Pushing back against the so-called Nordic Model of sex work

[SnugFinch]

Hi. I'm aware that my views might not be the most popular, but I am posting here in good faith.

Many of you know that Ash Regan has been campaigning to get sex work legislation in place which follows the neo-abolitionist model, or Nordic Model. This so-called Nordic Model claims that it will punish buyers of sex work, while not criminalising sellers, and that this will benefit sex workers and stop sex trafficking.

However, this is untrue. By criminalising buyers, it ensures that the only people who will buy sex are criminals who don't care about breaking the law. And because sex workers have a smaller client pool, they have no choice but to put themselves at the mercy of these criminals, and can end up suffering violence as a result.

This so-called Nordic Model has been law in the island of Ireland for nearly a decade now, and it has made things worse for the women involved, and it has done nothing to stop sex trafficking, as the facts in this article (and the testimony of a former sex worker) prove.

https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/02/07/on-problems-with-the-nordic-model-of-prostitution/

Ash Regan's bill has been delayed for the moment, but it hasn't been defeated. There is a growing worry that what happened in Ireland could happen in Scotland. And it could extend to England and Wales as well.

Feminists should want to end violence against all women. So why is there support for the Nordic Model, which has proven to be so hazardous to female sex workers?

I'm curious as to what your thoughts are.

Any prostitution is deadly dangerous to the vulnerable

The Nordic Model is better than what's happened in the past, where underage girls were raped by their pumps clients and then blamed for what happened

They are still investigating what happened

List of articles
https://nordicmodelnow.org/facts-about-prostitution/

If you’re posting in good faith, I suggest you read the data contained in the links, and indeed elsewhere by Nordic Model Now.

You’ll realise you’re misinformed, or just wrong. A woman’s body is not a workplace.

I am not convinced by this argument against the Nordic Model, women face violence anyway. One of the Scandinavian countries, I forget which, also succeeded in making pornography shameful which has seen a huge reduction in societal misogyny.

I believe these are both appropriate ways to tackle violence & abuse against women and would like to see them adopted in more countries.

Women are not commodities to be bought and sold.

Men who think they are, and men who don’t think (enthusiastic) consent is important as long as they get their rocks off are dangerous and should be criminalised.

Look at any violent dangerous murderer of women and engagement with sex workers is so often part of their journey into seeing women as disposable.

I’m sorry this may mean some people need to find other work. But this is about the kind of society we want to live in.

OP, I'm quite troubled by the article from Bella Caledonia you linked. You said it contains "the testimony of a former sex worker" and use it as though this woman was an opponent of the Nordic Model.

And by the way, I'm not going to call her a "sex worker" or a "prostitute." She is a woman, and her name is Anna Rajmon.

The quote from Anna in that article is as follows:

“There are many books on this topic – some are grim, and others portray stories from the world of prostitution as if it were something normal and acceptable. But what is acceptable about trading freedom for money? What is normal about using a human body as if it were an object?”

I see that Anna has no trouble calling it prostitution, as you seem to. But when you read her article in Writing.ie, you see what she said right afterwards:

"I didn’t want to promote something I didn’t agree with, and writing my story without a hint of humour might have made it feel melancholic, perhaps even leading readers to put the book down. And so, Elis gradually came into being—an unconventional story from the mysterious world of the Irish underworld."

This is the link to the full article here:

https://www.writing.ie/tell-your-own-story/the-journey-to-publishing-my-book-elis-by-anna-rajmon/

I think it would be better to learn from Anna herself what her testimony was, and I would encourage everyone else to do the same.

There's a popular argument against making all kinds of things illegal (drugs, guns, buying prostitutes ...) that the criminally minded will carry on doing the thing anyway. Perhaps, but it will now be possible to punish them for it.

What is your solution OP?

We agree that the vulnerable should not be harmed. But it is my view, and the evidence backs me up, that the Nordic Model makes women in sex work more vulnerable, not less.

I would not say that a woman's body is a workplace. A woman can decide what to do with her body. Her body, her choice.

Nordic Model Now are a partisan group, not an objective research organisation. I am familiar with their claims, which have been debunked in the article I linked and in the relevant academic literature.

My position is anti-Nordic Model. That's clear from my first post, and from the title of the post. I'm willing to engage, but not to be patronised.

The evidence from Norway and Sweden display very different conclusions.

https://theconversation.com/the-nordic-model-of-prostitution-law-is-a-myth-21351

I never said women were commodities. Women should be empowered to take on any type of work, including sex work. Decriminalising sex work would facilitate women's safety far more than the Nordic Model has.

