Amnesty says no and has called for the oldest profession to be decriminalised. Richard Orange hears the arguments in Malmo. The year-old Polish woman has been selling sex on and off in the country for a decade, but when the police turned up outside the apartment she was renting on Wednesday, arresting the Swedish man inside and grilling her about how she runs her business, it was something new.
He was a really nice guy and he will get one month to six years [the maximum prison sentence is in fact one year]. This is Sweden. In , Sweden became the first country to criminalise the purchase of sex while leaving the selling of it legal, establishing a model which has been adopted by Norway, Iceland, and, more recently, Canada and Northern Ireland. As a result, Cora and her friend Paula can expect few repercussions. But in our work we get so much money there.
Cora is as global as they come. She and Paula move between Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Qatar, Dubai and Singapore, renting an apartment in each place for up to two weeks and then advertising on the internet.
The only exception is Dubai, where they are always hired by the same billionaire for the enjoyment of his guests. And with her lively, easygoing character, she makes it almost seem fun. But she was the only one to agree to talk out of more than 20 women with adverts on a Swedish sex website.
Many were African, Asian or Latin American. My opinion can change in an instant because I hear a new story. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
