Spreadin' Love 459

Kristof writes about Sweden's method for cracking down on sex trafficking.

Sweden offers us not only the summer’s top beach paperbacks, but also a useful strategy for dealing with trafficking. The Swedish model, adopted in 1999, is to prosecute the men who purchase sex, while treating the women who sell it as victims who merit social services.

Prosecution of johns has reduced demand for prostitution in Sweden, which in turn reduces market prices. That reduces the incentives for trafficking into Sweden, and the number of prostitutes seems to have declined there. A growing number of countries are concluding that the Swedish model works better than any other, and it would be wise for American states to experiment with it as well. It’s not a panacea, but cracking down on demand seems a useful way to chip away at 21st-century slavery.

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Comments

[Nicholas Beaudrot]

Brad Plumer found an article on the Swedish model a while back, and while it does reduce prostitution and trafficking, it results in a much, much worse situation for the remaining women who do want to be prostitutes/can't find other means of supporting themselves. The few johns who are willing to risk arrest tend to also be more interested in riskier behavior.

Personally I think a focus on the less savory forms of prostitution, and the industry's side effects -- street walking, violence against women, etc., might be a better idea.

[laura]

Thanks, Nicholas, for filling us in on the problems with the Swedish model. This is a topic that I want to track.