Abstract
Introduction
Swedish statecraft is increasingly utilizing domestic state feminist policy as a means of promoting humanitarian ideals transnationally. One policy that has been promoted by the Swedish government is Sexköpslagen, a first-of-its-kind legal framework that criminalizes the purchase of sex while not criminalizing its sale. As the Swedish government works to export the law transnationally, sex workers in Sweden are critical of the implications of the law on their ability to engage with institutions.
Methods
Drawing on a diverse set of secondary source materials published between 2004 and 2020, this article identifies and explores two epistemic mechanisms that contribute to the further marginalization of Swedish sex workers: the distortion of institutional empiricism and the willful ignorance of critical sex worker perspectives.
Results
The epistemic moves by the Swedish state allow for it to position itself as a humanitarian state in contradiction with sex worker narratives.
Conclusions
This article argues that these epistemic moves enable the Swedish state to further its moral image as a good state in international affairs while sex workers are pushed further to the margins.
Policy Implications
Researchers and activists should attend to the nuanced ways in which moral politics factor into the framing and enactment of feminist policies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of Data and Material
Not applicable.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
References
Aggestam, K., & Bergman Rosamond, A. (2019). Re-politicising the gender-security nexus: Sweden’s feminist foreign policy. Special Issue: THe Politicisation of Security: Controversy, Mobilisation, Arena Shifting, 3, 30–48. https://doi.org/10.3224/eris.v5i3.02
Agius, C. (2012). The social construction of Swedish neutrality: Challenges to Swedish identity and sovereignty. Manchester University Press.
Ahl, H., Berglund, K., Pettersson, K., & Tillmar, M. (2014). From feminism to FemInc.ism: On the uneasy relationship between feminism, entrepreneurship and the Nordic welfare state. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 12(2), 369–392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-014-0341-4
Amnesty International. (2016). The human cost of “Crushing” the market; criminalization of sex work in Norway. Amnesty International. https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/norway_report_-_sex_workers_rights_-_embargoed_-_final.pdf
Barnett, M. N. (2013). Humanitarian governance. Annual Review of Political Science, 16(1), 379–398. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-012512-083711
Bergman Rosamond, A. (2013). Protection beyond borders: gender cosmopolitanism and co-constitutive obligation. Global Society, 27(3), 319–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2013.790789
Bergman Rosamond, A. (2020). Swedish feminist foreign policy and “Gender Cosmopolitanism.” Foreign Policy Analysis, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/fpa/orz025
Bernstein, E. (2008). Temporarily yours: Intimacy, authenticity, and the commerce of sex. University of Chicago Press.
Borchorst, A., & Siim, B. (2008). Woman-friendly policies and state feminism: Theorizing Scandinavian gender equality. Feminist Theory, 9(2), 207–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700108090411
Fassin, D. (2012). Humanitarian reason: A moral history of the present times. University of California Press.
Fuckförbundet. (2019). Twenty years of failing sex workers; a community report on the impact of the 1999 Swedish Sex Purchase Act (pp. 1–24). International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE).
Gould, A. (2001). The criminalisation of buying sex: The politics of prostitution in Sweden. Journal of Social Policy, 30(3), 437–456. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047279401006316
Government of Sweden, & Skarhed, A. (2010). Förbud mot Köp av Sexuell Tjänst. En Utvärdering 1999–2008. In regeringen.se. Government Offices of Sweden. https://www.regeringen.se/rattsliga-dokument/statens-offentliga-utredningar/2010/07/sou-201049/
Government Offices of Sweden. (2014). Feminist foreign policy | Swedish foreign policy stories. Swedish Foreign Policy News; Government Offices of Sweden. http://www.swemfa.se/feminist-foreign-policy/
Hernes, H. M. (1989). Welfare state and woman power: Essays in state feminism. Norwegian University Press.
Holmström, C. (2015). Förbud Mot Köp Av Sexuell Tjänst I Sverige -en Kunskapsöversikt om Avsedda Effekter och Oavsedda Konsekvenser. Riksförbundet för Sexuell Upplysning.
Huda, S. (2006). Report of the special rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children. United Nations.
Hulusjö, A. (2013). The multiplicities of prostitution experience: Narratives about power and resistance [PhD Dissertation].
Jakobsson, P., & Edlund, C. (2014). Another horizon; sex work and HIV prevention in Sweden. Rose Alliance, HIV Sweden.
Jämställdhetsmyndigheten. (2021). Prostitution och Människohandel 2021:23 (pp. 1–246). Jämställdhetsmyndigheten. https://www.jamstalldhetsmyndigheten.se/prostitution-och-manniskohandel-202123
Jezierska, K., & Towns, A. (2021). Variations on shared themes: Branding the Nordics as gender-equal. In Gender equality and nation branding in the Nordic region. Routledge.
