Prostitution in Sweden - Wikipedia. The laws on prostitution in Sweden make it illegal to buy sexual services, but not to sell them. Pimping, procuring and operating a brothel are also illegal. The criminalisation of the purchase, but not selling, of sex was unique when first enacted in 1. Norway and Iceland have adopted similar legislation, both in 2. Canada in 2. 01. 4 and Northern Ireland in 2. History of prostitution in Sweden. However, under the influence of the church, sexual acts outside of marriage was criminalized for both sexes, which also affected prostitutes. The normal punishment for illegal sexual relations was fines or, if the accused was unable to pay them, pillorying, whipping or other disciplinarian physical punishments within the Kyrkoplikt. Brothels were also illegal but persisted under police surveillance.
Other regulations controlled areas frequented by prostitutes and the clothes that they could wear. This policy was both gendered and intrusive, . In practice, women charged under the vagrancy provisions were apprehended for prostitution in what was still coercive care as social control. The three commissions of the 1. The 1. 92. 9 report presaged contemporary legislative developments by referring to public education and the role of demand. Women were divided, some calling for abolition of the law pointing out it was gendered in practice, and others supporting the then popular social hygiene concept of sterilisation of the unfit. These discussions raised the idea that men who sought out sex workers were a danger to all women. Health professionals shifted from arguing about contagion to arguing morality. This pathologised theory became the dominant discourse from the 1. Citizenship became a hierarchical attribute depending on adherence to these norms. At kilden til talens historiske tilbageblik grundlA parallel discourse was the concern about population and the 1. Population Commission commented on the need to control demand. It also raised the idea of prostitution as antisocial. 2013a re 2013a sa 2013abcd ps 2013b 2013b - Oldtidskundskab 2013b BT MTG og JUJ 2013b Da A 2013b En 2013b frB 2013b Fy 2013b HI 2013b MA 2013b re 2013b sa (RE) 2013b The 1. 93. 9 prostitution commission proposed criminalising prostitution related activities as part of the fight against such a social evil, including the actions of clients, although for law and order reasons rather than moral. However examining the language of this and a contemporary commission on homosexuality, it is clear that the construction remained heteronormative and patriarchal. The 1. 94. 0s saw continued pressure for abolition of the increasingly obsolete vagrancy law, which was now being enforced in a more restrained manner. The 1. 96. 0s brought the widespread questioning of sexual mores to Sweden, and for the first time the notion of prostitution as normative, together with proposals for re- establishing state brothels. By 1. 95. 8 women parliamentarians were stating that prostitution was the most important social problem of all time. By now there was yet another reconceptualisation of prostitution, from psychopathology to sociopathology, and the resulting legislation replaced the vagrancy law with the antisocial behaviour law in 1. Regulation of prostitution passed to this Act, but retained the concept of normative social citizenship based on honest labour. In practice the law was used less and less, was successfully challenged in court in 1. Social Services Act of 1. Prohibition of Purchase of Sexual Services Act. The resulting inquiry in 1. Interestingly they found that prostitution was declining and recommended that criminalisation would merely drive it underground and worsen stigmatisation. Some attempt was made to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary prostitution. Amongst those opposing criminalisation were the police, judiciary and Ombudsman, gay rights groups and the Swedish Association for Sex Education (RSFU). The resultant bill (1. However the rhetoric was clear, prostitution was still a social evil, and incompatible with equality, and should be fought. A further commission was instigated in 1. Ombudsman. In the ensuing public debate there was talk of a historic reversal of patriarchy and of the need to avoid further victimising the victims (women). Bills from women parliamentarians criminalising clients continued to be presented and the Government was criticised for inaction. It was sponsored by both the Prime Minister, G. The Justice Committee was not convinced that criminalisation would reduce prostitution, but still recommended the bill. Men tended to argue that this was a social, not criminal, matter and that the bill intruded on self- determination, while the women argued that prostitution was incompatible with a social order embracing gender equity. They saw prostitution as patriarchal oppression, and therefore not a free will choice, although there was less unanimity over what should be done. The uniqueness of the proposal was emphasised, all of which took place at an ideological level with no appeal to empiricism, which was explicitly rejected. The Moderate (conservative) Party. The