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But the law against buying sex is at least making miserablists feel better
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 | 19th August 2014
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| 12th August 2014. See article from
firstpost.com
See Norway Publishes First
Evaluation of the Ban on the Purchase of Sex from nswp.org |
Norway's ban on buying sex has reduced demand for prostitution and has not increased violence against women, as some had feared, a study commissioned by the government said. Norway criminalised buying sex in 2009, but critics said the law would push
prostitution underground, making women more vulnerable and increasing the likelihood of violence against them. The report based on six months of research says: Street prostitution in Oslo, the country's
biggest city, is down between 35-60% from before the ban, while the indoor market has shrunk by 10-20%. This report does not find any evidence of more violence against prostitutes after the ban on buying sex entered into force.
The enforcement of the law, in combination with the laws against trafficking and pimping, makes Norway a less attractive country for prostitution-based trafficking than what would have been the case if the law had not been
adopted.
However, the lower demand has resulted in lower prices, a problem for prostitutes who often come from poor countries and have few other options to earn a living. Norway's ruling parties have favoured relaxing the law,
but said any proposal to change it would be dependent on this study, which would form the backbone of the government's planned white paper, a precursor to any change in the legislation. Comment: Censored whilst claiming to
be uncensored 19th August 2014. See article from
nswp.org
The Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) has published a statement in response to the recent release of a report by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security following an evaluation of the ban of the purchase of sex
which came into force in 2009 in Norway. The report has been heavily criticised by various sex worker rights groups for its poor quality and contradictory claims and findings presented throughout the report's 168 pages.
The report claims that a number of outcomes identified by researchers are positive (in terms of the stated objective of eliminating sex work) when in fact these outcomes affect the working conditions and incomes of sex workers
negatively to an unacceptable degree. Some findings of the report include:
- reduced power for sex workers and more favourable market conditions for clients - sex workers negotiating position has been weakened due to clients' fear of arrest resulting in fewer clients and lower prices. These factors
compound to reduce sex workers' incomes and their agency and autonomy with regards their choice of occupation;
- more police surveillance as police need to find clients who are committing the illegal part of the
transaction - sex workers have routinely reported increased police surveillance and harassment (although not considered in this report) in Norway;
- displacing sex workers from their homes and other places where they
work. The police do 'education' of landlords and hospitality managers to allow them to recognise potential sex workers and to evict suspected sex workers summarily from their homes or other rented accommodation;
- the
violence that sex workers are vulnerable to is reported as something that comes with the territory, and according to the authors sex workers are weary to report as it may come back to haunt them (due to the stigma attached to being a sex worker affecting
someone's chances of 'improving their life and situation'). That this is reported in such a tone is heavily problematic and should be of concern to human rights advocates everywhere. It effectively condones violence committed against sex workers as
sex workers are involved in an activity that is condemned by the state.
NSWP member, SWOP-NYC said the following about the report: The most disturbing parts of the findings were the many noted increases in vulnerability, while acknowledging the on-going
need for resources and services. The findings openly state that "there is a need for providing more options for people that want to get out of prostitution. Language classes, work training and work options are considered to have clear positive
effects and there is a need for more of such initiatives." But despite this need for more options the study points out that for those in the sex trade, life is harder.
Pye Jakobsson, President of NSWP
said: This report shows the responsibility the police has in terms of the impact of their tactics and policing of the ban. Sex workers face tougher conditions in that outdoor sex work environments have
become less favourable; sex workers are more reluctant to report crimes of violence to the police, sex workers' income is reduced due to sex workers now having weaker negotiating power as clients are nervous, want to leave faster, and there are fewer
clients. Indoor sex work has also become more difficult as working together for safety is not an option due to third party laws; also distressing is the fact that sex workers working indoors are constantly in danger of being evicted from the premises
they are working in due to police 'educating' landlords and hotel managers on how to recognise sex workers and to evict them."
