This article was originally published on Kilden - Information and news about gender research in Norway. Read the original article. Where Does it Stand? They have looked at both desired and unintended effects. According to Skilbrei, the research field is so politicised that one needs to be extra critical to the research. Even the number of prostitutes in Sweden before and after the introduction of the ban is difficult to determine, according to Skilbrei.
There are several reasons why the prostitution research field is so complex and difficult to get a clear overview of, according to Skilbrei. Historically, for instance, we have seen that people sell sex regardless of whether it is illegal or not, also in countries in which prostitution is punishable by death. Actors come and go, some are involved only for shorter periods and are not necessarily detected by the authorities.
When the police in Northern Italy become more violent, the Nigerian women who used to sell sex there migrate to northern Europe. They run from something rather than to something, and are not necessarily affected by which laws are in force in the country to where they travel. The regulations in the field of prostitution are often complicated, and the same regulations do not apply in all countries.
Neither is the market only affected by one set of laws. For instance, immigration acts may be equally as significant as sex purchase acts: Immigrant women who sell sex and come into contact with the police risk deportation, which also happens in Norway. But this is the case in many European countries, and is just as much a result of other factors such as the internet and the Immigration Act.
The police also work much more actively now in order to clean up the public space than they used to. The latter is often part of a gentrification process — an urban development in which old working-class districts are taken over by the middle class and other more wealthy sections of the population. There is less prostitution in places where drug addicts are offered treatment. Factors such as migration, technology and urban development also contribute to changing the composition of the market, where prostitution takes place and who is selling sex.
