Dear FOSME colleagues,
We are in the early stages of preparing a special issue proposal for an
international journal (e.g., Sexuality Research and Social Policy or
similar) focused on Sweden’s approach to the exchange of sexual services
for payment.
We are now reaching out to gauge interest from members of this list. If you
are working on relevant research and would consider contributing, please
let us know by replying “yes” to this email. The focus of your contribution
could be legal, empirical, theoretical, or practice-based.
A formal call for abstracts will follow after the upcoming conference. In
the meantime, we welcome expressions of interest or questions. See the call
for abstracts below, which is a draft.
Call for Abstracts – Special Issue Proposal
Working Title: Two Decades of Criminalizing Sex Purchase in Sweden: Policy,
Practice, and Resistance
In 1999, Sweden became the first country to criminalize the purchase of
sex, positioning the law as a cornerstone of its gender equality agenda and
as a tool to combat violence against women. This approach has since been
exported and debated across the globe.
Over the past two decades, Sweden has increasingly expanded the scope of
criminalization. Recent developments include stricter penalties, including
the possibility of prison sentences for those who pay for sexual services,
and a 2025 proposal to criminalize the purchase of digital sexual content,
such as services offered via platforms like OnlyFans. Simultaneously,
Sweden has faced growing criticism for failing to deliver the promised
investments in social services that were intended to support those who sell
sexual services.
This special issue brings together critical perspectives on the legal,
social, and political aspects of Sweden’s approach. It aims to examine how
the criminalization of exchanging sex for payment has reshaped policy and
practice, and to foreground the experiences of those most affected by the
law, especially people who sell sexual services, who have increasingly
mobilized in response to the law’s repressive impacts.
Topics may include (but are not limited to):
• Legal and policy developments since 1999
• The experiences of people who sell or pay for sexual services
• Digital sexual services and online regulation
• Social work and welfare responses
• Sex worker rights activism in Sweden
• Public attitudes and cultural narratives
Warm regards,
Isabelle, Niina, and Jenny.
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Isabelle
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Isabelle
