{"id":17426,"date":"2013-04-13T12:28:08","date_gmt":"2013-04-13T16:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theredphoenixapl.org\/?p=17426"},"modified":"2013-04-13T12:28:08","modified_gmt":"2013-04-13T16:28:08","slug":"the-nordic-model-is-the-only-model-that-actually-works-duh-says-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/2013\/04\/the-nordic-model-is-the-only-model-that-actually-works-duh-says-sweden\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nordic model is the only model that actually works. \u2018Duh,\u2019 says Sweden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Satellite\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By\u00a0<\/span>Meghan Murphy<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

An<\/span>\u00a0article<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0was published recently in\u00a0The Independent\u00a0<\/i>looking at the Nordic model in Sweden. The journalist, Joan Smith, took a ride in a squad car to see how a model wherein the buyer is criminalized and the prostitute is decriminalized actually worked. What she found will likely be met, by any progressive, intelligent, feminist person, with a resounding \u201cDuh.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course the cries of \u201cuptight!\u201d \u201cfreedom!\u201d \u201cchoice!\u201d \u201cmeandmydick!\u201d will likely continue, regardless of facts, because North Americans have their hearts set on buying into ridiculous and illogical notions of liberty that imagine sex and SUVs to be some kind of human right. But here\u2019s how it actually works:<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith and the squad car pull up to a car park at the top of a hill where johns tend to go with prostitutes. She writes:<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens next is a textbook example of the way Sweden\u2019s law banning the purchase of sex works in practice. The driver of the car, who\u2019s brought a prostituted woman to the island to have sex, is arrested on the spot. He\u2019s given a choice: admit the offense and pay a fine, based on income, or go to court and risk publicity. The woman, who hasn\u2019t broken any law, is offered help from social services if she wants to leave prostitution. Otherwise, she\u2019s allowed to go.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, dude pays a fine and the woman is offered alternatives without pressure. OPPRESSION!<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s so obvious it makes your head spin. Some of the most<\/span>\u00a0progressive, egalitarian countries<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the world have adopted this model and it\u2019s working. Meanwhile, those who\u2019ve opted for legalization or those like Canada and the U.S. who continue to treat prostituted women like criminals while offering them few alternatives, flail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie Bindel points out<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0that the only thing the Dutch government\u2019s 12 year experiment with legalization succeeded in doing was to increase the market. The illusory labour-based approach, put forth by confused lefties, wherein prostitution is imagined to be \u201ca job like any other\u201d hasn\u2019t worked either:<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than be given rights in the \u2018workplace\u2019, the prostitutes have found the pimps are as brutal as ever. The government-funded union set up to protect them has been shunned by the vast majority of prostitutes, who remain too scared to complain.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Under the \u201clabour\u201d model, assault and rape is no longer violence against women, but \u201can \u2018occupational hazard\u2019, like a stone dropped on a builder\u2019s toe,\u201d Bindel writes. There\u2019s simply no reason for police to charge men for doing something they feel they are legally entitled to do. Without reeducation and training, which is a key aspect of the Nordic model, the police are unlikely to change their attitudes towards marginalized women, prostituted women, and, more generally, with regard to women\u2019s human rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who argue that prostitution is dangerous due to \u201cstigma\u201d turned out to be wrong too, as Bindel reports: \u201cOnly 5 per cent of the women registered for taxation, because no one wants to be known as a whore \u2014 however legal it may be.\u201d The stigma remains, as does the exploitation.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2009, the police had to shut down a large number of brothels in Amsterdam\u2019s red-light districts<\/span>\u00a0due to organized crime<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0having taken over.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under legalization, trafficking increased, organized crime moved in, and women have continued to be abused and degraded. Is this the \u201cliberation\u201d we\u2019re looking for?<\/span><\/p>\n

Talking about sex work as work doesn\u2019t help women. It doesn\u2019t help women leave the industry, it doesn\u2019t create gender equality, it doesn\u2019t stop the violence, and it doesn\u2019t destigmatize prostitution. Reframing legalization as ending the \u201cstigma\u201d has not only been shown to be untrue, but it distracts us from the reality that violence and inequality doesn\u2019t happen because of stigmatization \u2014 it happens because of male power and systemic injustice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Detective Superintendent Kajsa Wahlberg, Sweden\u2019s national rapporteur on trafficking in human beings, is<\/span>\u00a0quoted as saying<\/span><\/a><\/span>: \u201cThe problem is gender-specific. Men buy women.\u201d Which is why a feminist approach is needed. And, as of yet, the only legislation that is specifically feminist in nature is the Nordic model.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith writes that prostituted women who come to Sweden from the Baltic states or Africa, who have sold sex in other countries say \u201cthey\u2019re much more likely to be subjected to violence in countries where prostitution has been legalized.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Men in Sweden, on the other hand, are afraid to commit violence because they know the women they are buying sex from have more power in the situation than they do. They know they will be charged if the woman calls the cops and so they behave better.<\/span><\/p>\n

Crime statistics show that trafficking has decreased since the Nordic model was enacted in Sweden. Places like Victoria (Australia), where prostitution has been legalized since the 80s, adopted the model in order to \u201c<\/span>contain the rampant growth of the highly visible brothel and street prostitution trade, eliminate organized crime, to end child prostitution and sex trafficking, and eliminate harmful work practices.<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u201d Instead, what\u2019s happened is that \u201cVictoria has created a two-tiered system\u2014a regulated and an unregulated prostitution industry.\u201d There are minimal exit programs for women who want to leave the industry (perhaps a moot point for legalization advocates, as the whole idea of exiting services seems to exist in opposition of the \u201cjob like any other\u201d mantra \u2014 because what other, just, you know, \u201cjobs\u201d require therapy and exiting services in order to quit? The military, perhaps?),<\/span>\u00a0illegal brothels are rampant<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0and trafficking has increased.<\/span><\/p>\n

