This is the best news I've heard in a long time. Read on...
New Norway law bans buying of sex
Norway says the new law targets the clients and not the prostitutes
A new law has come into force in Norway making the purchase of sex illegal.
Norwegian citizens caught paying for prostitutes at home or abroad could face a hefty fine or a six-month prison sentence, authorities say.
The prison sentence could be extended to three years in cases of child prostitution.
The Norwegian authorities say they want to stamp out sex tourism and street prostitution by targeting clients rather than prostitutes.
"We think buying sex is unacceptable because it favours human trafficking and forced prostitution," deputy Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
Wire-tapping
The tough new measures go further than similar ones introduced by other Nordic countries such as Sweden and Finland.
Norwegian police have been authorised to use wire-tapping devices to gather evidence. [source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7806760.stm ]
There has already been a visible decrease in women working on the streets of central Oslo, local media report.
Prostitutes will be offered access to free education and health treatment for those with alcohol or drugs problems.
The government had already launched a publicity campaign before the law came into force.
Critics of the new regulations say prostitution will simply be driven underground and will be more difficult to control. [ Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7806760.stm ]
_____________________
Pimps' and johns' activities have always been underground, and too often the women in systems of prostitution end up "underground" so fuck the critics. And men who sexually purchase women can go to hell... which, I've heard, is also underground! --Julian
END OF POST.
Hello, Julian.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late posting, but, I have been meaning to post comments for sometime. Glad to see you are doing great in the blogosphere.
Great post. The prostitutors (you remember that word don't you [smile]) need to be criminalized.
"We think buying sex is unacceptable because it favours human trafficking and forced prostitution," deputy Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency."
I agree with the commentor. Last year I posted on the (in)humane trafficking of women and children into sex slavery, chattel slavery and other forms of brutality and how these types of crimes are often underground, but, yet, hidden in plain sight. These crimes hurt more than just the woman or the children; they hurt the family, the community, the nation.
Prostitutors are the real criminals. The more they are arrested, tried and convicted the less appealing being a "john" will be.
No man in his right mind wants an arrest record, especially one that shows such lack of self-control as the conviction of being a prostitutor can bring.
"Prostitutes will be offered access to free education and health treatment for those with alcohol or drugs problems."
Good point.
It is not enough to tell or admonish prostitutes to get out of prostitution. They need more than just words thrown at them; they need a constructive and realistic way up out of the life, and giving them safe havens, education, better access to health care is a more constructive approach instead of the old tried-but-fails route of attacking and vilifying the prostitutes, but, on the other hand, saying nothing to/or doing nothing to the prostitutor.
I'm so happy to see you here, Ann!!!
ReplyDelete"Prostitutor", YES! I wish it had the the stick of stigma, the prick of a sting, that "pimp" and "john" currently have. "John", as we've discussed, is just so inadequate a term for "men who purchase women for sex".
Thanks for the reminder!
So how do we get this law activated in all the nations we and our allies live in?