CARE hopes UK will follow Norway on tougher prostitution laws

Christian social advocacy charity CARE has welcomed the vote in the Norwegian Parliament this week in favour of making payment for sexual acts a criminal offence in order to protect vulnerable women and children.

The law passed with 44 votes in favour and 28 against and will come into effect on January 1, 2009.

CARE said the legislation, inspired by the success of neighbouring Sweden which criminalised the purchasing of sex in 1999, was more robust than the present law in Sweden and set a new pace for prostitution law reform that it hopes will influence the UK.

Designed to reduce trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation in Norway, the legislation is welcomed by many Norwegian NGOs.

Maya Brenna Nielxem, of Norway's ROSA project, said, “We strongly support this law as it is of ultimate importance that society makes a statement to the trafficking victims that we do not condone the sale and rape of them.

"We hope that this will reduce the levels of trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation in Norway."

Norway is a country of destination for trafficking in women and children. The majority of trafficking victims come from or through the Baltic states, other Central and Eastern European countries, and Russia, as well as from Latin America and Thailand. Recently Norwegian Government authorities have expressed their awareness of the growing problem of trafficking into the country.

This week, the UK Home Office announced changes to British prostitution law, introducing the offence of paying for sex with someone who is controlled for gain along with giving new powers to police to close down premises where sexual exploitation is taking place.

Nola Leach, CARE Chief Executive says, “We are encouraged that the Government is tackling the demand for trafficking and prostitution.

"Although this is a positive step forward we are concerned that anything less than a blanket ban on payment for sex (as in Norway) will not go far enough to protect vulnerable people."