Sweden's success against prostitution

At the end of the 1990s, while Germany as well as Belgium and the Netherlands legalised prostitution, Sweden adopted a "hard" line and made the purchase of sex a punishable offence. Nowadays Sweden is regarded as a shining example, the newspaper writes. "There are around 400,000 prostitutes in Germany today. Their legalisation was intended to combat discrimination, however so far there has been no major improvement in their situation. Only one percent of all prostitutes have taken out an unemployment insurance policy. The Greens, who enthusiastically backed the law, are now in the opposition, and the CDU doesn't like the law. The wind has changed. ... In Sweden the number of prostitutes is comparatively low. One explanation for this is the successful campaign of the Swedish feminist movement at the end of the 1970s. ... As a result of the law against the purchase of sex, prostitution has disappeared from Sweden's streets. To date there has not been a detailed assessment of the effects of the law, but it's not necessary anyway. 80 percent of the Swedish population is in favour of it."

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