These facts fly in the face of the argument that criminalizing buyers will drive the industry underground. It seems that, in fact, legalization encourages the \u201cunderground\u201d (illegal) industry. It\u2019s no coincidence that those who wish to operate illegally or as part of a \u201cblack market\u201d flock to countries where prostitution is legal.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is, in fact, zero evidence that shows that criminalizing johns has driven prostitution underground. Under the Nordic model, there\u2019s also absolutely no reason why, if prostitution is \u201cunderground\u201d the cops wouldn\u2019t be able to find these industries: \u201cIf a sex buyer can find a prostituted woman in a hotel or apartment, the police can do it,\u201d one of the detectives Smith interviews says, \u201cPimps have to advertise.\u201d Because the police have the resources and a vested interest in charging the exploiters, they have reason (and the support) to look for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

In South Auckland, NZ, where prostitution has been legal (fully decriminalized, meaning that running a brothel, living off the proceeds of someone else\u2019s prostitution, and street solicitation are all legal \u2014 which is what<\/span>\u00a0some are advocating for<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in Canada) since 2003, street prostitution has<\/span>\u00a0increased dramatically<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0and recent reports show<\/span>\u00a0child prostitution<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on the rise<\/span><\/a><\/span>. Just like in Victoria and Amsterdam,\u00a0<\/span>illegal prostitution has increased<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, since the Nordic model has been in effect in Sweden since 1999, street prostitution, organized crime, trafficking, and pimping<\/span>\u00a0have decreased<\/span><\/a><\/span>. The country also has strong social safety nets and exiting programs for women who want to leave the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a\u00a0recent debate about the legalization of prostitution<\/span><\/a><\/span>, hosted by\u00a0New Internationalist Magazine<\/em>, human rights lawyer, Diane Post begins her argument by saying:<\/span><\/p>\n

Legalized prostitution cannot exist alongside the true equality of women. The idea that one group of women should be available for men\u2019s sexual access is founded on structural inequality by gender, class and race.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As far as equality goes, there\u2019s no argument here and we need to stop pretending there is. Prostitution doesn\u2019t promote the status of women. Societies and countries that have been shown to be progressive, egalitarian, and \u201csex positive\u201d (like Iceland, a place that has a much more open-minded and \u201cliberal\u201d<\/span>\u00a0approach to sex and sexuality<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0than the U.S.) are also societies that have adopted legislation that works towards an eventual end to prostitution, supporting the women who are in it in the meantime, and teaching men that buying sex isn\u2019t acceptable. It\u2019s no strange coincidence that Iceland, which<\/span>\u00a0ranked first place in the 2012 Global Gender Gap Report<\/span><\/a><\/span>, has also banned strip clubs, is<\/span>\u00a0considering a ban on hardcore pornography online<\/span><\/a><\/span>, and has adopted the Nordic model.<\/span><\/p>\n

The argument for the legalization of prostitution is largely about individual rights. But we do, sometimes, have to choose between prioritizing the rights of certain individuals and building an equitable society.<\/span><\/p>\n

The popular position among some American feminists and progressives is to pretend as though prostitution is simply something open-minded people do \u201con the side\u201d for kicks. This is to\u00a0<\/span>pretend gender, race and poverty don\u2019t factor in. But prostitution isn\u2019t merely a \u201czoning\u201d issue<\/span><\/a><\/span>. It isn\u2019t, either, about<\/span>\u00a0fashion<\/span><\/a><\/span>. To these people, I point you to<\/span>\u00a0commentary from Margriet van der Linden<\/span><\/a><\/span>, chief editor of the feminist magazine,\u00a0Opzij<\/em>, who said, in left-liberal daily De Volkskrant:<\/span><\/p>\n

The daily practices of prostitution are portrayed as a romantic world full of mistresses with fishnet stockings and jovial laughs who embody the liberal values of the Dutch, and complaints ring out about the spread of narrow-minded bourgeois values. But not a word is said about the current legislation that has been such a disaster and has contributed to the shocking figures according to which approximately seven in ten prostitutes are victims of violence.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prostitution hurts some individual women and benefits some individual men. But it is also part of, as lawyer,<\/span>\u00a0Gunilla Ekberg says<\/span><\/a><\/span>, \u201ca structure reflecting and maintaining inequality between men and women.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Post points out that \u201cthe answer to poor jobs, low pay and harsh working conditions for women is not to consign them to a lifetime of abuse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no alternative,\u201d is, after all, what conservative British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher said. The response from the left has always been that, indeed, there is an alternative, and we\u2019re going to fight for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fuente<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Meghan Murphy An\u00a0article\u00a0was published recently in\u00a0The Independent\u00a0looking at the Nordic model in Sweden. The journalist, Joan Smith, took a ride in a squad car to..<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,16,166,21,92,97,106],"tags":[313,229,197,252,253,345,276],"class_list":["post-17426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discrimination","category-editorials","category-government","category-international","category-theory","category-us-news","category-women","tag-canada","tag-economic-exploitation","tag-imperialism","tag-netherlands","tag-new-zealand","tag-reactionary-watch","tag-sweden"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redphoenix.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/satellite.jpg?fit=300%2C262&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}