Den svenska sexköpslagen: Argumentationen, Syftet och De Mänskliga Rättigheterna

Sammanfattning: In the year of 1999, Sweden became the first country in the world to criminalize the act of buying sexual services. However, selling sexual services for compensation still remains legal even up to this day. Arguments about gender equality, the protection of prostitutes and the connection of prostitution to trafficking were used to support the Swedish legislation. Opponents to this argue that this law is an unforgivable violation of adult’s free will and personal life, and that it is only hardening the everyday life of already exposed prostitutes. The purpose of this argument analysis is to reveal the underlying motives of the design of the law, as well as researching whether these arguments are still applicable in modern day Swedish society and whether the legislation is an effective solution for ending prostitution. The conclusion from this analysis is that prostitution is harmful both to the individuals caught up in the industry, and to society. The criminalization of harlotry was justified by the cause of ending the act of prostitution in society, and thereby bringing to a stop the Human Rights violations connected to it.