The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the dominating discourse in the preliminary work of the Sex Purchase Act. In order to achieve the aim of this study we selected preliminary work of the Sex Purchase Act that was produced between 1977 and 1999. The selection is based on the fact that prostitution began to be recognized as a social problem and a gender equality issue between men and women in society. The ongoing debate during the chosen years resulted in the Sex Purchase Act, which was passed in 1999. By using discourse analysis as a methodological and theoretical approach, we have empirically studied and theoretically analyzed the dominating discourse in the preliminary work of the Sex Purchase Act. This study shows that the dominating discourse in the preliminary work is based on a perception that prostitution reflects violence against women, which prevents women and men from becoming equal in society. The dominating discourse in the preliminary work is characterized by a heteronormative standard and has influences that can be recognized as feminist ideology. The content in the dominating discourse is produced by people with high social status, which gives sex buyers and sex workers limited influence on how their categories are presented in the preliminary work.

The purpose of the essay has been, to some extent, to show on any deficiencies in the law against sexual services as well as to stress the importance of having a continued debate and discussion about prostitution and to define what is needed in order to meet the original expectations of the law. The conclusion that the law against sexual services does not meet the expectations has been based on the outcome of the analysis made in this essay. The reason why the Swedish law against selling sexual services does not work is based on four areas; lack of resources within the police force, too few convictions against sex buyers, preventional social actions and political legitimacy.  The essay refers to different point of views of the prostitution issue as well as different research studies, articles and public debates. The method which this essay has been based on is a case study of the implementation of the Swedish law against selling sexual services as well as an evaluation analysis.

Sammanfattning Eftersom det blev förbjudet att köpa sexuella tjänster i Sverige har denna uppsats, med hjälp av diskursanalys, undersökt hur rätten framställer sexköp som fenomen, sexköpare och även säljare av sexuella tjänster. Domar från olika svenska tingsrätter har analyserats, avseende vilka ord som används i framställningen av fenomenet. Socialkonstruktivistiska teorier har använts för att förstå hur konstruktionen sker av kön, prostitution som fenomen och hur offer samt gärningsman konstrueras. Då prostitution kan sägas vara en del i hur genus konstrueras i samhället idag har dikotomin mellan könen, samt mannen som norm, blivit en central del i uppsatsen. De gråzoner som finns i genuskontraktet kan tänkas utnyttjas av både män och kvinnor, där män låter sig köpa kvinnor, men kvinnor också med mer eller mindre frivillighet låter sig köpas. Detta bidrar till hur samhället ser på dem som säljer sex, de prostituerade blir medbrottslingar och delvis själva ansvariga för brottet. Detta leder i sin tur till att både gärningsmän och offer osynliggörs i samhället, och kan bidra till att brottet förringas. Om brottet inte uppmärksammas i tillräckligt hög grad kan staten vinna på det, speciellt med tanke på att den dolda prostitutionen inte är fullt så möjligt att komma åt och lagen framstår som ett misslyckande. Den verkligt viktiga frågan att ställa för en långsiktig förändring av attityder kring fenomenet, är varför män har ett behov av att köpa kvinnors kroppar för sexuellt bruk. Genussystemet möjliggör prostitution samtidigt som prostitution också i förlängningen är med och reproducerar genussystemet och kvinnans underordning i förhållande till mannen. / Abstract Since it became illegal to buy sexual services in Sweden, this essay examines, using discourse analysis, how the courts produces buying sex as a phenomenon, sex buyers and also sellers of sexual services. Judgments from various Swedish district courts have been analyzed in relation to which words used to describe the phenomenon. Social constructivist theories have been used to understand how the construction is done by sex, prostitution as a phenomenon and how victims and perpetrators are constructed. Since prostitution can be said to be a part of how gender is constructed in society today has the dichotomy between the sexes, and the man as the norm, become a central part of the essay. The gray areas of the gender contract may be used by both men and women, where men allow themselves to buy women, but women are also more or less free will allow themselves to be bought. This contributes to societies view those who sell sex, the prostitutes become accomplices and partly themselves responsible for the crime. This in turn leads to both offenders and victims are rendered invisible in society and can contribute to the offense belittled. If the crime is not addressed sufficiently the state can gain from it, especially given that the hidden prostitution is not quite as possible to access and the law appears to be a failure. The really important question to ask for a long-term change in attitudes towards the phenomenon, is why men have a need to buy women's bodies for sexual use. The gender system allows prostitution, while prostitution also, by extension, is part of and reproduces the gender system and the subordination of women in relation to man.

The purpose of this study was to investigate which kind of arguments that were used during the debate before the law of sexual services was introduced in Sweden. The study refers to the debate which was in the Swedish parliament The study has been structured the arguments in different categories.  The study has not found other researchers about the debate in the Swedish parliament. The study has just found several studies about the prostitution problem in general. The method for this study has been idea centered content analysis. The results were analyzed through an analyze diagram with arguments against the law of sexual services and arguments for the law of sexual service. On each side in the debate the analyze diagram has had eleven different categories of arguments. The results of the study showed that the juridical arguments were the most common in the debate.

