”den stigmatiserar mig bara ännu mer” : en fallstudie kring den svenska sexköpslagens effekter på sexarbetande kvinnors liv

Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce a law that criminalized the buyer of sexual services but not the seller. The aim of this study is to contribute with an understanding of how female sex workers rights are being affected by the Swedish sex purchase law. To reach a conclusion, the author of this thesis tries to sort out which norms, beliefs, attitudes and/or values that are hidden behind the surface of the Swedish sex purchase law and its stated objectives, and to further figure out in which ways these are problematic from a human rights perspective. To get an understanding of how sex workers rights are being affected by the law, a qualitative in depth interview with a previous sex worker was conducted in April 2011. The material from this interview has been used as the main source for answering the questions of this study. Prostitution, presented as a unitary phenomenon within Swedish politics where exploitation and oppression of women are central aspects, results in sex workers whom do not identify themselves within this definition being ignored and degraded, which is happening with the interviewee in this study. Although the law aims to protect sex workers, it seems to maintain and reproduce social stigma around sex workers. Old attitudes surrounding sexuality and sexual preferences can be seen as a root to sex workers being degraded in the Swedish society. This study also suggests that sexual stigma and censorship of sex workers can itself be seen as oppression of women, in accordance with the interviewee’s experiences