FOR DECADESSweden was seen as the epitome of sexual freedom, so much so that President Dwight Eisenhower fulminated in 1960 that its people tended towards “sin, nudity, drunkenness”. In 1971 it followed Denmark to become the second country in the world to legalise all forms of pornography. Yet Sweden has been altogether more prudish when it comes to prostitution, having originated the so-called Nordic Model in 1999, which criminalised the purchase of sex, but not its sale, with the intention of reducing demand while protecting vulnerable women. This model has since spread widely. In the past decade, France, Ireland, Israel and the American state of Maine have all adopted it; Scotland is considering it.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Sex work in the gig economy”
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