Prostitution in Sweden

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The prostitution in Sweden is no longer legally since 1998, the Free subject to prosecutions.

history

Liberalization from the 1950s

As a result of the liberalization of the censorship laws began in the 1950s with films such as You danced only one summer or Ingmar Bergman's Die Zeit mit Monika a public representation of nudity and sexuality. The presentation was connected with a criticism of the rigid bourgeois sexual-moral ideas. This should be countered with a free, informal and supposedly natural sexuality as an alternative. With the media development of the 1960s and 1970s, Swedish sex films with slang terms such as “Swedish sin” or “Swedish porn” became a genre in their own right. The original iconography was strongly based on nature and the supposedly "naturally beautiful". In the depiction, the sexual activities of blond, white-skinned people in unspoiled nature predominated. The staging of the body also tried hard to be natural and, based on nudism, it made use of athletic and sporty body ideals.

Against the background of the sexual-liberal development, Sten Sjöholm from the liberal Progress Party proposed the introduction of state-controlled brothels at the beginning of the 1970s . He argued that the “sex-liberal wave” of the 1960s had led to greater acceptance of prostitution establishments (literally “sex clubs”), but that the situation of prostitutes had hardly improved. Sjöholm's proposals led to protests and his party comrades distanced themselves from his initiative. They argued that “prostitution is harmful to the individual from both a socio-medical and humanitarian point of view” and “a society that is shaped by an active interest in the well-being of every individual citizen cannot omit the humiliating thing in Swedish The Riksdagen Social Committee stated in 1972 in its response to Sjöholm's proposal that “the establishment of brothels operated or endorsed by society would mean that society actively contributes to people be used for an activity which experience has shown often leads to serious psychological damage and lifelong social adjustment difficulties. "

Helena Streijffert from the Institute for Sociology at the University of Gothenburg criticized the liberal principle of autonomy as early as 1972, referring to John Stuart Mill's concept of freedom , because it created “an ideological space for exploitation”. Applied to prostitutes, according to Streijffert, the principle of autonomy means that “their occupation must be tolerated, even if it contradicts the common morals of many camps and is even viewed as sick and abnormal.” Prostitutes are therefore a powerless group with a low status and particularly sensitive to them Exclusion mechanisms of society, and not to be tolerated. According to Streijffert, “to tolerate the marginalized” therefore means “to accept the superior power to which they are exposed”.

In 1977 the Swedish Prostitution Committee rejected the punishment for offering or generally buying sexual services.

Swedish model from 1998

On July 1, 1998, the “Women's Peace” (old Swedish “Kvinnofrid”) package of laws to protect women came into force in Sweden . As part of the legal reform, sex buying was criminalized in the area of prostitution . That means customers are penalized for buying sex; the prostitutes remain unpunished. According to the Swedish Criminal Code (Brottsbalk), chap. 6 Sexual offenses (Om sexualbrott) § 11 applies: "A person who otherwise has a temporary sexual relationship in exchange for payment will be sentenced to a fine or imprisonment for a maximum of one year for the purchase of sexual services." The attempt is made according to Chapter 23 Penal Code.

Prostitution was defined in Sweden as violence against women. A later government publication stated: "The Swedish government and parliament, through the introduction of the law on the protection of women, defined prostitution as male violence against women and children."

Prostitution was seen as a forced or gender-based act of violence and a serious social problem. The criminal offense is “the gross violation of the integrity of a woman”. Behind this was the basic assumption that prostitution cannot be voluntary. This is an important prerequisite for understanding the development in Sweden, which has been enforced even though, for example, the national health authority questioned in hearings, the national police authority, the Ministry of Justice, the prosecutor's office and other representatives of the judiciary opposed the criminalization of customers. Prostitution was seen as a social problem that should be eliminated. Under prostitution, both the employment and were forced prostitution and human trafficking , the child prostitution and procuring prostitution subsumed. No differences were made between these areas.

Sweden integrated the legislation on prostitution into a package of laws against violence against women and, unlike other European countries, opted for gender-specific legislation to combat violence. The mistreatment, rape and sexual harassment of women became part of this legislative package, which became known as “Peace of Women”, as did the purchase of sexual services. The new legal norm of the breach of the peace of women was formed according to the terms of the house and land breach. It was seen as necessary, for example, to facilitate the prosecution of persistent domestic violence.

According to official figures from the national Swedish health authorities, there were around 2500 prostitutes working in Sweden at the time the law was changed.