NSWP's statement strongly condemns this report published by the Norwegian
Ministry of Justice and Public Security as it fails to recognise the grave violations to Norwegian sex workers' human rights that are taking place with state impunity under the current model that bans the purchase of sex. The statement further urges the
Norwegian Government to listen to the experiences of sex workers and acknowledge that the criminalisation of the purchase of sex in Norway is resulting in health and human rights violations of sex workers. |
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Campaigners seek to decriminalise buying sex as it endangers sex workers
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6th October 2013
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| See article from
independent.co.uk
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Hege Grostad is a university student, sex worker,and lobbyist. She is at the heart of a grassroots campaign to decriminalise and regulate the sex industry. It is a campaign being fought within Norway's well-developed welfare state, not over
the morality of prostitution, but over sex workers' rights to pensions and health and safety protection. The most vocal proponents of change are a group of women who claim they chose this career for themselves. Selling sex is not illegal in Norway
but, since 2009, buying it has been. The industry has become progressively criminalised, with police operations aimed at those who knowingly rent property to sex workers. Ase Michaelsen, MP for the Progress Party and a member of the Parliamentary
Justice Committee, wants to decriminalise the buying of sex: As the law might look nice on paper, but in reality it hasn't worked. If you have problems with violent customers, you're not motivated to call the police
... because you might risk that they will attempt to sabotage your business
The criminalisation of purchasing sex in Norway has hardly affected the number of buyers, according to reports from Prosentret, an organisation that provides
help and advice to sex workers. Its director, Bjorg Norli, believes that criminalising the sex industry has had a directly negative consequence on many of those who sell sex.
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Norway is preparing a law to ban internet advertising for sexual services
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22nd July 2013
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| See article from
tnp.no
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The Norwegian 'Justice' Ministry is preparing to ban all forms of advertising of sexual services on websites. The ministry is working on the censorship law with the aim to promote a bill to the Parliament in the autumn. Police inspector
Vegard Munthe Ommdal claimed on TV2: We primarily want to prevent human trafficking and pimping. And online advertising is a very important part of the business,
Ommdal thinks advertising on the
internet must be seen as promoting someone else's prostitution.
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Norwegian study suggests that banning prostitution is fuelling trafficking
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| 13th
August 2012
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| See article from
thelocal.no
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The 2009 law criminalizing the purchase of sexual services in Norway has led to prostitutes being more dependent on pimps and encourages human trafficking, according to a new research study. Prior to the 2009 Sex Purchase Act, Norway had one of
Europe's smallest and least organized markets for prostitution. Women came voluntarily, rented apartments and sold sex from there - without the interference from any pimp. The introduction of the law has made this process more complicated,
according to a report in the Stavanger Aftenblad daily. The women are very vulnerable towards the police and to a greater extent on the network and support that pimps can offer, said Guri Tyldum, a researcher at trades union backed Fafo to
Aftenbladet. Tyldum furthermore believes that the criminalization of prostitution has made it more attractive to traffickers. She said: The criminalization intended to demonstrate that prostitution is not wanted
in Norway. The risk is that the most dangerous and serious form of prostitution that remains.
Norway's Ministry of Justice has announced an evaluation of the sex purchase act.
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27th October
2009 | |
| Prostitution returns to Norway's streets despite a ban on buying sex
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From norwaypost.no |
The number of foreign prostitutes on Oslo streets is nearly back to what it was before the ban on the purchase of sex services was introduced last year, public broadcaster NRK reports. Figures compiled by the Oslo Pro Centre shows that the number
of prostitutes on Oslo streets is again at the level of two years ago. It is now nearly one year since the ban on the purchase of sexual services was put into effect. Leader of the Centre, Liv Jessen, says to NRK that she is surprised at the
number, and the fact that so many are from Nigeria. The Pro Centre (Pro Sentret) is a Norwegian national resource centre on all matters related to prostitution and a health and social service centre for women and men in prostitution. Founded in
1983 and financed by the Municipality of Oslo and the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the Pro Centre is run by the Municipality of Oslo.
