Several years ago Sweden became the first country to take unorthodox approach to prostitution, ostensibly in order to combat human trafficking: it is legal to sell sex, but not to buy it. A john can be arrested; a prostitute cannot. Several other countries (I think all Scandinavian ones and Israel) had copied it since.
When I first heard about this, I thought it was a prime example of feminism run amock -- combination of "woman are always victims, men are always predators" mindset, and the puritanical hatred of sex. Recently however, I realized that if the goal really is to stop human trafficking and forced prostitution, and the law is enforced with that goal in mind, it could work very well.
Say, a Swedish woman wants to trade sex for money. She puts up a web ad -- which is legal. She certainly is not going to turn in her customers to police (well, she might if they get abusive, but that's a different story). At some point an undercover police officer answers the ad -- not to arrest her, but to find out if she is acting on her free will. If turns out she is forced/trafficked, policeman arrests the pimp(s) and gets her some help. If she really is what she says she is, he leaves. He does not hang around to arrest her johns.
Do this long enough, and everyone except pimps benefits. Women who actually want to sell their bodies can do it in peace, men who want to purchase know that answering a web ad is probably safe, and women who are in it against their will are found and freed. Except I have no idea if that's how the law is actually enforced. If the real goal is puritanical morality in non-religious guise, then I expect police to set up fake ads in order to trap johns, and everyone involved being driven farther underground. So the question for our Scandinavian members -- how exactly is the law being enforced?
When I first heard about this, I thought it was a prime example of feminism run amock -- combination of "woman are always victims, men are always predators" mindset, and the puritanical hatred of sex. Recently however, I realized that if the goal really is to stop human trafficking and forced prostitution, and the law is enforced with that goal in mind, it could work very well.
Say, a Swedish woman wants to trade sex for money. She puts up a web ad -- which is legal. She certainly is not going to turn in her customers to police (well, she might if they get abusive, but that's a different story). At some point an undercover police officer answers the ad -- not to arrest her, but to find out if she is acting on her free will. If turns out she is forced/trafficked, policeman arrests the pimp(s) and gets her some help. If she really is what she says she is, he leaves. He does not hang around to arrest her johns.
Do this long enough, and everyone except pimps benefits. Women who actually want to sell their bodies can do it in peace, men who want to purchase know that answering a web ad is probably safe, and women who are in it against their will are found and freed. Except I have no idea if that's how the law is actually enforced. If the real goal is puritanical morality in non-religious guise, then I expect police to set up fake ads in order to trap johns, and everyone involved being driven farther underground. So the question for our Scandinavian members -- how exactly is the law being enforced?
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=269217&goto=newpost
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