The purpose of this thesis is to come to an understanding of the reasoning behind the enactments of Sweden's Sex Purchase law and Canada's Bill C-36. Furthermore, to discuss how the two legislations regarding prostitution have changed the protection for women in the sex industry. The methods used in this study is a Comparative Method, specifically, a Most Similar System Design, and an Argumentation Analysis. These methods are used in conjunction with three theories — History of Prostitution Models, Sociology of Law, and the Paradoxes of Rights. The result of the analysis shows that Canada's Bill C-36 is based on conservative reasoning with a focus on the abolishment of prostitution. The Swedish Sex Purchase law focuses on the criminalization of the purchase of sexual services instead of the seller. They reason that by shifting the responsibility on the purchaser, social norms and stigma regarding sex workers will change.

Prostitution är ett komplext, världsomfattande samhällsproblem som kan leda till flertalet negativa konsekvenser för den utsatta. I Sverige har köp av sexuella tjänster varit kriminaliserat sedan år 1999 och den svenska regeringen lägger stor vikt vid bekämpandet av prostitution. Trots detta är prostitution ett utbrett problem i Sverige. Flertalet kartläggningar indikerar att fenomenet ökar, framförallt via internet, samt att det tycks gå ner i åldrarna. Tidigare forskning inom området visar att svårigheter med att motverka problemet bland annat beror teknologins framväxt, attityder och normer i samhället och brist på resurser inom rättsväsendet. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka svårigheter med att förebygga prostitution ur yrkesverksammas perspektiv, samt vad som kan göras för att förbättra det förebyggande arbetet. Genom kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer och en tillämpning av rutinaktivitetsteorin besvaras studiens frågeställningar. Resultatet visar att bristen på personal och kompetens, den ökade tillgängligheten via internet samt porrens påverkan på attityder och normer försvårar motverkandet av prostitution. Därtill visas att ytterligare åtgärder krävs, bland annat tidiga insatser gällande utbildning samt en omarbetning av sexköpslagen. / Prostitution is a complex, worldwide societal problem that can lead to several negative consequences for the victim. In Sweden, the purchase of sexual services has been criminalized since 1999, and the Swedish government allocates great importance to combat prostitution. Despite this, prostitution is a widespread problem in Sweden. Various studies indicate that the phenomenon is increasing, primarily via the internet, and that prostitution seems to be declining with age. Previous research in the field shows that difficulties in counteracting the problem are partly due to the development of technology, attitudes and norms in society and a lack of resources in the judicial system. The purpose of the present study is to investigate difficulties in preventing prostitution from the perspective of professionals, as well as what can be done to improve the preventive work. Through a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews and an application of the routine activity theory, the research questions are answered. The results show that the lack of personal with relevant skills, the increased accessibility via the internet and the impact of porn on attitudes and norms make it more difficult to counteract prostitution. In addition, it is shown that further measures are required, including early efforts regarding education and a adjustment of the Sex Purchase Act. / <p>2021-01-13</p>

Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka hur socialarbetare och poliser upplever samverkan i arbetet med att hjälpa personer i prostitution. Kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer gjordes med socialarbetare och poliser, som analyserades med hjälp av tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att viljan för samverkan finns bland socialarbetare och poliser, men att resurser och okunskap om prostitution försvårar samverkan för myndigheterna. Respondenterna beskriver efterfrågan av sex mot ersättning som en viktig del i arbetet med prostituerade och att mer utbildning, kunskap och rutiner behöver upprättas för att en fungerande samverkan ska kunna infinnas. / The purpose of the thesis was to investigate how social workers and police experience collaboration in the work of helping individuals in prostitution. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers and police officers and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show that there is a willingness to cooperate among the respondents but that resources and knowledge of prostitutes make it difficult for the authorities. The respondents describe buyers as an important part of the work with the prostitutes and that more education, knowledge and routines need to be established in order for a functioning collaboration to be found.

The purpose of this study is to examine social workers’ discourses about the Swedish sex purchase law and how they perceive that the sex purchase law and the social workers’ professional ethical principles affect the social workers’ ability to support people who are selling sex. This study is a discourse analytical interview study based on a social constructionist perspective. The study focuses on analyzing the interviews based upon an inductive method. The interviews are qualitative and semi-structured. The interviews were conducted by interviews with three social workers with experiences of working with people who sell sex. The central focus of the study is to analyze the social workers’ statements that are regarded as their perceptions. The statements serve as arguments that answers the purpose questions. The results show that the interviewed social workers perceive that the sex purchase laws do affect the social workers’ ability to support people who sell sex. On the other hand, they show disagreement on whether the social workers’ professional ethical principles affected the social workers’ ability to support people who sell sex.