the ‘Nordic model’ of sex work

Question

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

Answer 1

I mean it’s a bad model for a society that wants sex work. It’s a pretty good model for a society that’s interested in banning sex work though.

In the US (and everywhere), sex work is strongly associated with human trafficking, poverty, and child exploitation (look up sources yourself, I’m not your google). Assault rates for sex workers is incredibly high, and just in general it’s a dangerous profession that has you interacting with customers that frequently view you mostly as an object (which then implies a lack of respect for your boundaries and rights). Incidentally, as we see with pornography addictions in the US, paid sex work encourages the objectification of women and diseases of sexuality in men.

There’s also the question of whether consent is practically obtainable in the case of paid sex; if a person’s livelihood is dependent on their sexual performance, is it really a free decision? Or is it an elaborate form of coerced sex that disproportionately affects the poor? What is an appropriate age of consent for this type of work (in the US it’s 18, ie senior year of _high school_ )?

Long story short, many societies regard sex work as inherently problematic, and a scourge upon the weakest people in our society. However, the Nordic model contextualizes sex workers themselves as victims of capitalistic exploitation of their bodies (rightly, in my opinion). Because of this, sex workers are not criminalized, and can report bad behavior more freely. Obviously, this discourages sex work generally, and isn’t a perfect fix. Some sex workers view their job as a voluntary and lucrative, and the more puritanical would like to punish everyone involved in the sex trade, full-stop. That said, both of these groups ignore the harm their preferred policies would do to the most vulnerable in our society.

Rant over, downvote me porn addicts