I have an
American friend who works in an adjoining crystal shop with an
exclusive hotel here in Stockholm. She was approached recently while
on the job by an average-looking traveling man (staying at the
hotel) who asked if she knew where he could find “women”. “What?” my
friend inquired. “You know, Swedish ‘massage parlors’, women… you
know…” replied the man. “I don’t know!” my friend heatedly
responded. Is it so difficult to buy sex in Stockholm – even in the
inner-city – that he had to ask in a fine crystal shop?
When I met with
Gunilla Ekberg (the Special Advisor on issues of prostitution and
trafficking in women at the Swedish Division for Gender Equality)
recently I asked if the relatively ‘new’ tougher legislation on the
buying of sexual services is ‘working’ – i.e., reducing demand of
such services - in Sweden, she said, “Look around, did you see any
women standing on the streets on your way here?” (Ms. Ekberg’s
office sits in one of the former most popular districts for
prostitutes). And it’s true, if you take a look around this capital
city you will be hard-pressed to find women and girls standing on
the streets and even more difficult to find brothels and the
so-called ‘Swedish massage parlors’. It is not some kind of illusion
that Stockholm has created. The fact that a man had to ask in a fine
crystal shop for “women” is proof of the success. Actually, I
deliver this message to all possible solicitors of sexual services
who are planning to travel to Sweden: Don’t come to Sweden. You will
not have success here. “It is a crime to buy sex in Sweden” as the
campaign to combat prostitution and trafficking in women by the
Regeringskansliet (The Office of the Government of Sweden)
proclaims.
“In Sweden,
prostitution is regarded as an aspect of male violence against women
and children. It is officially acknowledged as a form of
exploitation of women and children and constitutes a significant
social problem, which is harmful not only to the individual
prostituted woman or child, but also to society at large”, according
to the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications.
Therefore, in
1999, the Swedish Parliament passed “a law that only criminalized
the buying of sexual services”.
Moreover, the new legislation makes it a criminal offense to
purchase or even attempt to purchase sexual services and is
punishable by day fines and/or imprisonment. The women and children,
seen as the victims are not criminalized and will be offered social
benefits and advice in an effort to help them “break-away” from
prostitution or trafficking, giving them alternatives that they
previously did not have.
To underline Swedish seriousness in matters of these issues a new
law was passed in July 2002 “against trafficking in human beings for
sexual purposes…this means that all the links in the prostitution
and women-trafficking chain have been made a criminal offense in
Sweden: the buyers of women and children in prostitution, pimps and
traffickers in women”. It is essential to understand that “without
prostitution, there would be no trafficking in women”.
Certainly, we can draw the conclusion that without the demand of
sexual services there would be no prostitution.
When considering
how to reduce demand of prostitution a ‘root-cause’ discussion needs
to be brought to the table. Ms. Ekberg states that the root cause of
this demand is “men”, their demand for women and children. Before
putting this article down, consider that statistically speaking
“prostitution is a gender-specific phenomenon; the overwhelming
majority of victims are women and girls, while the perpetrators are
invariably men”.
To respond to the age-old comment of the pro-legalization movement,
“it’s the oldest profession in the world”, take into account this
point: “if men did not regard it as their self-evident right to
purchase and sexually exploit women and children, prostitution and
trafficking would not exist. Human traffickers and pimps profit from
women’s and girl’s economic, social, political and legal
subordination”.On
this note, consider that the internationally accepted median age for
entrance of girls into prostitution is 14 years of age. How
many of us believe that the majority of these young girls – children
- thought prostitution would be a good career move?
Efforts can be
made in reducing the oppression of women by reducing the demand of
sexual services. Undeniably this is not easy to achieve in a
patriarchal society. In my conversation with Gunilla Ekberg she
expressed that the Swedish legislation did not occur overnight and
much debate took place over a period of years where people were
“questioning men’s perceived unlimited sexuality with anyone for the
first time”. According to Ms. Ekberg there are 3 main
recommendations that the pro-legislation movement can do to reduce
the demand of sexual services in the United States:
·
A
public debate needs to take place. Open discussions on issues such
as the “sexualization” of women, the root causes of prostitution and
the effects of a patriarchal society and make visible the men who
procure or attempt to procure sexual services (as the typical buyer
does not come from the marginalized sector of society).
·
Programs for exiting from prostitution need to be developed.
·
Educate the enforcers, i.e., the police and the prosecutors.
As a conclusion,
the first step to eradicate prostitution is to turn the tide and
make it a crime only to buy sexual services. Quit punishing
the women – the victims – and focus on the demand of such services
extrapolating that the demand causes the supply. The only way the US
can say that it is a democracy is when all the people are equal and
as long as women are bought and sold as commodities gender equality
will not be achieved. The conference to take place in Chicago on
October 16-17, 2003, entitled: “Demand Dynamics: The Forces of
Demand in Global Sex Trafficking”, co-sponsored by DePaul
University's International Human Rights Law Institute and Los
Angeles anti-sex-trafficking organization Captive Daughters, is an
important initiative to create public awareness in the United States
to the root cause of prostitution.
Lisa
A. Howard is an American criminologist living in Stockholm, Sweden
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