WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3344

 

Norway Makes It a Criminal Offence

to Pay for Sex

 

21 November 2008.
By: Judy West.

The Norwegian Parliament has voted in favour of making payment for sexual acts a criminal offence 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 January 1, 2009.

 

Norway makes it a criminal offence to pay for sex

 

The legislation -- inspired by the success of 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.

Designed to reduce trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation in Norway, the legislation is welcomed by many Norwegian NGOs. Maya Brenna Nielxem, of Norwegian NGO ROSA project says “We strongly support this law as it is of ultimate importance that society makes a statement to the trafficking victims that we do not condone the sale and rape of them. We hope that this will reduce the levels of trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation in Norway. “

Norway is a country of destination for trafficking in women and children. The majority of trafficking victims come from or through the Baltic states, other Central and Eastern European countries, and Russia, as well as from Latin America and Thailand. Recently Norwegian Government authorities have expressed their awareness of the growing problem of trafficking into the country. This week the UK Home Office announced changes to British prostitution law, introducing the offence of paying for sex with someone who is controlled for gain along with giving new powers to police to close down premises where sexual exploitation is taking place.

Nola Leach, the chief executive of British campaigning group CARE said: “We are encouraged that the Government is tackling the demand for trafficking and prostitution. Although this is a positive step forward we are concerned that anything less than a blanket ban on payment for sex (as in Norway) will not go far enough to protect vulnerable people”.





================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.