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13th July
2009 | | |
Norway's repression of sex workers not keeping girls off the streets
| Based on
article from icenews.is
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After sweeping the streets of Norway's capital Oslo clear of prostitutes last year, city police were a bit shocked to discover that the girls are back and their numbers are just as high as they were before the removal effort. Norway passed a ban
on the purchase of sex services in 2008. But the Aftenposten newspaper reports that the number of sex workers on the capital's streets is almost back to its pre-ban levels. Local police were surprised by the finding, but promised a quick reaction.
Oslo's Chief Inspector Oeyvind Norgarden told the Aftenposten The number is surprisingly high, and the customers must be caught. The police chief promises to increase the frequency of patrols along the city streets, even throughout the night.
One aim is to catch the customers red-handed in the illegal act.
Norgarden also claims his police will check out every prostitute they run across and check if their residence papers are correct. Most of Oslo's streetwalkers come from Eastern
Europe and Nigeria, according to the police. If they are found to be living in Norway illegally they can be deported.
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10th February
2009 | |
| Sex workers suffer predictably loss of trade
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A Norwegian law against paying for sex has made a real dent in street prostitution, and for the few sex workers that remain, times are tough.
Since January 1, men caught buying sex face up to six months in jail and in some cases a fine. The
impact of the law has been immediate, with most sex workers disappearing from the streets at once.
The clients are extremely nervous. Most of them don't dare come here, said Nadia, a 22-year-old from Oslo. On a recent nighttime visit to
the centre of the Norwegian capital, only three prostitutes walked the snowy streets, in an area where there previously would have been women at every corner.
Before, you would work until you made 4,000-5,000 kroner (600 to 750 dollars, 450 to
560 euros). Now you have to work all night and you earn only about 1,000-1,500 kroner, Nadia told AFP as police patrols cruise by every few minutes.
The men are afraid to drive by, so they walk up to us, tell us 'my car is parked around
the corner, meet me there', said Michelle, 25, also from Oslo: Before we would go down to the harbour and be back in 15 minutes. Now they drive us out of town, where there is no one, and we're back one hour later .
At least 23 men have
been arrested since the law came into force. Of these, 20 accepted an on-the-spot fine of between 8,000 kroner (1,195 dollars, 898 euros) and 9,000 kroner. Three have refused to pay and will go to court.
The law also affects Norwegians who buy
sex abroad, but as yet no one has been arrested for the crime.
There is as yet no official figure showing whether the law has had a real impact on demand or whether street prostitutes have shifted to the indoor scene.
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3rd December
2008 | |
| Paying for sex, home and abroad, illegal from January 1st 2009
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Based on article from balita.ph
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Norway's Parliament voted for changes in the legislation on prostitution, in effect criminalizing the purchase of sexual activity or a sexual act, the Ministry of Injustice and Police have announced.
Under the revised General Civil Penal Code
202a unanimously approved in November, any person (who) engages in or aids and abets another person to engage in sexual activity or commit a sexual act on making or agreeing payment shall be liable to fines or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six
months or both.
At the same time, any person (who) engages in sexual activity or a sexual act on such payment being agreed or made by another person, or in the manner previously described causes someone to carry out with herself or himself acts
corresponding to sexual activity is also meted the same penalty.
If the sexual activity or sexual act is carried out in a particularly offensive manner and no penalty may be imposed pursuant to other provisions, the penalty shall be imprisonment
for a term not exceeding one year.
Section 202a is expected to be implemented on January 1, 2009 and will be also applicable to acts committed abroad by any Norwegian national. The provision applies to any person, regardless of citizenship,
living in Norway.
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22nd November
2008 | | | Norway pass law criminalising paying for sex
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From inspiremagazine.org.uk
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Last night the Norwegian Parliament voted in favour of making payment for sexual acts a criminal offence supposedly in order to protect vulnerable women and children. The law passed with 44 votes in favour and 28 against and will come into effect on 1
January 2009.
The legislation – inspired by neighbouring Sweden which criminalised the purchasing of sex in 1999 – is actually rather more robust than that of its next door neighbour, setting a new pace for prostitution law reform.
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