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In sweden, prostitution is legal, so sex workers can contact police without fear.

However, pimping, brothels and buying sexual services is illegal.

Buying sexual services is illegal ?

What does that mean ? A prostitute can just finger a client to the police as a client and the client gets arrested ?

I doubt that would be grounds for an arrest, but there have been stakeouts where they arrested every customer coming out of a certain apartment.

> Buying sexual services is illegal?

It's a way of making prostitution illegal without making the prostitute the one taking the risk. That way a prostitute can report an assault, without fear of recrimination.

Also, yes, the punter is taking a bigger risk and therefore less likely to engage such services.

> No person (especially government) should ever be telling you what you can and can't do with your body.

Can I put drugs in it? Kill myself? Decide when is fetus is/ins't "my" body?

It might be your body, but it's not your country. Have sex with whoever you like, but as soon as you charge for it, it's a business.

> Can I put drugs in it? Kill myself? Decide when is fetus is/ins't "my" body?

Yes, Yes and Yes. It is your body and my personal moral compass tells me it is absolutely wrong to tell another person what they can or can't do with their own body just because of someone else's view on morality.

> It might be your body, but it's not your country. Have sex with whoever you like, but as soon as you charge for it, it's a business.

Whose country is it then?

> Yes, Yes and yes

And if my compass differs, is it also wrong to tell me what I can't do to protect the body of a foetus?

> Whose country is it then?

Everyone's, as administered by a democratic government. Try running a business without paying taxes, or abiding by business regulations.

I don't think it's any women choice to be a prostitute. Did you read the article? She had an abusive step-father and had nobody to talk to.

People are forced to do it and when they start is hard to end. Goverments should have something to say as they are to protect people and being a prostitute is not a solution for lack of education or money.

Yes I read the article and shouldn't the government then focus more time on providing emotional support for adults who were abused as children rather than criminalising an industry because one person (or even a group of people) are in it because they were abused. I'm sure whether she was a sex worker or working in another job she would have struggled emotionally with what happened to her.

What about the people who have to work in McDonalds? Should the government also ban those jobs, where staff are around dangerous hot cooking equipment, rude customers, rude management, dangerous spills that could make them fall? It's a hard life and people have to make money. By criminalising an industry you are preventing people who don't share your own ethical beliefs from making a living. And sex pays a hell of a lot better than McDonalds and has better working hours. Just because people (government) thinks (and it is "thinks" not knows) that sex is unethical and dirty does not make it true.

Also while people may believe that no one wants to be a prostitute that's simply not the case. There is a great deal of people who enjoy it or at a very minimum see it as a legitimate way to make money. You (and government) have to be very careful that they don't enforce their own ethics and policies on people unless it is absolutely necessary (e.g. rape, killing, etc)

> sex pays a hell of a lot better than McDonalds

That's the problem. Drug dealing also pays a lot, I don't think that should be legalized either.

They do it because they need money fast. If you don't have a passport, education or speak the language its a job that's always looking for new applications.

Prostitution has always existed and will continue to exist for as long as one needs money to buy food. Religion, morality, ethics or laws be damned.

> Prostitution has always existed and will continue to exist for as long as one needs money to buy food.

Agreed. So let's give them the same legal protections we give every other person.

I don't think it's any women choice to be a prostitute.

Well that's presumptuous, patronizing, and paternal.

Frankly, I find it remarkable that this article paints this woman as some sort of representative for all prostitutes. Funny they didn't write an article about her back when she was pro-legalization. But I suppose that's a less interesting story

This is one person, with one opinion, based on experiences with one, arguably broken, decriminalization regime.

New Zealand sounds like a great place to learn lessons about legalizing prostitution. I think it's a mistake to assume that lesson is that it doesn't work, particularly given the known issues with abolition.