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.