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>

Prostitution har haft en lång historia i Sverige och har under de senaste 20 åren haft en drastisk förändring på grund av den svenska modellens lagstiftning att enbart kriminalisera köparen av sexuella tjänster. Vi har på grund av detta varit intresserade i hur arbetet med prostitution ser ut. Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka hur olika organisationer arbetar med prostitution och upplever sexköpslagen, samt vilka faktorer de anser påverkar prostituerade kvinnors in- respektive utväg ur prostitution. Våra frågeställningar i denna studie har varit, (1) Hur ser organisationers arbete ut med prostitution? (2) Hur upplever organisationer som bekämpar prostitution lagstiftningen i förhållande till arbetet? (3) Vilka faktorer påverkar inträdet respektive utträdet i prostitution enligt organisationerna? För att besvara dessa frågor har denna studie utgått ifrån en kvalitativ metod där intervjuer utförts med fyra olika organisationer. Organisationernas arbete kan sammanfattas i att de utför stödsamtal till de prostituerade och har även en positiv syn på lagstiftningen då de uppgett att den främjar deras arbete. Resultatet påvisar även organisationernas syn på de prostituerade och de olika faktorerna till att kvinnor väljer att ta sig in eller ut ur prostitution. I slutdiskussionen så har vi diskuterat vårt resultat i samband med våra valda teorier, tidigare forskning och litteraturstudier. / Prostitution has had a long history in Sweden and has during the past 20 years had a drastic change because of the Swedish model legislation that aims at criminalizing the buyer of sexual services. In this context, we have been interested in the social work on prostitution and its potential changes in terms of organization. The purpose of the study has therefore been to focus on how different organizations work with prostitution, how they experience the legislation and what factors the organizations consider to influence the women’s entry and exit from prostitution. Our questions in this study have been, (1) How do organizations work with prostitution? (2) How do organizations that fight against prostitution experience the actual legal dispositions in relation to their work? (3) What factors influence the entry and exit into prostitution according to the organizations? In order to answer these questions, this study has been based on a qualitative method in which interviews were conducted with four different organizations. The organizations work can be summarized in that they carry out counseling to the prostitutes and also have a positive view of the legislation because it supports their work. The result also demonstrates the organization's view on the prostitutes and the different factors that lead to the process of entering or exiting the role of prostitution. In the final discussion we have discussed our results in connection with our chosen theories, previous research and literature studies.

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.

January 1, 1999 Sweden was the first country in the world who instituted the law of sex purchase act. It means that now was the person who was buying sex to be criminalized. But in 2005 the law was substituted by a new punishment provision called purchase of sexual services.  But before the law sex purchase act was instituted, Sweden had different types of laws. One law was “lösdrivierilagen”. It means that the prostituted was accused crime. This law was abolished 1965. The purpose with this study is to view two Swedish state public investigations (SOU) that is focusing on prostitution. These two investigations published the years 1962:22 and 1995:15. The third investigations from 2010:49 will be used the consequences of the laws. To do this study gender needs to analyze the investigations. The professor Caroll Lee Bacchi´s method What is the problem represented to be? will be used in this essay.

The aim of this study in social work was to investigate Swedish part-time sex workers' experiences of selling sex, of the Swedish Prohibition of Purchase of Sexual Services Act, of people's attitudes toward selling and buying sexual services and the consequences thereof. In the analysis the Erving Goffman stigma theories were used. Three part-time sex workers described their day-to-day experiences of selling sex as well as holding an ordinary job. None of them experienced that the Prohibition of Purchase of Sexual Services Act had an immediate effect on them in their work, what bothered them most was the attitudes toward sex work from society, friends and relatives. The negative attitude forced them to live a double life. None of the sex workers had the impression that the legislation had any concrete effects on their customers. One sex worker expressed the view that the law itself could be a trigger for some customers and that it also helped preserve a negative and disparaging attitude toward sex workers in society. The study concluded that prostitution is a multifaceted phenomenon that has been a victim of simplification in many previous studies, partly for ideological purposes, and recommended a more individual perspective on the matter.

In Sweden prostitution is by many considered to be a social problem that primarily affects women. To counteract prostitution is a political priority and as a result the purchase of sexual services is prohibited by law. Since the law that prohibits the purchase of sexual services entered into force it has been continuously debated and widely disputed. The aim of this thesis is to compare the image of prostitution found in the travaux préparatoires of the law with four sex workers’ view of the phenomenon. A discourse analysis is performed to establish which images of prostitution appear in theory and in practice. The results show that the images of prostitution in the travaux préparatoires of the law differ widely from the views expressed by the interviewees. The discourses identified in the travaux préparatoires unanimously emphasize the injurious effects of the prostitution and the exposed situation of the sex workers. In the discourses identified in the interview material the businesslike aspects of prostitution and the sex workers’ autonomy is emphasized. The results raise questions about the completeness of the travaux préparatoires and bring the need for studies where different groups of sex workers are questioned to the fore.