Nordic Model / Equality Model Prostitution Policy
Women
Conceptual
GBV
What is the Nordic Model?
The Nordic Model is a prostitution policy approach. It criminalizes buying sex but not selling it. The model also targets pimps and brothel operators.
This approach started in Sweden in 1999. It is also called the Swedish Model or Equality Model. Some call it the Sex Purchase Ban.
The model has four main parts:
- Decriminalizing people who sell sex
- Criminalizing people who buy sex
- Criminalizing third parties like pimps
- Providing exit support services
The goal is to reduce demand for prostitution. Sweden views prostitution as violence against women. The law sees sex buyers as perpetrators, not sellers.
History of Prostitution Policy
Traditional Approaches
Historically, countries took different approaches to prostitution. Most criminalized people selling sex. This gave them criminal records. It made exiting prostitution harder.
Other countries created regulatory systems. These required registration and health checks. Sex workers faced surveillance and stigma.
The Swedish Innovation
Sweden changed this approach fundamentally. In the 1990s, feminist activists advocated reform. They argued prostitution stems from gender inequality.
Legal scholars Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin influenced Swedish thinking. Swedish women’s rights organizations invited them to speak. They framed prostitution as sex discrimination.
On January 1, 1999, Sweden enacted the Sex Purchase Act. This made buying sex illegal. Selling sex remained legal.
The law was part of the Women’s Peace initiative. It situated prostitution within violence against women frameworks.
Countries Implementing the Nordic Model
Sweden (1999)
Sweden pioneered this approach. The law passed by 181 to 92 votes. It became effective on January 1, 1999.
Norway (2009)
Norway adopted similar legislation through the Sex Buyer Law. Implementation faced various challenges.
Iceland (2009)
Iceland followed shortly after Norway. The law reflected similar principles.
Canada (2014)
Canada passed the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. This was Canada’s version of the model.
Northern Ireland (2015)
Northern Ireland implemented its version in 2015. Violence against sex workers reportedly increased afterward.
France (2016)
France enacted legislation criminalizing sex buyers. Implementation has been limited across regions.
Republic of Ireland (2017)
Ireland passed the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017. Reports show crimes against sex workers nearly doubled.
Israel (2020)
Israel adopted the Nordic Model approach. Implementation is still recent.
Alternative Policy: New Zealand Decriminalization
New Zealand took a different approach. In 2003, it passed the Prostitution Reform Act. This fully decriminalized sex work.
The New Zealand model differs fundamentally. It treats sex work as legitimate work. All adults can legally sell sexual services.
Street-based sex work is legal. Running brothels is legal. The law protects sex workers’ rights.
In 1999, Sweden became the first country in the world to criminalize the purchase of sexual acts, marking a pioneering step in combating sexual exploitation and the commodification of human bodies. Building on this approach, France and Sweden have developed a joint strategy to fight human trafficking for sexual exploitation both in Europe and globally.
Watch the insightful webinar held on 4 March 2021 in the Netherlands, featuring Dutch experts and moderated by journalist Renate van der Zee.
Key People
Catharine MacKinnon
MacKinnon is a feminist legal scholar. She teaches at University of Michigan. She proposed the Nordic Model with Dworkin.
She argues pornography violates civil rights. She sees prostitution as sex discrimination. Her work influenced Swedish legislation significantly.
Andrea Dworkin
Dworkin was a radical feminist writer. She collaborated closely with MacKinnon. She died in 2005.
She argued prostitution constitutes violence. Her activism shaped anti-exploitation frameworks. Swedish organizations invited her expertise.
Organizations
CAP International
The Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution (CAP International) unites 35 frontline NGOs in 28 countries providing direct support to victims of prostitution & advocating for the abolition of the prostitution system.
cap-international.org
Fondation Scelles
For more than 25 years, the Fondation Scelles, a recognized public benefit foundation based in Paris, and with a consultative status with ECOSOC, has been fighting against sexual exploitation and the system of prostitution.
This commitment includes prevention and abroad, monitoring and analysis of phenomena related to International Observatory on Sexual Exploitation, as well as legal and judicial activities.
The Fondation Scelles is a co-founding member of CAP International.
fondationscelles.org
5th Global Report of the Scelles Foundation > globalprostitutionreport.org
Download > Discourse surrounding prostitutional propaganda online: an analysis
European Women’s Lobby
12 July 2023, Strasbourg – Some MEPs supporting the Equality Model joined the European Women’s Lobby for a photocall to celebrate the adoption of the Initiative report on prostitution that took place in the FEMM Committee on 27 June. We count on the rest of MEPs to confirm this position and to deliver a similarly powerful message for women and girls during the September plenary session vote. In Europe, women account for 90% of persons in prostitution and 87% of victims of trafficking of human beings for sexual exploitation purposes.
