Purchasing sexual services (prostitution) was made illegal in Sweden in 2000. Norway and Iceland have since instituted the same laws and France and Ireland are looking to enact them shortly.
Sweden’s position is that buying sex from a person is a violation of their dignity and therefore a violation of their human rights. So, the onus is no longer on the prostitutes, but is now on the purchasers (usually men), which negates the responsibility of the vulnerable group, and places it squarely, and fairly, on those in the position of power. 500 people have been convicted of purchasing sex since the law was put in place.
The success of this model has been overwhelmingly positive on a many levels. Prostitution was reduced by 50% between 2000 and 2010. It is estimated that 80% of female prostitutes have been coerced into providing sexual services, quite simply to supply the demand. With demand dwindling, vulnerable groups are no longer at as great a risk and Sweden is no longer considered an attractive destination country for trafficking.
In addition, the population of Sweden has completely embraced the new approach. In a survey done in 2010, 70% of the Swedish population were in favor of the law and believed that purchasing such services was and should be a crime.
Many countries are considering this solution for the problems of prostitution in their own countries. The United Nations is fully supportive of ‘The Swedish Model’ and hopes to see it adopted by many member states.
More facts from today’s CSW:
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90% of the purchasers of trafficked people are men.
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25% of the men who buy sex think that rape is OK.
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25% of women and 12% of men worldwide have experienced some form of sexual violence in their life.
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285,000 women die annually in childbirth, many because they have been the victims of forced and/or child marriages.
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600,000 women are infected with HIV AIDs each year, many as the result of unwanted or violent sex.
By Erica Higbie, FAWCO Representative to the United Nations