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The laws on prostitution in Sweden make it illegal to buy s*x, but not to sell the use of one’s own body for such services. Buying and operating a brothel remains illegal.

The criminalization of the purchase of s*x, but not the selling of one’s own body for s*x, was unique when first enacted in Sweden in 1999. Since then, this “Nordic model” for s*x trade legislation has been adopted in several other nations. When one looks at the laws of Sweden concerning s*x workers, it stirs up the question of what exactly do these Swedes want?

Do they want to legalize prostitution or do they not want to? This uncertainty comes from the confusion that dates back to the year 1999 when Sweden became the first country to criminalize the purchase of s*x. However, the law still allowed prostitutes to carry out their business undisturbed.

Selling s*x is legal, however, paying a prostitute for it comes with heavy repercussions such as jail time. This model has been adopted by other countries like Norway, Iceland, and, more recently, Canada and Northern Ireland. However, organizations like Amnesty International have come up with a controversial proposal that rejects this absurd law. Prostitution is not mentioned in any law texts in Sweden in the middle ages and was thus not formally a crime.

However, under the influence of the church, sexual acts outside of marriage were criminalized for both sexes regardless of circumstances, which also affected prostitutes. The normal punishment for extramarital sexual relations was fined or (if the accused was unable to pay them) pillorying, whipping, or other disciplinarian physical punishments within the Kyrkoplikt.

The ban on extramarital s*x was the same in cases of actual prostitution: when the activity of the madam Sara Simonsdotter was exposed in the capital in 1618, she, her staff, and clients were all sentenced to various punishments for fornication under the ban of extramarital s*x.

One thing, however, is clear: if countries are going to adopt the Swedish model, there are ways to do it that avoid at least some of the most negative consequences for those who be in s*x work. For example, Swedish s*x workers are tormented by the threat of eviction, because, under current law, landlords are vulnerable to pimping charges if they collect money earned from selling s*x.