Since mid-July 2024, any lingering doubt has disappeared: the so-called “Nordic Model” is to remain. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has now reached a final decision, and the ban on purchasing sex in France remains in place.
In sequence…
For around six years, the French pro-prostitution lobby tried to abolish the punishment of clients once again. Some 261 people were indoctrinated to state that the law against purchasing sex worsened their situation. It was claimed their protection was in danger due to the law, and that despite the fact that it was more difficult to get clients, those clients were now making more demands. The smaller market was responsible for the fact that clients were increasingly demanding not to wear condoms, as a result of which infections with sexually-transmitted diseases were on the rise again.
A claim was made against Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“Right to Life”) and Article 3 (“Ban on Inhuman and Degrading Treatment”). Prostitution was a private act, it was said, and punishment of clients violated Article 8 (“Right to Private Life”) as a result.
This line of argumentation was unsuccessful, however. Back in 1949, the UN Convention on Human Rights ratified that prostitution “is incompatible with human dignity” – and that includes in France. In September 2023, the European Parliament declared that the system of prostitution was by its nature violent, discriminatory and deeply inhuman. In June this year, Reem Alsalem (UN Special Rapporteur) demanded that governments decriminalise women and girls in prostitution, treat them as victims and support them, while at the same time criminalising the purchasing of sexual acts.
In 1999, Sweden became the first country to introduce this model. The aim is not to punish the people providing the sexual services, but those using the services instead.
The model is also known as the so-called four-pillar model. This is based on the following four measures: comprehensive criminalisation of consensual prostitution and the use of sexual services for payment; non-punishment of people providing the service already mentioned; the offer to get out of the industry on condition sex work is ceased immediately; and educational work amongst the population. The particular significance of this fourth point should not be underestimated. Education and increased knowledge exchange lend the issue greater attention and make it more visible. The ban can be viewed as a barrier to people-traffickers and pimps. It is also documented, for example, that people-trafficking seems to fall particularly quickly in countries using the Nordic Model.
It is important that the state recognise prostitution as a form of (gender-specific) violence. The pillars of the model mentioned above need to work in a cross-generational way, and the issue of sex work should no longer be treated as taboo.
Need for action continues
How best to proceed against human trafficking and prostitution continues to be a controversial issue. It remains clear that there is no simple solution which can leverage all mechanisms at once. When it comes to the decision detailed above, it is also important to emphasise that the ban is explicitly directed towards clients, and it is not the sale of the sex itself being punished, but the purchase.
The judgment is being viewed as a milestone, as it legitimises the Nordic Model.
Decisions like these help avoid a situation whereby this issue is hidden away, and show how hugely diverse and complex the issues surrounding prostitution, sex work and the purchasing of sex really are.
Translated by Tim Lywood
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