I was not trying to disrespect Anna Rajmon, and I don't claim to speak for her. Her reason for using the term "prostitution" are known to her, not to me.

But her horrible experiences happened under the Nordic Model. You can't deny that.

It should always be possible to punish criminals, but sex workers are not criminals and should not be treated like they are.

Full decriminalisation of sex work. Afford sex workers the same rights as all other members of society, instead of stigmatising them and leaving them vulnerable.

So the same health and safety rights that the rest of us have in the workplace? How exactly would that work?

If they are pimped presumably then the usual employee rights would apply, so their pimps will be paying their pensions, NI and PAYE, giving them monthly payslips and making sure they get all their breaks under the working time regs?

Is that the sort of rights you meant?

And yet sex workers testify that decriminalising prostitution has resulted in greater violence and even less safe environments for them. Decriminalisation is not the answer.

But the Nordic model doesn’t stigmatised the women - it criminalises and stigmatises the men who “buy” sex - that’s the whole point.

And if prostitution were to be treated as a “job” with the rights afforded to the work place, you do realise that means health and safety directives kick in which would be impossible to meet because of the horrific nature of the work. And as someone up thread said, their pimps paying NI and dealing with PAYE?!?

And if it becomes legitimate “work” suddenly private equity and investment bankers start getting involved as a way to make money and thus making it some sort of horrendous mass market endeavour like the mega brothels in Germany - and where are all these women coming from to meet demand? Trafficking.

Doesn’t health and safety rules mean hazmat suits when dealing with bodily fluids etc?

Yes. Sex workers in countries where its decriminalised say that it's much harder to refuse sexual acts and harmful acts from the men paying them because the men see their requests as legitimised.

The Nordic Model puts a line in the sand. Sexual consent is not a commodity that can be bought. Just like other lines we must draw and hold that are constantly challenged by neo liberalism. Lines like - babies and children are not commodities or sexual fair game, human organs are not commodities, ivory is not a commodity, drinking water is not a commodity, wombs and pregnancy are not commodities and billable services. All of these will be argued against, over and over again, because there are billions of dollars on these lines. But we must hold the line. And keep working on the right side of the line to ensure these markets can not, and do not exist. Anywhere, for anyone.

The men who buy sex are the worst trash going. What the hell is wrong with you that you want to normalize what they do?

Boys should not get the message that buying consent is OK. Don’t they deserve to be protected from (the likes of you) that revolting message?

… and it doesn’t protect women at all.

That any man chooses to pay for consent to invade a woman's body, to use a woman's body as if she were a plaything, is despicable.

Such men absolutely should be criminalised.

Everyone else is able to put forward decent enough defenses for the Nordic Model, and there are links to Nordic Model Now to show the harms done. All I would add is that greater financial assistance and educational opportunities should be afforded so women are never in the position where they have to think about prostitution.

I'm grateful to the OP for one thing. If it wasn't for them, I might never have heard of Anna Rajmon. She has a blog, and here are two pieces she wrote which are relevant to the discussion.

https://www.annarajmon.com/post/a-voice-that-must-not-remain-silent-why-we-must-stop-hiding-our-suffering

https://www.annarajmon.com/post/what-s-the-real-price-of-human-touch

Read them. You'll see that she isn't an activist against the Nordic Model. She is a survivor of prostitution who knows exactly what's it's like to be stuck in that horrible world. And she writes about it very honestly.

And OP, you're wrong. Anna Rajmon's experience wasn't just under the Nordic Model. She also worked in the Czech Republic, which doesn't have the Nordic Model. I don't know if she supports the Nordic Model or not, but she is definitely against prostitution.

I haven't read her book yet, but I'm going to. I'll leave a link here if anyone's interested.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELIS-Anna-Rajmon-ebook/dp/B0D74HK3D5

Thanks again, OP. You helped me find someone who can explain why prostitution is so evil. Bet you're happy! 😉

A woman can decide what to do with her body. Her body, her choice.

In an ideal world. But this isn't. This is a world where women (and their bodies) are under the control of the ruling sex class, men.

Unless and until there is real equality women dont have a free choice.

Your postion is the same as saying members of minority group who end up in under paid, exploitative shit work are making a free choice.

Their "choices" are limited by what an unequal society allows them.

But at list they aren't bombarded with male centred articles, videos and SM telling them their explotation is really a form of liberation.

All media is saturated with images and articles about women being free to make the choice of using her body to earn a living.

That anyone on a feminist board would argue that it is a positive choice for women to enter prostituion seems at be naive.

Years of conditioning have told women it is a positive choice.

If it was such a positive choice why aren't as many men as women selling their bodies.