From January 1999 to January 2002 there were 249 criminal charges under the new law. Fines were issued 26 times and court hearings were held in 33 cases, all of which resulted in small fines. The remaining 190 proceedings were closed. In no case was a prison sentence pronounced. In 2005, the law enforcement authorities began using complex and systematic search methods, including house searches, to take action against clients. In 2005 this led to a record number of 460 preliminary investigations and 94 convictions (48 in oral proceedings, 46 in written administrative proceedings). 366 proceedings had to be closed due to a lack of evidence.

criticism

In Sweden, however, the 1998 legislation has also been criticized. According to a study from 2004, prostitution had ostensibly disappeared from the streets and pushed underground, so that the situation for women had deteriorated significantly. The establishment of contact has shifted to the Internet and in pubs where telephone numbers are distributed discreetly. In practice, the police apparently treat women less as victims who need to be rescued from their customers, than as confessors of crimes; so they can no longer seek help when they encounter violence and danger. The social workers have problems reaching the prostitutes. They are now forced to seek out pimps for their protection. In random samples, only a fraction of the women in question stated that they had protected themselves from HIV with condoms the last time they had sex , as they are afraid of losing these customers too. Quite a few Swedish men also traveled to the neighboring Baltic states as sex tourists .

An EU study published in August 2005 stated that in Sweden the number of sexually exploited people indoors rose by almost 15% within two years with the introduction of the law; In 2000, 80% of prostitutes were sexually exploited indoors.

In April 2006, the Swedish commissioner for equality between men and women, Claes Borgström, called on the Swedish national soccer team to boycott the 2006 World Cup in Germany , as the German state is constantly violating human rights by legalizing prostitution.

In November 2013 the Swedish government decided to have the situation of prostitution in Sweden re-examined and assessed. Gender equality minister Maria Arnholm suspected that human trafficking had risen sharply despite Swedish legislation.

Comparison of Sweden and Germany

The amendment of the prostitution legislation in Sweden in 1998 - prohibition of the purchase of sexual services - and in Germany in 2002 - abolition of immorality  - took place almost simultaneously. With the two amendments to the law, there are “two diametrically opposed ways of dealing with prostitution”.

While in Sweden the purchase of sexual services, the support of prostitution, for example through renting or the use of the income earned through sex work, e.g. B. is punishable by joint housekeeping, the German amendment enables enforceability of income and the right to participate in unemployment insurance , health and pension systems . The previous regulation of the promotion of prostitution was repealed and the term sexual exploitation was coined. According to § 230b BGB, the operation of brothels is only forbidden "if prostitutes are kept in personal or economic dependencies and are thus exploited".

While the adoption of the Prostitution Act was celebrated in the Bundestag “as a blow against double standards and for the rights of prostitutes”, the Swedish Minister for Equality, Margareta Winberg, was very well received in the Swedish Parliament when she expressed her strong disapproval of the German Prostitution Act and said that “ contradicts gender equality […] and humanity ”. Winberg continued: "A society that recognizes prostitution as a profession or industry is a cynical society that has given up the fight for the most vulnerable and vulnerable women and children."

Both the Swedish and German Prostitution Acts were initiatives by the Greens , Social Democrats and Leftists. Both laws were feminist- motivated and were supposed to improve the situation of prostitutes. However, while in Sweden the prostitution is "to buy women" as a right of men, interpreted and this "the personal rights of women offends and equality prevented," prevailed in Germany the view that the unequal treatment of prostitutes compared to other professions is a form of discrimination and an example of the oppression of women in society.

These different interpretations of prostitution and the different prostitution legislation based on it refer to the different understandings of the relationship between the state and society with its individuals. While the Swedish prostitution legislation "appeals to the state to exercise its function as a norm-maker, to educate society and to put an end to prostitution, in Germany there is resistance against a state that has long defined prostitution as immoral and discriminated against prostitutes."

The Swedish political scientist Bo Rothstein attributes the contradicting prostitution legislation in Sweden and Germany to the differing views on the relationship between the state and its individuals. The Swedish welfare state follows communitarianism , according to which the state stands for collective moral principles and decides which life plans are worth striving for and whether a person's preferences are legitimate. The Swedish sex purchase ban was therefore primarily enacted with the aim of having a normative function. Accordingly, the Social Democrat Margareta Persson justifies the legal prohibition of prostitution with the fact that "... we, those elected by the people, have to declare to society that we do not accept this gender trafficking."

On the occasion of the 1998 “Women's Peace” (Kvinnofrid) expert opinion, which is central to the legislative process , and which treats prostitution alongside rape and sexual assault and interprets it as a possibility for men to buy and sell women, the Swedish Left Party affirmed that the ban on buying sex meant prostitution should neither be abolished nor contained. It is also not decisive how many sex offenders are convicted, rather the Swedish Prostitution Act should make it clear that "in an equal society one cannot accept that men buy women for money".

In accordance with the principle of communitarianism , the prohibition of buying sex was introduced with the assumption that “there are known, common norms and values ​​and people who do not live in accordance with these values ​​must be convinced of the correctness of these values”. Accordingly, there is also a “clear picture of what a decent life should look like”, and prostitution is “incompatible with the well-being of every individual citizen”.

