Denmark Considers Prostitution Ban

categories: Government & Legal Efforts on Human Trafficking, Human Trafficking in Europe and the Middle East, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution, Trafficking in Women

Published September 22, 2009 @ 02:00PM PT

Denmark may be soon joining European neighbor the Netherlands in the growing club of countries who once thought laissez-faire legalized prostitution was a good idea, but are now changing their minds. The Social Democrat party has proposed instituting a full to partial ban on prostitution to prevent the country from becoming "a haven for the sex trade."

Prostitution has been legal in Denmark since 1999 and was actually legalized by the same party which is now trying to ban it. I know here in the U.S. the concept of a political party objectively evaluating the effectiveness of a policy and then changing that policy when they see a better alternative is incredibly foreign, but here is proof it can happen. The change has come after some Danish leaders noticed that they were the only country in their part of Europe with such free-for-all open prostitution allowed. Hmmm, they wondered, could this be drawing criminals, pimps, and traffickers to Denmark to take advantage of the lax laws? If the Netherlands is any sort of predictor, it sure could. Pimping and brothel ownership have never been legal in Denmark, but where there are legal commercial sex markets there are often illegal ones that follow. And like all countries with legalized prostitution, Denmark has had its share of trafficking victims.

The proposed legislation is "in line with legislation in Norway and Sweden," which I understand to mean it focuses on criminalizing the act of buying prostitution and pimping, as opposed to the act of selling sex. The goal of this style of legislation is to remove the onus of prostitution from women, where it usually falls, and place it on men, who have the social and economic power in prostitution transactions. The effectiveness of this sort of law is still a little up in the air since it's so new, but proponents claim the law reduces the exploitative parts of the commercial sex industry without throwing women in jail.

Despite increased popular support for the bill, the Danish people are not buying it just yet; only about 26% support the measure. The Social Democrat party has an uphill battle to convince the rest of Denmark that the prostitution ban could prevent their country from becoming a major destination for women in the sex trade, both forced and voluntarily, from all over the world. Of course, the pro-legalization contingent has pulled out the same arguments as usual, claiming that banning prostitution (even the Swedish model which doesn't criminalize the act for women) will drive the trade underground and into the hands of criminals. That would be a more compelling argument if such large portions of the commercial sex industry were not already controlled by criminals, even in places where prostitution is legal.

As countries like South Africa consider legalizing prostitution for the first time, we should note that the Netherlands and now Denmark who have both had legalized prostitution for over a decade are seriously rethinking their policies. There is a valuable lesson to learn from the Dutch and the Danes: a prostitution free-for-all may sound like a good idea, but it's not.

Photo credit: Ange Soleil

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Comments (8)

The people of Denmark don't support the bill because it would be like giving a bank to criminals and traffickers. They may turn up where the laws are lax, but they make fortunes where prostitution is criminalized. Then they have a monopoly of the market. Bans are a serious gift card to traffickers.

Posted by Rev Bookburn on 09/22/2009 @ 06:04PM PT
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I absolutely agree Rev. Bookburn. The sooner people begin to realize that every word you said is absolutely true and put aside their personal feelings about it, the sooner we can begin to help trafficked women and thereby end the cruel reign of the trafficker or at least put a serious dent in it. Keeping consensual prostitution Illegal is obviously not working.

Posted by Mike Nichols on 09/22/2009 @ 10:22PM PT
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Banning prostitution doesn't necessarily mean human trafficking is going to end or even minimalize. Furthermore, banning it will only victimize those woman more. If those trafficked women are caught, they have no papers, no standing as a citizen or a legal person of any country, then they are considered to be "illegally" in the country which only criminalizes them. So adding insult to injury, where is the justice for women? Traffickers are hardly ever caught.

Posted by Rehtse Uk on 09/23/2009 @ 12:03PM PT
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Instead of trying to have it both ways...Just make prostitution legal and regulated by the goverment while making any unregistered brothels illegal.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 09/23/2009 @ 07:41PM PT
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At least they're thinking about it the right way, which is to criminalize the men who buy and not the women who sell. This issue is about demand, demand, demand, people. If you give guys a good reason to think twice (real jail time, public humiliation) you will cut demand and that will make the criminals turn somewhere else for their buck.

Posted by Slim Chance on 09/24/2009 @ 04:23AM PT
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I think Denmark is doing the right thing in trying to ban prostitution, but I have a question about the Swedish model which I have asked a few times and have not been given an answer. If the issue is demand, and it is only the "buyer" that is punished, then would the same logic follow in the sale of drugs, guns, stolen property, etc? It doesn't make much sense to me. It basically gives the "seller" free license to promote their trade without fear of culpabiliy, and their will most likely be men that are willing to take the risk of buying sex anyway. This said, a victim of trafficking should NEVER be held accountable, but a "seller" of an illegal trade or good should face the same penalties as the buyer as long as they are doing it with full intent.

Posted by Dennis G. on 09/24/2009 @ 09:34AM PT
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Dennis,

The Swedish model is not as much about demand as many think. The Swedish prostitution laws need to be viewed in the larger context of Sweden's drive for equal rights for women. As part of the equal rights argument it was argued in Sweden that purchasing a woman was violating her rights but that you could only arrest the man and not the woman for this.

I know the "Swedish Model" is not often described this way in the US, but this is the way the Swedish explain it themselves, and I am pretty much quoting how their Ambassador describes it. When they passed the law, they did not know if it would have impact on demand (or supply) but that was only secondary to their view of womens rights.

John Berger

http://www.madebysurvivors.com/

Posted by John Berger on 09/24/2009 @ 12:57PM PT
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John, thanks so much for the response. It always seemed like it was a women's rights issue being misrepresented as a trafficking or legalization issue. Thanks for being truthful about the motivation behind the Swedish model. Maybe we can now find an approach that is actually effective in the fight against trafficking.

Posted by Dennis G. on 09/24/2009 @ 08:52PM PT
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Amanda has been a full-time abolitionist for six years. During that time, she has created reports, documentaries and training materials on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.