Edit to add my opinion so I’m not just replying “I agree” to 90% of comments. I think it should be legal, properly regulated, taxed and viewed as a profession. I haven’t personally engaged in it but I have no moral objection to it. I do hate the common sentiment that it was the individual’s “only option” though.
This sounds like a good approach, and I would’ve loved for this to work, but unfortunately, this approach does not reduce harm to sex workers, but increases it.
Amnesty International has found that Nordic model laws caused sex workers to face ongoing risk of police harassment, client violence, discrimination, eviction, and exploitation..
A study by the UK parliament has found that it just pushes people into the black market, with disastrous effects for the workers, because they are now extremely difficult to reach and thus protect by the authorities.
Figures provided by National Ugly Mugs, a service which allows sex workers to confidentially report incidents of abuse and crime, showed that reports of abuse and crime against prostitutes greatly increased after Ireland’s adoption of the Nordic model approach to prostitution by criminalizing the purchase of sexual services. The figures stated that crimes against prostitutes increased by 90%, with violent crime increasing by 92%.
It is now illegal to be a prostitution-buyer or pimp in Ireland, so of course the number of reported crimes went up. Declaring failure because of more reports is like saying “MeToo” caused more rapes. No - we’re just hearing about what’s always been there, now that it’s safer to talk about it.
I hope the pimps that keep women hidden in servitude on the black market face huge consequences for their unethical actions.
unfortunately I don’t have time to read the first two links and properly respond (they’re long pdfs), but thanks for providing them.