The most important questions and answers about the EU Parliament’s decision: Will prostitution now be banned across Europe?

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No more sex for money: On Thursday, members of the EU Parliament approved a motion by 234 yes to 175 no, with 122 abstentions, calling on EU states to decriminalize the supply of prostitution but punish johns. This rule is already in force in the Scandinavian countries.

We tell you what you need to know about the subject.

That’s open. Although the report is not binding, it serves as a recommendation to EU member states to individually introduce a system to reduce demand and penalize customers. Swedish Social Democratic MP Helene Fritzon, 62, said: “Prostitution is a European problem and that is why we need a common response.” It remains to be seen which countries will respond to this.

It consists of four basic pillars:

• Criminalization of (including consensual) prostitution, renting rooms to sex workers and providing sexual services

• Punishment of the suitors, not punishment but of the sacrifice

• Offers to leave

• Educational measures among the population

Sweden was the first country to introduce the model in 1999. Although prostitution is prohibited, there are many sex advertisements on the Internet from sex workers secretly offering their services. The trick: These ads are stored on servers abroad, making tracking them by Swedish authorities much more difficult.

Derivations of the Scandinavian model now also exist in Norway, Iceland, Canada, Northern Ireland, France, Ireland and Israel.

There are various studies, but they show few conclusive results. This is what the scientific services of the German Bundestag write in a documentation about the effects of the Scandinavian model. In general, however, prostitution, human trafficking and pimping have decreased.

On the other hand, a thesis points out that the law has increased the social stigma of sex work, that an increase in violence is expected and that sex workers themselves are also exposed to police repression.

The loudest critics are the people it affects themselves: the prostitutes. Human rights associations also warn against a ban on prostitution. In a letter to the EU Parliament, the European Network of Sex Worker Organizations, Human Right Watch, Amnesty International and ten other organizations called on parliamentarians to vote against the report.

They fear that sex work will move underground, increasing the safety risk for women, and they emphasize that this will deprive sex workers of their right to self-determination. “Criminalizing the purchase of sexual services denies an entire group of people (mainly women) the right to make decisions about their lives,” the letter said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is also critical because it expects more HIV infections.

In 2022, the National Council rejected an EPP motion that wanted to transfer the Scandinavian model to Switzerland by 172 votes to 11. The Federal Council justified its negative position by saying that the desired effect was controversial and that the sex trade would become illegal. Effective laws already exist to punish violations such as human trafficking and abuse of minors.

Similar attempts were also rejected in Finland, Denmark, Britain and Spain.

Source: Blick