Will Swedish Prostitution Laws Prevent Trafficking in the U.S.?

In Sweden, buying sex is a crime but selling it is not. This model for law, often referred to as "the Swedish example", has been targeting the demand for prostitution, sex trafficking, and child trafficking for over a decade. And it's working. Now, the Swedish Institute has released a handbook for countries who want to consider following in Sweden's footsteps. But is the Swedish example right for America?

In 1999, when Sweden first passed the law which made buying sex illegal but allowed selling sex, it was quite controversial. For centuries, the risks of prostitution — pregnancy, diseases, imprisonment — had fallen primarily on women. Sweden was challenging this long trend and the idea that men have a "right" to treat a woman's body like an object to be bought and sold. Some celebrated the law as feminist and claimed it would reduce prostitution and human trafficking in the country. Others pushed for prostitution to be fully legal in Sweden. But for ten years the Swedish example has been in place. The 64,000 Euro question is, does it work?

Most measures say "yes." According to the recent report from The Swedish Institute, demand for commercial sex has dropped. The percent of Swedish men who buy sex has decreased from 13.6% before the law took affect to 7.9% in 2008, almost a 50% reduction. With that drop in demand has come reduced rates prostitution. In Stockholm, a city of about 1.3 million people, about 200 people regularly engage in street prostitution. In Amsterdam, a city of 750,000 where buying and selling sex are both legal, there are an estimated 20,000 to 35,000 people engaged in street prostitution. A drop in demand has also meant a drop in sex trafficking. In the first part of the decade, police estimated 400 to 600 women were trafficked to Sweden and forced into the commercial sex industry. Now, sex trafficking rates are close to imperceptible. Over 70% of Swedes support the current legislation. It has also served as a model for other countries, including Norway and Iceland who have criminalized the buying of sex and decriminalized the selling of it.

Now, the Swedish Institute has created a roadmap for other countries considering similar legislation, with everything from how much to fine johns to how to collaborate with other countries to fight human trafficking. But will the Swedish model work in the U.S.? Sweden is a significantly smaller country than the U.S., with a more homogeneous population and less autonomy for local governments. They have a massive, national social welfare system which has supported women leaving prostitution and trafficking by helping them build skills and find jobs. They don't have the same emphasis on individual rights as we do in the U.S. They have better representation of women in government and business, and arguably, a culture with more gender equality. These differences would need to be compensated for if the Swedish model were applied in the U.S.

The Swedish example seems to have managed to curb sex trafficking and prostitution by reducing the demand for commercial sex, help women wanting to leave prostitution to get out, and avoid arresting trafficked or abused women and throwing them in jail. At least, in Sweden. Whether the Swedish example will pull an Ikea and suddenly take over the U.S. is yet to be seen.

Photo credit: markusram