Swedish Liberal Party MP Camilla Lindberg has called for the legalisation of prostitution and greater social security for sex workers.
The parliamentarian said she hoped her controversial and vocal stance on the oldest profession would spark debate. Lindberg, who is best known for her fierce opposition to a contentious surveillance law, argued that Swedish prostitutes have been failed by rules that permit the sale but not the purchase of sex.
Lindberg told Borlange Tidning reporters that prostitutes should be allowed the full range of pension assistance and unemployment insurance available to fellow Swedes.
“Prostitution has existed for thousands of years. How can we help people living with this? They too are part of our society. People should be secure in society and feel that they belong,” she said. The polarising Member of Parliament also claimed that the questioning of Swedish prostitution laws has become taboo.
“What one really wants to get at is trafficking, which is a completely different thing to prostitution. The two are often mixed up. One shouldn’t confuse trafficking with a 40-year-old woman who has chosen to sell her body, or a 40-year-old man who has made that choice,” said Lindberg.
The MP added that prostitutes should be able to practice their profession in legalised brothels but that the ongoing fight against sex trafficking is vital.
“Prostitution has existed for thousands of years. How can we help people living with this? They too are part of our society.”
It really is the one of the oldest professions in the world. If these women can find jobs that can pay as well as prostitution, they might choose not to do it.
>How is that going to help women who resort to this kind of work?
See the post above yours.
Doesn’t this legislation make prostitution look more like a job. Prostitutes will have to declare their income and pay taxes and such. It’s like saying it’s okay to sell your body for money because apparently our government and society agrees on it. How is that going to help women who resort to this kind of work?
Dutch authorities treat prostitutes as independent entrepreneurs. Working girls (or boys for that matter) have to submit the income tax declaration and pay taxes. The Dutch believe that banning existing social phenomena makes them more difficult to control, and therefore more difficult to eliminate the gravest criminal behavior as trafficking with women, their exploitation and prostitution of minors. By not driving it underground everyone benefits. It should be legalised everywhere.
Theo
Legalization of prostitution? OMG….!!!! That was insane. I never heard such thing to be legalized in one country… HMmm
This is a good idea! Prostitution has been there for so many decades. As long as many people patronize them, there’s no way to stop them. The best thing to do is to legalize and regulate them. That way, they can control sexually transmitted diseases and of course ask them to pay tax.
This makes a lot of sense. The bottom line is – prostitution is not going to go away no matter how tough laws are put in place. The sane thing to do is to legalise and regulate it so that the people involved in it have a conducive environment in which to lead a humane life.
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