At the turn of the year, it has been 28 years since Sweden was the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay for a sexual act, but not to sell sex. Since then, seven countries have followed suit. Three years ago, the first American state, Maine in the northeastern United States, also criminalized the purchase of sex based on the Swedish model.
When Felicia Womack, founder of the organization "Wake up brother" which works internationally against prostitution and sexual exploitation, found out about it, she saw great opportunities.
- Now the law has the potential to spread to the other states, but if it doesn't work in Maine, there is no reason for the others to follow. It is strategically important, she says.
It was "Wake up brother" who initiated a collaboration between the countries, after a representative from the police in Maine said that many within the agency do not understand how the law should be used.
- He said: "what if my colleagues could talk to your colleagues", she says.
It was the starting point for the exchange between Sweden and the USA, which was also supported by the Swedish Consulate General in New York. In October, a delegation consisting of the Malmö police Elisabeth Cewers, the lawyer and plaintiff's assistant Silvia Ingolfsdottir, the prosecutor Karin Lundström Kron and Felicia Womack traveled to Maine. There they met police officers and lectured the state's prosecutor.
The legislation in Maine is similar to the Swedish one. But in Maine, those convicted of buying sex can in some cases choose between seven days in jail or going through a program aimed at getting the person to stop buying sex. In Sweden, most people are sentenced to daily fines or suspended sentences.
There are big differences in the American and Swedish approach to prostitution. That's what Malmö police officer Elisabeth Cewers thinks. She works operationally and preventively against human trafficking and prostitution. She wants to convey that instead of seeing a woman or man in prostitution as a criminal, the police should work on the basis that the person is probably a crime victim.
- Not only in prostitution, but they are often exposed to other crimes.
Meeting the people respectfully and humanely can lead to human traffickers and pimps, and give the police information about other crimes, she believes.
- I want to make them understand that the road to hookers and human trafficking goes through the women.
In Malmö alone, several hundred sex purchases take place every day, but few are detected. The police's resources are few and knowledge is generally low, believes Elisabeth Cewers. In the past, prostitution took place on certain streets in the big cities. Today it is found on online escort sites but also in Thai massage parlors and in gang and drug environments. Elisabeth Cewers says that around 99 percent of the sex trade is organized by someone operating in the background.
- You can follow where the disasters are taking place in the world. Now the women come from, for example, Ukraine, Venezuela and Colombia, says Felicia Womack.
The photo is shared by the lawyer Silvia Ingolfsdottir who, in her role as plaintiff's attorney, represents women who have been subjected to human trafficking and pimping. She describes how the same women are moved around the country, booked for a couple of days at a time in different cities before moving on. Someone else rents apartments for them and arranges the trips, she says.
- There is no one who is here from another country where it is not organized. It is so lucrative and where there is money to be made there is crime. A woman's body can be reused again and again, a pack of cocaine is consumed.
Sweden can also learn from American experiences, says Silvia Ingolfsdottir. She was the plaintiff's counsel for the woman in Kramfors whose husband was convicted of having sold her to over a hundred men. She says that the American justice system is better at so-called domestic trafficking, prostitution in a relationship.
- We believe that we are so equal in Sweden. We have not understood how the normalization process works but believe that the women have a choice to leave and that it is about love when it is the emotional bond that the perpetrator uses to achieve control, she says.
In the spring, it is time for the second part of the exchange, when around ten police officers and prosecutors from Maine will come to Malmö and Stockholm. There, among other things, Elisabeth Cewers will share with her American colleagues how the Swedish police work.
- I want to show how we work with treatment and what it can result in. And what it looks like with escort sites, they have that problem too, but maybe they don't work on it as much.
Felicia Womack says that although Sweden is often seen as an international leading country, there is still much to develop. Recently, the National Audit Office criticized the work of several authorities against human trafficking for sexual purposes.
- But we must remember that we have a big role to play in the world by giving the vision that this is possible, she says.