If, on the other hand, the welfare state follows the principle of autonomy , Bo Rothstein continues, it accepts that people have different conceptions of what a good and right life is and is neutral towards the life plans of its citizens, as long as the life projects of others are not impaired. The tasks of the state are therefore limited to creating the conditions that enable individuals to choose what they themselves perceive to be a morally correct way of life. The welfare state recognizes that the individual needs access to resources and freedom in order to be able to live his life according to his own values ​​and tries to guarantee this requirement.

On the basis of a comparative analysis of the prostitution debates in Germany and Sweden, the historian Susanne Dodillet from the University of Gothenburg comes to the conclusion that “it is difficult to find a common European line for prostitution policy”, because “Swedish politicians who support one Fighting the criminalization of customers can hardly work with the German left, as their understanding of the state and the individual is fundamentally different. "

Cooperation with conservative German parties that advocate a ban on prostitution is also problematic, according to Dodillet, because "the structuralist perspective on the balance of power between the sexes, the most important foundation of the Swedish sex purchase ban, is not shared by the German Christian Democrats."

See also

literature

  • Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation. In: From politics and contemporary history :, 63, 9/2013, Prostitution , 25 February 2013. Supplement to the weekly newspaper Das Parlament. Ed .: Federal Agency for Civic Education , ISSN  0479-611X .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sten Sjöholm: Motion. No. 59 of January 11, 1972; another motion. No. 27 of January 10, 1973. Quoted from: Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation, p. 30.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation , p. 30.
  3. ↑ Socialutskottet, Betänkande i anledning av om motioner bordellverksamhet mm In: SoU 1972, No. 36 6 of 7 November 1972, p Cited by Susanne Dodillet. Germany-Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation. P. 31.
  4. ↑ Helena Streijffert: Den prostituerade är förloraren i en konkurrans. In: Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning of January 25, 1972. Quoted from: Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation , p. 32.
  5. ↑ a b The legal regulation of prostitution in Sweden and its effects. ( online ( memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmfsfj.de
  6. ↑ Chapter 6, Section 11 of the Swedish Criminal Code (Brottsbalk) reads: “Den som, i annat fall än som avses förut i detta chapter, skaffar sig en tillfeilen sexuell förbindelse mot ersättning, döms för köp av sexuell tjänst till böter eller fängelse i Högst år . "
  7. ↑ LAG (1998: 408) om förbud mot köp av sexuella tjänster. Quoted from: Cornelia Helfferich: Investigation: Effects of the Prostitution Act. Social Science Research Institute for Women, Freiburg. Berlin / Freiburg 2005. Study "Effects of the Prostitution Act". ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmfsfj.de archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 238. Retrieved from the website of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth.
  8. ^ Report 2004: Purchasing Sexual Services in Sweden and the Netherlands. Legal Regulation and Experiences. An abbreviated English version. A report by a Working Group on the legal regulation of sexual services, Ministry od Justice and the Police, Oslo, Norway. P. 45. Quoted from: Cornelia Helfferich: Investigation: Effects of the Prostitution Act. Social Science Research Institute for Women, Freiburg. Berlin and Freiburg 2005. Study “Effects of the Prostitution Act”. ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmfsfj.de archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 238. Retrieved from the website of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth.
  9. ↑ Cornelia Helfferich: Investigation: Effects of the Prostitution Act. Social Science Research Institute for Women, Freiburg. Berlin and Freiburg 2005. Study “Effects of the Prostitution Act”. ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmfsfj.de archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 238. Retrieved from the website of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth.
  10. ↑ LAG (1998: 408) om förbud mot köp av sexuella tjänster. Quoted from: Cornelia Helfferich: Investigation: Effects of the Prostitution Act. Social Science Research Institute for Women, Freiburg. Berlin and Freiburg 2005. Study “Effects of the Prostitution Act”. ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmfsfj.de archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 240. Retrieved from the website of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth.
  11. ↑ donacarmen.de .
  12. ↑ Sweden's suitors . In: Die Zeit , No. 40/2006
  13. ↑ missy-magazine.de
  14. ↑ kok-buero.de (PDF)
  15. ↑ a b More and more human trafficking? Government re-investigates prostitution. In: Radio Sweden , November 26, 2013 ( sverigesradio.se )
  16. ↑ Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation , p. 29. See #Literature .
  17. ↑ Margareta Winberg, in: Protokoll 2000/01, No. 67 of February 15, 2001 ( online - last accessed on: August 1, 2014). Quoted from: Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation , p. 30.
  18. ↑ Margareta Persson, in: Protokoll 1985/86 No. 131 of April 29, 1986 ( riksdagen.se ), accessed on August 1, 2014. Quoted from Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation , p. 31 .
  19. ↑ Inger Segelström, in: Protokoll 1997/98, No. 114 of May 28, 1998 ( riksdagen.se ). Last accessed on August 1, 2014. Quoted from Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation , p. 32.
  20. ↑ a b Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation , p. 32.
  21. ↑ Susanne Dodillet: Germany – Sweden: Different ideological backgrounds in prostitution legislation . P. 34.