I’ve absolutely no idea what it entails, but the one consensus across the board from other sex workers is that apparently it’s a terrible ‘model’ for governments to use for sex work
In: 2362
The problem with criminalizing sex work is that sex work is very, very broad. So while most people think about situations you see from a cop drama with pimps and johns and streetwalkers and sex trafficking, the actual reality of sex work is much wider than that. But most laws are made with that limited frame of reference in mind.
In most countries, the solution has been to have laws against prostitution. The idea is that this prevents people from becoming prostitutes and therefore prevents women from getting exploited by sex work. The problem is that in real life, there’s a demand for sex work, so there will always be supply, and these laws only serve to drive sex work underground and make the women who do that job unable to get the support and protection they need.
The Nordic model flips this on its head by criminalizing the (mostly) men who purchase sex work, not the workers. In other words, in the US, being a prostitute is illegal, but in Norway, buying a prostitute is illegal. This means that a prostitute can still do her job and get the social and legal protections she is entitled to.
Or, that’s the idea. But the problem that sex workers point out is that criminalizing johns doesn’t really solve the problem, because at the end of the day it’s still putting their job in a strictly criminal environment. Women can’t properly vet their clients if the men are justifiably being secretive and hesitant out of self-protection. They’re still dealing with the consequences of criminalization.
So what sex workers advocate for is a whole revamp to the process. Instead of criminalizing sex work entirely, criminalize the kinds of sex work that are exploitative and legalize/protect the kinds that aren’t. This would allow women to have protections, and johns to have accountability, while also preventing the worst aspects of of sex work. Or at least, that’s the claim.
The problem here is that it requires us as a society to have a good handle on what sex work really looks like…and not very many people are keen to have that be a discussion on the public forum. The attractive part of banning either prostitutes or johns is that you don’t really have to get into the nuances and mechanics of sex work. The Nordic model is definitely an improvement over the US model…but isn’t that a bit of a low bar?
Latest Answers