Greater efforts to combat trafficking and prostitution has been one of the main themes of the Nordic Council meeting in Stockholm 25- 26 April. The Citizens and Consumer Rights Committee passed a motion calling on Nordic political meetings to be held in hotels that explicitly reject prostitution.

The Citizens and Consumer Rights Committee proposes that the Nordic Council adopts internal guidelines about only using hotels that issue a guarantee they do not help aid and abet the sale of sexual services. Under the terms of the proposal, hotel staff would be issued with written instructions to that effect.

The Nordic Council recommends to the Nordic Council of Ministers:

- that it only uses hotels that issue a guarantee stipulating that they do not help aid and abet the sale of sexual services and that their staff have been issued with written guidelines to that effect.

- that it sets up a website with a positive list, registering in a legal manner those hotels that issue such guarantees and agree to have their names published on the website. The website should cover the Nordic Region and neighbouring countries where Nordic organisations are active.

Unanimous agreement could not reached about the final point, however, and two of the members voted against this part of the statement.