Kulick, D. (2003). Sex in the new Europe. Anthropological Theory, 3(2), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463499603003002005
Lag. (1998:408). Om Förbud Mot Köp Av Sexuella Tjänster, (1999). https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/lag-1998408-om-forbud-mot-kop-av-sexuella_sfs-1998-408
Larsen, E., Moss, S. M., & Skjelsbæk, I. (2021). Gender equality and nation branding in the Nordic region. Routledge.
Leigh, C. (2004). Unrepentant whore: The collected work of Scarlot Harlot. Last Gasp.
Levy, J. (2016). Criminalising the purchase of sex: Lessons from Sweden. Routledge.
Levy, J., & Jakobsson, P. (2014). Sweden’s abolitionist discourse and law: Effects on the dynamics of Swedish sex work and on the lives of Sweden’s sex workers. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 14(5), 593–607. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895814528926
Mackinnon, C. (1987). Feminism unmodified: Discourses on life and law. Harvard University Press.
Medin, J. (2019). Thailandssvenskarna. Verbal Förlag.
Moderate Party, Liberal Party, Christian Democratic Party, & Sweden Democrat Party. (2022). Tidöavtalet. Government Offices of Sweden.
Olin, R. (2018, May 19). Konflikt: Den Svenska Sexköpslagen på Export (K. Hållsten, Ed.) [Radio Documentary]. Sveriges Radio (SR). https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1073560
Östergren, P. (2003). Synden ideologiserad: Modern Svensk Prostitutionspolicy Som identitets och Trygghetsskapare [MA Thesis]. http://www.petraostergren.com/upl/files/8914.pdf
Östergren, P. (2006). Porr, horor och feminister. Dejavu.
Östergren, P. (2004). Sex workers critique of Swedish prostitution policy. http://www.petraostergren.com/pages.aspx?r_id=40716
Östergren, P., & Dodillet, S. (2011). The Swedish Sex Purchase Act: Claimed success and documented effects. Presented at the ‘International Workshop: Decriminalizing Prostitution and Beyond: Practical Experiences and Challenges,’ The Hague, 3–4 March.
Persson, L., & Agustín, L. (2010). Tvivelaktig rapport om sexköp | SvD Debatt. Svenska Dagbladet. https://www.svd.se/tvivelaktig-rapport-om-sexkop
Peters, M. A. (2016). Nordic model key to beating exploitation of sex workers. CNN; Cable News Network. https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/18/opinions/prostitution-nordic-model-peters/index.html
Raymond, J. G. (2004). Ten reasons for not legalizing prostitution and a legal response to the demand for prostitution. Journal of Trauma Practice, 2(3–4), 315–332. https://doi.org/10.1300/j189v02n03_17
Regnér, Å., & Wallström, M. (2016). Vi Måste Lära Fler Länder om Vår sexköpslag. Regeringskansliet; Regeringen. https://www.regeringen.se/debattartiklar/2016/04/vi-maste-lara-fler-lander-om-var-sexkopslag/
Rubin, G. (1984). Thinking sex: Notes for a radical theory of the politics of sexuality. In Pleasure and danger; exploring female sexuality (pp. 143–172). Routledge & Keegan, Paul.
Sainsbury, D. (2005). Party feminism, state feminism and women’s representation in Sweden. Cambridge University Press.
Schierup, C.-U., & Ålund, A. (2011). The end of Swedish exceptionalism? Citizenship, neoliberalism and the politics of exclusion. Race & Class, 53(1), 45–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396811406780
Simmons, G., & Manoilo, A. (2019). Sweden’s self-perceived global role: Promises and contradictions. Research in Globalization, 1(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resglo.2019.100008
Svanström, Y. (2004). Criminalizing the john: A Swedish gender model. In The politics of prostitution: Women’s movements, democratic states and the globalisation of sex commerce. Cambridge University Press.
SWARM. (2019). Nordic model in Northern Ireland a total failure: No decrease in sex work, but increases in violence and stigma. SWARM Collective. https://www.swarmcollective.org/blog/2019/9/20/nordic-model-in-northern-ireland-a-total-failure-no-decrease-in-sex-work-but-increases-in-violence-and-stigma
Swedish Gender Equality Agency. (2019). The Swedish Sex Purchase Law – From controversial law to international model. Jämställdhetsmyndigheten; Government of Sweden. https://www.jamstalldhetsmyndigheten.se/en/newsarticle/sexkopslagen-fran-kontroversiell-lag-till-internationell-modell
Vuolajärvi, N. (2018). Governing in the name of caring—The Nordic model of prostitution and its punitive consequences for migrants who sell sex. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 16(2), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-018-0338-9
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
This article adds depth to the scholarship that has examined the Nordic model and Sexköpslagen by tracing how the policy is framed and utilized in Sweden’s feminist foreign policy efforts. Additionally, this article adds to scholarship that has examined humanitarian governance by exploring how moral and epistemic frames function in the promotion of Sexköpslagen transnationally, while highlighting sex worker perspectives that nuance such frames.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Bullock, L. Exporting Sexköpslagen: Sweden, Sex Work, and the Moral Stakes of Externalizing Feminist Policy. Sex Res Soc Policy (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-023-00855-7
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-023-00855-7