On 27 June 2023, the FEMM committee gathered to vote on the Initiative Report on the Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights drafted by S&D MEP Maria Noichl. Following the legacy of the Honeyball resolution adopted in 2014, this initiative report encourages Member States to adopt an abolitionist perspective based on implementing the Equality/Nordic model decriminalising persons in prostitution while criminalising the so-called “sex-buyers” and exploitative third parties. This model, already adopted in France, Sweden and Ireland, proved to be efficient in reducing demand and cases of human trafficking as traffickers can more easily hide their criminal activities in countries where prostitution is fully legalised.
womenlobby.org/?s=Equality+Model
Governments
EU Parliament passes resolution: punish the client, not the prostitute
26 Feb 2014
EU countries should reduce the demand for prostitution by punishing the clients, not the prostitutes, says Parliament in a non-binding resolution passed on Wednesday. It stresses that prostitution violates human dignity and human rights, whether it is forced or voluntary, and calls on member states to find exit strategies and alternative sources of income for women who want to leave prostitution.
EU Parliament: Punish the client, not the prostitute
EU Parliament passes resolution in favour of the Nordic model
“Rather than blanket legalisation – which has been a disaster in Holland and Germany – we need a more nuanced approach to prostitution, which punishes men who treat women’s bodies as a commodity, without criminalising those who are driven into sex work,” said Mary Honeyball (S&D, U.K), who drafted the resolution. “We send a strong signal that the European Parliament is ambitious enough to tackle prostitution head on rather than accepting it as a fact of life.”
The non-binding resolution was adopted by 343 votes to 139, with 105 abstentions.
Council of Europe – Parliamentary Assembly (PACE)
Motion for a recommendation
Criminalising the purchase of sex to combat the trafficking of people for sexual exploitation
Resolution 1983 (2014) Final version
Prostitution, trafficking and modern slavery in Europe
Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly
Origin – Assembly debate on 8 April 2014 (12th Sitting) (see Doc. 13446, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, rapporteur: Mr José Mendes Bota). Text adopted by the Assembly on 8 April 2014 (12th Sitting).
Trafficking in Human Beings – GRETA
The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings entered into force on 1 February 2008.
The Convention has a comprehensive scope of application, encompassing all forms of trafficking (whether national or transnational, linked or not linked to organised crime) and taking in all persons who are victims of trafficking (women, men or children). The forms of exploitation covered by the Convention are, at a minimum, sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude and the removal of organs.
All the countries which have signed up to the Council of Europe convention are regularly monitored by the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). GRETA’s role is to ensure that the convention’s provisions are effectively implemented and victims’ rights respected.
GRETA analyses the situation on a country-by-country basis, drawing up reports which identify good practices and gaps, and makes recommendations on how to improve the implementation of the convention in each country. The reports and recommendations are made public and are published on the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking website.
coe.int/en/web/anti-human-trafficking
Diplomatic Initiative Sweden and France
Combatting human trafficking and sexual exploitation – Joint Op-Ed by Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallström (8 March 2019)
This joint article presents the common strategy in the fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Europe and in the world.
“Today – on the International Women’s Day – the Government of France and the Government of Sweden are proud to announce our joint decision to develop a common strategy for combating human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Europe and globally.”
Åsa Regnér at CSW61
“Prostitution is always exploitation” – statement of Sweden at the UN Security Council, 15 March 2017
While the 61st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) took place in New York in March 2017, the UN Security Council discussed trafficking in human beings during its meeting of 15 March. The former Swedish Minister Åsa Regnér made a strong statement calling for the implementation of the Nordic Model worldwide, which shifts the burden of the shame and criminality from the women victims to the men buying sex, who are fueling trafficking through the demand for paid sex.
womenlobby.org/CSW61-abolition-of-the-system-of-prostitution
Featured
Prostitution is Violence against Women!
Dr. Ingeborg Kraus – Prostitution and Health: Challenges and Change of Perspective in Europe
trauma-and-prostitution.eu/en/2017/01/03/prostitution-is-violence-against-women/
The Debate
Jessica Masterson – The Sex Work Debates and What We’re Missing
medium.com/@jessicamasterson_6828/the-sex-work-debates-and-what-were-missing
Choice
Dr Meagan Tyler – No, feminism is not about choice
theconversation.com/no-feminism-is-not-about-choice
AIDS/Pro-prostitution lobby
Julie Bindel – The Pimping of Prostitution: Abolishing the Sex Work Myth
newsweek.com/great-sex-trade-swindle-how-aids-campaigners-joined-fight-pimp-prostitution-668359
New Zealand
Ally-Marie Diamond – Why the Nordic Model? A view from New Zealand
nordicmodelnow.org/2020/02/26/why-the-nordic-model-a-view-from-new-zealand/