Liberals argued that prostitution would be merely pushed underground, while the Christian Democrats wanted both the sale and purchase of sex criminalized. Gendering the debate. However this was not as homogeneous as is sometimes perceived. Moderate women never joined the movement, and both Moderate, and a number of Liberal women opposed the bill. However ensuing public debates revealed that even Swedish feminists were divided on the approach that had been taken. For the women, this was a test case of their ability to come together as a caucus and push through a women. Legislation was created in 1. In this case the women. The Minister, however, essentially championed the proposal both inside and outside of the Riksdag, and therefore it may be argued that women. Opponents expressed concern that criminalisation would drive prostitution underground, and was symbolic rather than realistic. Other concerns were expressed about the state of legislation and practice in the rest of the EU, including a fear of contamination of Sweden, and that this would send a message to Europe against liberalisation. Other aspects of this included concerns about trafficking. Large- scale crime, including human trafficking for sexual purposes, assault, procuring and drug- dealing, is also commonly associated with prostitution. However, the law is politically constructed, discussed and enforced in the context of women selling sex to men. The Swedish Government believes that women selling sexual services to men constitutes a form of violence against women which should be eliminated by reducing demand. Demand for women's sexual services is constructed as a form of male dominance over women, and as a practice which maintains patriarchal hegemony. This legal and social approach to prostitution, which has become known as the . The view of prostitution as a legacy of a societal order that subordinates women to men being officially accepted. Consequently, it has become a taboo subject to question the legitimacy and effectiveness of the law. Nevertheless, there is a body of criticism, within and without parliament but this has had no measurable effect on the official position and party policy (see below). Only after the law was passed did significant debate take place in public. There was also interest in the fact that Sweden was quite unique in this regard. Some former sex workers supported the law. Parliamentary activity continued, including the introduction of bills to criminalise the selling of sex, and to promote the Swedish approach and oppose liberalisation of laws on prostitution worldwide. In April 2. 00. 5 the law was amended as part of a reform of sexual crimes to add the clause . Sexual acts with children were also added (section 9) and the Sex Purchase Law was moved to the Penal Code. Following the passage of the law, the Government provided 7 million crowns ($1 million US) to the National Police Board. Ninety one reports were filed in 1. The difficulties of enforcement were immediately noted by the police who had opposed the law, and the difficulty in getting a conviction was even harder under Swedish judicial procedure and the rights of citizens. Few of the reports in 1. Six convictions were obtained, and fines imposed. Difficulties in even understanding the law were noted, and understandably prostitutes were reluctant to inform or testify against their clients. The Socialstyrelsen (National Board of Health and Welfare) noted that estimating the extent of prostitution was almost impossible. A number of reports suggest that prostitution was at a low level in Sweden, and was on the decline, but may have experienced a slight increase in the 1. Street Offences Act 1. U. K.) followed fairly rapidly by displacement to the less visible spectrum. The Government hosted conferences on trafficking, sexual violence and prostitution as a comprehensive entity. A severe threat to society as a whole and indeed the world at large is described. Alliances were formed with prohibitionist anti- trafficking groups such as the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. Subsequently the Swedish approach has found support amongst prohibitionist groups around the world who lobbied for similar legislation. Several European countries have discussed or are currently discussing adopting a similar legal system. For instance there has been intense lobbying in Western Australia over the last two government's attempts to reform the law there. In 2. 01. 0 the Attorney- General criticised leading Swedish activist Gunilla Ekberg's credibility. Some research into the law comes from outside of Sweden as well. Social workers reported a gradual decline in involvement over a ten- year period and more use of technology. It was unclear how much of this change could be attributed to the law itself. The 1. 99. 5 Swedish government commission (SOU 1. In contrast, in the 2. NIKK report estimates show there are approximately 3. Similar data from Denmark, where prostitution appeared much more acceptable, obtained by comparable methods, show there are at least 5. Hun begyndte at hygge sig med Gio lige s.
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