Prostitution

The national prostitution markets in the Nordic region have experienced changes over the last ten years. It is assumed that most of the prostitution in the Nordic countries occurs indoors. The Internet and mobile phones are examples of new ways of making contact that are having an increasing impact on the prostitution market. The number of women in trans-national prostitution has increased. The market is in a state of flux, and knowledge of the current situation is urgently needed. Knowledge about the scale of prostitution in the Nordic Region is limited, especially regarding people and arenas not observed by social workers or the police. As to the scale of trafficking for sexual purposes, it is extremely difficult to come to definitive conclusions.

The biggest change in national prostitution markets is however the increased number of foreign women. In the Nordic countries, prostitution has, for a long time, been seen as a social problem, which must be dealt with through socio-political measures. However, the increasing number of women in trans-national prostitution and trafficking changes Nordic prostitution policies. A view is emerging of prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes as a legal problem rather than a social and/or gender-equality issue. Prostitution is increasingly seen as a question of law and order and of border controls.

The Nordic countries all want to limit prostitution but how prostitution is dealt with legally varies greatly in the Region. In Sweden, the buying of sexual services was prohibited in 1999, while in Iceland the ban on supporting oneself by selling sex was lifted as late as in 2007. Although there are differences between the Nordic countries as to their views on prostitution, the differences between them and the rest of Europe are even greater.