A fierce political debate is currently taking place in Great Britain regarding commercial sex. Diana Johnson, a Labour Party MP, has made a series of efforts to criminalise the purchase of sexual services in line with what is known as the ‘Nordic model’. Echoing arguments made elsewhere, Johnson and her colleagues at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Commercial Sexual Exploitation maintain that this model will help reduce human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Or, as she likes to put it, “bust the business model of sex trafficking”.
Johnson’s proposal has provoked strong opposition by sex workers and their allies. In April 2021, the UK’s Decrim Now campaign published an open letter opposing the Nordic model that was signed by over 150 anti-trafficking and sex work experts, academics and activists (as well as the two authors of this article). This letter maintained that there is a compelling body of evidence demonstrating that the Nordic model has not worked elsewhere, and that it would have all kinds of harmful effects upon marginalised sex workers if it were introduced in the UK.
Preventing human trafficking forms a major part of Johnson’s case for the Nordic model, yet numerous organisations who have dedicated themselves to ending trafficking have expressed no public opinion at all about the merits of her proposed legislation. Not all civil society organisations have been reluctant to take a stand. Other prominent civil society voices, including Amnesty International, Liberty, and Momentum, have taken a position in support of sex worker rights, so this widespread reluctance amongst anti-trafficking organisations to take a public stance warrants further inquiry.
