27 Feb The European parliament has voted in favour of a resolution to criminalise the purchase of sex
On Wednesday, 343 MEPs backed a report proposed by the London MEP and Labour spokeswoman for women in Europe, Mary Honeyball, which recommends the adoption of the “Nordic model” of prostitutionthat legalises selling sex but criminalises buying it. Some 139 MEPs voted against;105 abstained.
The yes vote formally establishes the EU’s stance on prostitution and puts pressure on member states to re-evaluate their policies on sex work.
“Today’s outcome represents a vital signal from MEPs that we cannot continue to tolerate the exploitation of women,” Honeyball said. “Rather than blanket legalisation, parliament has backed the more nuanced approach already practised in Sweden as a means of tackling prostitution. This punishes men who treat women’s bodies as a commodity, without criminalising women who are driven into sex work.
“The idea that prostitution is the oldest profession leads some to think we should accept it as a fact of life, that all we can do is regulate it a little better. This course of action leads to an increase in prostitution levels, normalising the purchase of sex and ingraining the inequalities which sustain the sex industry.”
The issue was brought to the fore in January when MEPs voted in favour of a report from the European parliament’s women’s rights committee that argued prostitution and trafficking were a fundamental violation.
Sweden was the first country to criminalise the purchase of sex, in 1999. Since then the Nordic model has become increasingly popular across Europe. Norway and Iceland adopted the model in 2009, and in December 2013 France followed suit. The main alternative to the Nordic model is the Dutch-style legalisation championed by the Netherlands and Germany, which fully legalise prostitution.
Source: Guardian