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The work of the project was based on three problem areas: (1) The occurrence and extent of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes in the Nordic countries, (2) the legal treatment of and social measures against prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes in the Nordic countries, and (3) attitudes to and notions of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes in the Nordic countries. Dr. Charlotta Holmström and Dr. May-Len Skilbrei headed the project, which comprised eleven Nordic researchers from various disciplines and all the Nordic countries. Below, the main results will be summarised following these three areas.
Difficult to estimate
The current prostitution market is differentiated and it is assumed that most of the prostitution in the Nordic countries occurs indoors. Nevertheless, the estimates presented are largely based on observations and registrations of visible street prostitution. Because of the increased number of foreign women in prostitution, of persons advertising on the Internet and of human trafficking cases, the police and the social authorities find it difficult to get an overview of the actual extent of prostitution. It is also difficult to estimate how many women have fallen victim to the trafficking of humans to the Nordic countries, since there are obvious shortcomings in the methods of counting these. Primarily, the estimates are based on the number of legal cases and/or information retrieved from social workers, or other organisations. Further, it is difficult to judge what are to be regarded as cases of human trafficking and what are not. The distinction between prostitution and human trafficking varies between the countries. Thus, the generation of data on the occurrence and extent of these phenomena also varies between the countries. The difference particularly pertains as to who is doing the counting, and how, when estimating the numbers of persons in prostitution and the numbers of persons who have fallen victim to human trafficking for sexual purposes.
The report concludes that the data on the occurrence and extent of prostitution and human trafficking is clearly limited and affected by the specific context in which the data is collected. There is more data on the extent of street prostitution than on other forms of prostitution which are less visible and accessible. This is partly due to the fact that the existing information is generated in relation to social measures and social work, and also, to a certain extent, to the work of the police. Persons, who for various reasons do not come into contact with these authorities, are not included in the estimates. The information is also clearly connected to urban areas. The situation in other parts of the countries under scrutiny is less known.
Increased number of foreign women
The legal handling of prostitution and human trafficking in the Nordic countries is characterised by the national prostitution markets having experienced changes over the last ten years. The biggest change is the increased number of foreign women. Since the turn of the millennium, the number of women from Eastern Europe in the domestic prostitution markets in both Norway and Finland has been growing. Presently, women from Eastern Europe still constitute a large portion of the Finnish prostitution market. However, the situation in Norway has changed; during the last three years, a large number of women from Nigeria have been observed in prostitution. In 2007, they constituted 30 per cent of the women in prostitution that social workers came into contact with. A new significant group in the Norwegian prostitution market are women from Bulgaria. In Denmark, 45 per cent of the women in prostitution are estimated to be of foreign origin. Here, too, the women come from Eastern Europe and West Africa, but also from South America and South-East Asia, particularly from Thailand. In Sweden, the situation is different. Although there is trans-national prostitution from several countries, particularly from Eastern Europe, no large groups of foreign women have established themselves in the visible prostitution market, contrary to what is the case in Norway, Finland and Denmark. The situation in Iceland has also changed over the last decade. Issues of prostitution and suspected cases of human trafficking have been noted, for example in connection to strip-tease bars. There is, nevertheless, very little information on the extent of prostitution in Iceland. Thus, the development has not been identical in the individual Nordic countries, but the issues have, nevertheless, been topical on their public agendas. The most central question has been that of legislation.
Variations in legislation
The prostitution legislations in the Nordic countries display large variations. 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. In all countries, procuring is forbidden, but the definitions of prostitution and what forms of organising and utilising the prostitution of others are regarded as procuring, vary. All the Nordic countries have introduced bans on human trafficking for sexual purposes. Although preventive measures and the struggle against human trafficking are highly prioritised in all the Nordic countries, there are some variations in the wordings of the legislation. Action plans aiming at the prevention of human trafficking and protection of its victims have been prepared and implemented in several countries. As to social measures, these have primarily been designed with regard to intra-national prostitution.
Gender equality or border control
Considering the increasing number of women in trans-national prostitution, new problems arise which require changes in the
social and legal measures in the Nordic countries. 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. On the other hand, there are varying views of
prostitution. While Sweden has for a long time emphasized the gender equality aspect in relation to prostitution and human
trafficking, this question has not been treated in the same manner in Norway or Denmark. In the last few years, however, the
issue of criminalising buyers of sex has also appeared on the agenda in Norway and Denmark, but for a different reason than
the Swedish one: namely, the increase in trans-national prostitution. In Finland, both the gender equality issue, and the
need for border controls and the handling of an increasing number of foreign women in prostitution are topical in the debate
on criminalising buyers of sex.
The ideology underlying the social measures offered in the Nordic countries also varies. While the primary objective of the
social measures in Sweden is to get women and men out of prostitution, the social measures in Norway, Denmark, and Finland,
too, are mainly aimed at damage reduction. The project’s studies also show that there are differences within the countries
between various organisations and functions. These differences do not, however, have any greater significance for practical
work. Rather, the various attitudes and orientations can complement each other.
The sex-purchase law gets massive support in Sweden
The third aim of the project was to survey and describe attitudes to and notions of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes among men and women in the Nordic countries. This task was realised in different ways by the researchers in the various countries. In Sweden, a survey study was conducted which aimed at exploring attitudes and approaches to the sex-purchase law and experiences of buying and selling sex. The other researchers in the project did not have the opportunity to carry out attitude surveys. Empirical material was primarily collected by qualitative studies. As to attitudes and approaches to prostitution, the Swedish survey shows that the sex-purchase law has massive support in Sweden. Meanwhile, the same study also reveals that the confidence of the Swedish public in the law having any impact on the extent of prostitution, is rather weak. More than half of the interviewees say that they think that the sellers of sex should also be criminalised. The project’s qualitative studies focused on exploring people’s arguments concerning prostitution and which themes are presented as most relevant. Many of the studies display a view of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes as being a legal rather than a social and/or gender equality problem. Thus, in parallel with equality arguments and involvement in social matters, the question of prostitution is also described as a legal issue – as a question of order and of border control. In the debate on human trafficking for sexual purposes, the question of organised crime also appears as a distinct theme. In the current project, this is interpreted as an expression of the ongoing juridification process, where the focus of society on prostitution as a social problem is shifting to it being a legal question and legal problem.
