficking generally to other sectors than prostitution. Yet, the framing continues to be significantly gendered. Though identified victims of trafficking in Denmark are most usually migrants, the men are framed primarily as migrant workers in exploitative situations, whereas the women are described as victims of trafficking. This gendered framing derives primarily from the perspective that prostitution is victimizing by default and is not seen as a kind of work. Thirdly, despite the more nuanced framing, a simplistic sensationalist language still risks dehumanizing and overshadowing the complexity of human trafficking. In particular, this is because it is the media, rather than those who have been identified as victims of trafficking, who use these terms to describe their situation, as some of the journalists also confirmed. The report has a number of suggestions for journalists covering issues of human trafficking, some of them being; Be cautious with language. There is often a difference between the language used by politicians and NGOs and the language used by migrant workers to describe their situations. Sensationalist language like ‘prostitutes’, ‘sex slaves’ and ‘meat markets’ are loaded terms that contribute to marginalization and stigmatization. Migrant workers are not only victims of trafficking, they have agency in respect of their own migration trajectories: the one does not exclude the other. Human trafficking can be used as a yardstick for many different political agendas: consider which agendas you might be contributing to. Consider using counter narratives, activist reporting and investigative journalism as these approaches contribute to expanding our understanding of human trafficking. This report is published by DIIS · Danish Institute for International Studies with funding from the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), in partnership with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In-house publication IFHR, 2018

2007

Sex trafficking has recently become a large problem for many nation states and many endeavours are put into solving it. It is recognized by the academics as a complex and global phenomenon which needs to be confronted in a comprehensive way, but also there is a great deal of controversy about what should be in the scope of the struggle. Different countries view the problem from different positions and follow different approaches in order to combat it. As this thesis recognizes the intricacy of the problem and its global nature, seeks to discuss, comprehend and analyse it from different approaches and aspects. However, the focus of this study is on the Swedish approach and specifically on how the different actors who are involved in the implementation of the measures work in order to achieve effective intervention. Trafficking is considered to be a linked phenomenon with prostitution by the Swedish approach and for that reason the issue is discussed in relation to prostitution and trafficking approaches. In the analysis part the model of the Process Evaluation and Implementation Theory is used constantly as a significant instrument so that the findings concerning the measures carried out against sex trafficking, could be explained, discussed and analysed in relation to this model. Specifically, the process of the interventions applied by the professionals who implement the Swedish anti trafficking measures, are discussed and factors that influence the outcomes are examined in connection with the theory. As sex trafficking could not be confronted without the collaboration of International initiatives for that reason the International cooperation is an integral part of this thesis. The outcomes of this study depict clearly the way the professionals cooperate in a local, national and international level in order to achieve effective interventions in the area. The perception of sex trafficking and prostitution as interrelated phenomena is another outcome which outlines the Swedish approach and its implications as well as the intervention process and the way it is viewed by the actors who are involved. The International collaboration among different actors is not disregarded and the importance of its role for the confrontation of the problem is reflected as one of the main results in this study.

Violence Against Women, 2004

After several years of public debate initiated by the Swedish women's movement, the Law that Prohibits the Purchase of Sexual Services came into force on January 1, 1999. The Law is the first attempt by a country to address the root cause of prostitution and trafficking in beings: the demand, the men who assume the right to purchase persons for prostitution purposes. This groundbreaking law is a cornerstone of Swedish efforts to create a contemporary, democratic society where women and girls can live lives free of all forms of male violence. In combination with public education, awareness-raising campaigns, and victim support, the Law and other legislation establish a zero tolerance policy for prostitution and trafficking in human beings. When the buyers risk punishment, the number of men who buy prostituted persons decreases, and the local prostitution markets become less lucrative. Traffickers will then choose other and more profitable destinations. ___________________________________________________________________

Crime Fiction Studies

Recent Nordic crime fiction contains numerous amateur detectives who are professional journalists. Their presence is partly explained by the shared roots and formal affinities of crime reportage and crime fiction, and by the journalistic backgrounds of many Nordic crime writers. However, the rise of the journalist-investigator as a rival to traditional police detectives is also a mark of growing distrust in the competence of the Nordic welfare state and its officials. Nordic journalist-investigators are typically crusading reporters motivated by a desire to uncover and prevent social injustice, including the neglect and abuse of vulnerable social groups by absent, incompetent or corrupt public officials. In acting as moral guardians of social justice, journalist-investigators carry out the principle of the press as a fourth estate, designed to check state power by publicising abuses of authority, and signal a possible shift from the welfare state towards a civil society. However, th...