The European Parliament on February 26 voted in favour of a new prostitution report that criminalizes sex buyers rather than the sex workers. The members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are thus backing the so-called “Nordic model” of fighting prostitution, which legalizes the selling of sex, but criminalizes buying it.

The report targets “men who treat women’s bodies as a commodity without criminalizing women who are driven into sex work,” said the British MEP Mary Honeyball, member of the Socialists and Democrats, who drafted the resolution. It also criminalizes clients who visit prostitutes under the age of 21. According to Honeyball, whether prostitution is voluntary or forced, it should be regarded as a violation of the human rights of women.

The French socialist MEP Sylvie Guillaume pointed another big issue in this report: “There are also questions of male domination that arise around questions of prostitution, and I believe that it is also necessary to underline the fact that this text is talking about this type of domination and promoting greater equality between the sexes in our society.” (French audio quote below)

However, the French politician pointed out that there are other factors linked with prostitution, such as the economic crisis, which according to her has a very significant social impact and puts a good number of people at risk. She added that therefore it would be accurate to state that often prostitution is related to poverty and vulnerability. (French audio quote below)

Protecting the prostitutes

Sylvie Guillaume argues that the alternatives to the Nordic model which fully legalize prostitution – like in the Netherlands and Germany – are not efficient. Because, according to Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, “most of the victims of sexual exploitation are trafficked to countries where prostitution is legal and/or regulated, rather than countries which adopt the Nordic model.”

However, for Guillaume the most important thing to focus on is the protection of prostitutes: “It’s true that there is nonetheless a denunciation of regulatory models; that is, it is considered that after all, this is a matter of an activity like any other, with people who pay taxes.” She added that she shared the idea that people must be protected regardless of their status: “People who carry out this activity need protection regardless of the nature of their legal or regulatory status in some member states.” But even so, she added, the main model defended in the text introduced at the European Parliament was the one which exists in France, the abolitionist model, which aims to get rid of the domination she had mentioned above. (French audio quote below)

This is a non-binding report, but it will help putting pressure on the member states to act against prostitution. Honeyball stressed: “We send a strong signal that the European Parliament is ambitious enough to tackle prostitution head on rather than accepting it as a fact of life.” Hopefully, Guillaume added, with this report the debate would again be invigorated in the EU.