WUNRN
NORWAY - DANGEROUS LIAISONS REPORT
ON VIOLENCE EXPOSURE OF WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION IN OSLO
Direct Link to Full 53-Page Report:
This report was written on commission by the municipality of Oslo and with support by the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety.
The report looks at the “Nordic/Swedish Model” in relation to the sex industry. This model originated in Sweden which among other things made it illegal to buy sexual services, pimping, procuring, living off the earnings of a sex worker – operating a brothel is also illegal.
Essentially the Swedish Model was first enacted in 1999 in Sweden and criminalises the purchase of sex but not the selling of sex. Since 1999 however, Norway and Iceland have introduced similar legislation and many other countries around the world are looking to move to the same model.
This report looks at the consequences of the “Nordic/Swedish model” and is a great piece of research to refute benefits of criminalising clients, brothels etc.
The main findings of the report
• 59% of the participants in the investigation from 2012 said they had been the exposed to violence in prostitution after the sex purchase law was introduced.
• The violent offender in most cases is an unfamiliar, male client.
• Many of the women reported that they have been the victims of extreme violence in the last 3 years. Among the 123 participants in the investigation 25 say that they have been raped / threatened into having sex, 24 had been threatened with weapons, 17 said they had been robbed/attempted robbed and 11 had been the targets of attempted murder.
• The numbers can only be interpreted one way: women who sell sex in Oslo is a group where many have been exposed to extreme violence in the last 3 years. A frequency of extreme violence this high is seldom seen among such a small group in Oslo.
• The terms under which sex work is conducted has changed for a large share of the women who provide sexual services. The market is characterized by increased judicialization which means that sex workers are more controlled by the government and therefore perceive themselves to have been increasingly criminalized.
• The women rarely talk about their experiences with violence and few seek help from support services after they are exposed to violence.
• Harassment and discrimination of women in prostitution from society at large has increased.
• Some of the survival strategies sex workers mentioned in 2007/08 have been difficult to maintain subsequent to the passing of the sex purchase ban due to large changes in the prostitution market. The difficulties in employing these strategies are tied to an increased judicialization, a reduction in available customers and changes to the terms under which the women sell sex.