In tremendous news for the fight against the neo-liberal drive to commercialize the sexual exploitation of women and girls (and boys and men) the European Parliament, as reported by El Pais, "urged member states to promote the so-called “Swedish model” (the Nordic/Equality model) to combat prostitution — which punishes the client and not the person, usually a woman, who solicits — while asking the European Commission to develop common guidelines to ensure the fundamental rights of prostitutes, who are usually among the most vulnerable people in society."
According to Prostitution Research & Education, which seeks to "abolish prostitution and provide real alternatives", 27 countries voted to approve the report.
The French Communist Party (PCF) celebrated the decision stating:
On 14 September 2023, the report "on the regulation of prostitution in the European Union: cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women's rights" was voted on in the European Parliament.
Despite attempts to distort the text and the removal of the reference to the "Equality/Nordic" model, which we regret, it was adopted with 234 votes to 175 with 122 abstentions. This is very good news for feminist struggles all over Europe!
According to the OSCE, trafficking for sexual exploitation alone generates nearly $100 billion a year, consisting mainly of money paid by men for sex with trafficked women. While most people in these situations come from Eastern European countries and countries in conflict, human trafficking has increased further since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
By defending a clearly abolitionist line, this report calls on us to protect the rights of women in prostitution by defending the "Equality/Nordic" model, based on the decriminalisation, protection and social integration of prostitutes, while criminalising clients.
To learn more about the horrors of legalized prostitution in Europe see: Sex-buyersEnglish-11-8-2022pdf.pdf (prostitutionresearch.com)