1st Edition

Criminalising the Purchase of Sex Lessons from Sweden

By Jay Levy Copyright 2015
304 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

270 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

270 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

In an attempt to abolish prostitution, Sweden criminalised the purchase of sex in 1999, while simultaneously decriminalising its sale. In so doing, it set itself apart from other European states, promoting itself as the pioneer of a radical approach to prostitution. What has come to be referred to as ‘the Swedish model’ has been enormously influential, and has since been adopted and proposed by... Read more

Glossary: Abbreviations, Acronyms, Translations, Introduction: Sweden – A Brief History Of ‘The People’s Home’, Methodology, Chapter 1: The Sexköpslagen – Legal And Discursive Precedent, Chapter 2: Perceptions, Understandings, And Constructions, Chapter 3: Levels And Spaces Of Sex Work In Sweden, Chapter 4: The Swedish Model On Service Provision – The Prostitution Units And Harm Reduction, Chapter 5: The Swedish Model On Service Provision – Sex Workers’ Experiences, Chapter 6: Compromised Citizenship – Outcomes Of Law, Policy, And Discourse, Conclusions: Social Exclusion In Sweden’s ‘People’s Home’, Bibliography

Biography

Jay Levy completed his PhD at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. He works for an NGO in London and freelances as a consultant and researcher. His research interests include the outcomes of sex work and drug legislation and discourse; feminist, gender, and queer theory; harm reduction, HIV/AIDS, STI, and blood-borne infection policy and law.

"Dr Levy spent several years living in Sweden, conducting research on the sex purchase ban for a PhD at Cambridge University. His book, Criminalising the Purchase of Sex: Lessons from Sweden, is a thorough examination of the Swedish prostitution law, its effects and its actual aims, alongside what is purported by supporters of the legislation. With Sweden's concerted efforts to export their model of prostitution law and countries, particularly in the European Union, pushed to consider the approach, this work is timely and essential reading."- Ella Parsons, English Collective of Prostitues: Saftety for Sex Workers