The swedish double standard on pimping and prostitution.

[Bad_anarchist]

After watching Leo's video on double standards I thought of this as a hysterically funny example of a double standard that exsists within the Swedish prostitution law. 

Some back story into the Swedish model: 

The Swedish model on prostitution was introduced in 1999. The law criminalized the buying of sex, but not the Selling. This was said to decrease the demand for prostitution but radical feminist ideology also played huge a part in forming the law. The people arguing for the law made parallels to mens violence against women, which is the Radical feminist perspective on prostitution. Prostitution is according to Radical Feminist scholars a crime against women and cannot be consensual in any shape or form, "You can't buy consent" as many Radical Feminists would put it. In other Words having sex in exchange for Money (Or something else) is rape accodring to this school of thought. 

The idea here is that nobody is a sexworker out of their own free will. They are either a victim of trafficking, which isn't sexwork to begin with but these people don't make a distinction. Or they live in such horrible conditions related to poverty that they are doing it because they have to. If she doesn't live in horrible conditions she does it because she is addicted to drugs or she is so broken mentally that she does this as a form of self harm. I say "she" because accodring to these people male and trans sexworkers are somehow not relevant to the disscution. This is highly relevant since these ideas was a driving force into forming the law. The Swedish goverment has agreed that the stigma against sexworkers has increased since the law was implemented , but they have also said this is a positive thing because they don't want prositution in the society.

The implementation of the law in 1999 is what I sarcasticly call the begining of "Operation save the Hookers".

The double standard and the law: 

In Swedish law a person can legaly sell sexual services, but you can't buy sexual services. This only applies to in person meetings however and not things like camming or porn. Which is the first double standard really, you can do this legaly as long as it is filmed and put out as a porno. As long as other people can see it, you are fine. Anyways buying sex will result in a fine or prison time up to one year, but it doesn't stop there! In Sweden we have something called the "pimping law" that says that any third party involvment is consider pimping. This could be anything from driving a sexworker to a location where a sex trade is going to happen, to two sexworkers working together(Bc they are pimping eachother), to flat out running a brothel. Even more bizzare is that a landlord can be charged for pimping if he finds out prostitution is happening in one of his aparments, even if he has no involvment in the bussnies. This is even specified in the law in the second paragraph: 

(This is a translation from Swedish)

"If a person who has leased an apartment with the right of use, learns that the apartment is being used for temporary sexual relations against compensation and does not do what can reasonably be requested to have the lease terminated, he or she shall, if the activity continues or is reinstated in the apartment, is considered to have promoted the business and is sentenced to liability according to the first paragraph.."

This is where the double standard comes in. Because it is technically legal to sell sex, a sexworker has to register their income to the Swedish tax agency or else they are commiting tax fraud that can result in prison up to two years. So the goverment can in other words make money on sexworkers to put into the welfare system but nobody else can make Money of a sexworker, because then it is considered pimping. Third party involvment is only okay when it is the Swedish tax Agency and the state in other Words.

Red Umbrella sweden ( Swedish Sexworker organization) took to Twitter and tagged the Swedish tax Agency a year ago and demanded for them to explain how they should register their income and the Swedish tax Agency relplied saying:

"Whoever sells sexual services is not assigned F-tax (Swedish bussnies tax certificate) because the intended business activity is based on customers committing crimes. The Swedish Tax Agency's view is that there are no conditions to sustainably operate such an activity."

Then followed up by: 

"Anyone who has income from the sale of sexual services is obliged to report the income in the declaration."

Wait what? So they won't hand out a tax certificate to sexworkers, bc the bussnies is consideared partly illegal, BUT somehow they are still obligated by law to report their income? How are they gonna report their income if the tax Agency won't give them a tax Certificate? The Swedish Goverment, as I have stated above, has literally come out saying that it is good that sexwork is stigamtized bc they don't want prostitution in the society, but they are are still making Money on Swedish sexworkers. 

There was also a story on a sexworker that filed a police report against the state and argued that this is according to the Swedish law illegal, since she payed taxes. She did this to prove that this is a double standard, which I find hysterically funny.

Edit: So this leaves the question, is the Swedish goverment and the tax Agency guilty of pimping according to the Swedish law?

Edit 2: I found the article, this was a long time ago, 2003 so almost 20 years ago. It is in Swedish but you could probably translate it it is very short, but im gonna give a short conclusion to what happend. Her name is Rosinha Sambo and she had managed to register her income as a prostitute somehow (which made headlines in the news paper, bc it had never been done before) and then payed her taxes like a average human being with a job. She then filed a police report against the state for "Procuring" alternatively "Possession of stolen goods". Arguing that it is illegal to buy sex and earn Money of a sexworker according to Swedish law. 

The chief Prosecutor sated that "The state cannot commit crimes against laws it has made itself" (The double standard is real here, the goverment can't commit crimes but everyone else can) 

To in which she responded: "The police is preventing me from reporting the state and that is both undemocratic and illegal"

This Woman is a straight up savage in my opinion and I find this absolutley hysterical and comical on every possible level.

https://www.hn.se/nyheter/åklagaren-prövar-inte-anmälan-från-prostituerade-rosinha-sambo-1.3566508

Edited August 31, 2022 by Bad_anarchist
Spelling errors and adding a article.