Movement for the Abolition of Prostitution

What is the Nordic Model?

The Nordic Model (sometimes known as the Sex Buyer Law, and the Swedish, Abolitionist, Survivor or Equality Model) is an approach to prostitution that has been adopted in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Canada, France, Ireland and Israel. It has several elements:

1. Decriminalisation of selling sex acts

Prostitution is inherently violent. Women should not be criminalised for the exploitation and abuse they endure.

2. Buying sex acts becomes a criminal offence

Buying human beings for sex is harmful, exploitative and can never be safe. We need to reduce the demand that drives sex trafficking.

3. Support and exit services

High quality, non-judgemental services to support those in prostitution and help them build a new life outside it, including: access to safe affordable housing; training and further education; child care; legal, debt and benefit advice; emotional and psychological support.

A holistic approach

A public information campaign; training for police and CPS; tackling the inequality and poverty that drive people into prostitution; effective laws against pimping and sex trafficking, with penalties that reflect the enormous damage they cause. Read more >>

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Infographic explaining what decriminalising sex work means in practice, along with background information and full references.

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Jenna reflects on a recent interview with Russell Brand and the importance of telling the truth about the prostitution industry.

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Decriminalising “sex work” may sound sensible until you think more deeply about what it means in practice. This article explains why.

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Prostitution survivor, Jenna, responds to reports that Labour MP Samantha Niblett is campaigning to promote sex toys under the guise of sex education.

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Reflections on the ethical failure of telling kids to respect others while our culture soaks them in violent porn and glamorises the brutal prostitution system.

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The parallels, the failure of the authorities & how treating females as commodities that men can trade and abuse with impunity reveals connections with the wider sex trade.

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Prostitution Survivors’ Testimony

Prostitution Survivors’ Testimony

“I was sold a complete lie. It’s not easy money.”

I grew up in an emotionally and physically abusive home – constantly walking on egg-shells, never knowing what little thing might make my father lose his temper. I was never allowed to have any boundaries; the answer to absolutely everything he asked had to be “yes”, or be prepared to face violent consequences. I remember counting down the days until I turned 18, so that I could go to university and escape.

Body Shell Girl by Rose Hunter

I was in the sex industry for ten years, including brothel, escort, massage parlours and outcall massage, with the majority of my time spent in those last two. My experience was mostly in Canada, where I was living at the time.

‘I’m Paying You Not To Say No’

I want to talk a little bit about the men who buy sex, and how this highlights just what prostitution is.

The conversation around prostitution has been stuck for some time around whether or not ‘sex work is work’. Well, from the point of view of someone who has been trafficked under the guise of a high-class escort agency, my answer is an emphatic no.

A Piece of Me by Andrea Heinz

Time heals all wounds. Time does little for scars. They permanently stick to you as a vivid reminder of your vulnerability and the time you faced some form of harm. I carry over 4300 emotional scars with me every day from each man I sold my body to during seven years of prostitution.

Sick of all the ‘Happy Hooker’ myths?

Want people to know what prostitution is REALLY like?

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