The Nordic Model
The Nordic Model approach to sex work, also known as the “equality model”
Sex work can not be viewed as a regular job like any other. Sex work is based on hierarchical and patriarchal structures - the dominion of rich men from Germany over poor woman from countries in the south. Men take advantage of the financial and social distress of these women. Discriminated minorities and groups of female migrants are overrepresented in every workfield of prostitution. Sex work manifests the asymmetry of gender relations. As long as men are able to purchase and consume the bodies of women as they like, there is no chance to reach an actual gender equality. Everything from violence up to organized crime is omnipresent in prostitution. Sex work is destroying the mental and physical integrity of affected women. By the purchase of their bodies, women are objectified and made into a product, in which their dignity is violated. This is why SOLWODI encourages a shift in the german sex work politics and demands the introduction of the nordic model approach to sex work.
The nordic model was introduced in Sweden in 1999, which is where it got its name from. As for today, Norway (2009), Iceland (2009), Canada (2014), North-Ireland (2015), France (2016), Ireland (2017) and Israel (2018) also integrated the model in their policies. In international context the model is mostly called the “equality model”. Participating countries set different priorities and legal frameworks while introducing the model. What they all have in common is that the model is based on three main aspects:
Decriminalization of sex workers and criminalization of the profiteers
Exit aids for sex workers to help them get out of prostitution
Education and a shift in the perception of society as a whole
In the nordic model, all profiteers of the sex work system, for example: pimps, brothel operators or customers, are punished, but not the sex workers themselves. This is why it is more accurate to call it a “punishment of the profiteers” instead of a “prohibition of sex work”, to underline the asymmetry. The nordic model takes into account, that most women do not work in prostitution voluntarily, but are rather victims of the sex work system. The goal of the punishment for consumers is to reduce the demand for sexual services.
To get out of prostitution is difficult and requires support. Most women are dependent on the financial earnings to sustain the subsistence of themselves and their family. This is why SOLWODI is demanding exit aids, who offer a psycho-social consultation, access to medical and therapeutic support, provision of living space and vocational qualification measures, as well as a residence permit if necessary. These women need alternatives to prostitution!
To reduce the demand for sex work, it is necessary to have a more attentive awareness about the connection between sex work and the objectification and degradation of sex workers, which stand in opposition to the dignity and equality of women. School programs, media campaigns and a lot more can be used for educational purposes to support the equality of genders. In France, convicted customers of sex work have to visit workshops, in which the relations and backgrounds of prostitution and their influences on the view of women are explained.
Encouraging experiences in Sweden
The results of the nordic model in Sweden are encouraging. Based on an evaluation report of the Swedish government, the number of sex workers who work on the street split in half, while it increased in prostitution-liberal countries like Denmark. Private sex workers who work from home also did not over proportionally expand in Sweden. Human trafficking and organized crime also do not play a significant role in the Swedish prostitution milieu, because the market is not suitable anymore. The shift in awareness about sex work among the Swedish population is clear. While in 1995 45% of women and 20% of men approved of a punishment for consumers of sex work, the number increased in 2008 to 79% of women and 60% of men. As for today, purchasing sex work is not viewed as “cool” anymore.
The violence against women who work in prostitution has significantly decreased: since 1999 there was not a single murder of a sex worker in Sweden (with the exception of partnership offenses), while in Germany 100 murders and 50 attempted murders were registered in the same period of time. Sex workers and police are reporting, that customers are more careful since the risk of a legal punishment increased, because they are not only held accountable for the acts of violence, but also for the consumption of sex work in the first place.
Under no circumstances one can say that prostitution vanished from the underground scene of Sweden. The trend of private prostitutes who work from home is not more widespread than in other countries. If customers are able to reach out to the sex workers, it is also possible for authorities like police and social workers to reach out to the woman. It is necessary that instances like the police are enabled with appropriate powers to locate places of prostitution and create a good cooperation between social workers and police forces. In case of a police raid, the affected woman is directly provided with specialized counseling centers, to get a qualified consultation and the offer to exit aids.
Myths that are still listed in relation the the nordic model:
“With the nordic model, the prostitution milieu is moving towards the underground”
Today, there are already only 10-15% of prostitutes that are officially registered, which means that a big majority of sex workers are operating in the underground anyways. It is already noticeable that prostitution is relocating towards private prostitution and sex work on the internet. The experiences in Sweden show that the introduction of the nordic model does not accelerate this shift. In addition to that, women need to be available to customers, which also supports social workers who need to reach out to them.
“The nordic model is affecting the right to a free choice of career for women”
Sex work is not regular work like any other. Because the dignity of women in prostitution is constantly violated and related to considerable health and psychological risks. Furthermore, women are not prohibited from participating in sex work, because only their customers are punished. In the end, one has to decide which rights rather need to be protected: the few women who actually voluntarily participate, have a better education and perspective for alternative work possibilities, or the majority of women, who live in precarious conditions and coercive structures?
“The nordic model does not distinguish between forced sex work and voluntary sex work”
Only a few woman participate voluntarily in sex work, which is why the coercive structures are omnipresent and the border between voluntary and compulsory are fluid. Even in luxurious milieus human trafficking is present, as a recent case against the operator of the “paradise” in Stuttgart has shown.
“Without prostitution the rates of rape on “normal local woman” are increasing”
Behind this conception is a very problematic view about men, which represents them as instinct-controlled beings, who can not control their desire for sexual pleasure. This conception is already disproven by the fact that during the closure of the brothels in the course of the Covid-19 restrictions, there was no increase in the rape statistics. It is also deeply inhumane and racist to sacrifice female migrants for the local women of the German majority society in form of prostitution.
