Commercial Sexual Exploitation
and the
Equality Model
Resources, relevant news, and important litigation
Issue Summary: Commercial Sexual Exploitation and The Equality Model
“I was not allowed to turn any john away or turn any john down. The johns were gross. I felt like crap... Most of the time I just wanted to end it all. End my life. I was beaten and made to feel like crap.”
Women are not products to be bought and sold. Policies that legalize or fully decriminalize prostitution normalize sexual violence, fail to protect victims, and fail to hold pimps and punters accountable for their systematic exploitation of female people. The Equality Model (previously called The Nordic Model) criminalizes the buying of people’s bodies while also protecting victims and providing resources for victims who want to leave “the life.”
The Equality Model Decreases Sex Trafficking
A common myth about Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is that if countries fully decriminalize or legalize prostitution, victims will be protected from traffickers and buyers. The so-called logic behind this belief about legalization is that prostituted women will be “employees,” just like in any other business, and if their customers become violent or if these employees do not like the “work,” they can easily seek help from law enforcement. This myth also promotes the notion that there is a clear, easily identifiable line between “sex work” and “sex trafficking.” Advocates for full decriminalization or legalization claim that victims of sex trafficking need help, but that many women (and even children) “choose” to sell their bodies because they enjoy the experiences or enjoy the financial rewards.
Research demonstrates that legalization of prostitution actually increases sex trafficking and does not make it easier for prostituted people to seek help or escape. This is because full decriminalization or legalization of prostitution normalizes the sexual violence that is inherent in this “business.” When governments normalize prostitution by making it legal or fully decriminalized, buyers and traffickers (brothel owners, etc.) feel justified in their behaviors. This is because the governments have sent a clear signal that people’s bodies are “products” that can be purchased in “business transactions.” Because of the normalization of this form of sexual violence, men’s demand for victims’ bodies increases, and traffickers see that even more profit can be made. In summary: when prostitution is normalized, buyers’ demand increases… and when buyers’ demand increases, traffickers’ activities increase, too.
“Countries with legalized prostitution are associated with higher human trafficking inflows than countries where prostitution is prohibited.”
- Harvard Law Report
The Equality Model decreases sex trafficking. This is because, under the Equality Model, buyers and traffickers are recognized as sexual predators; they are targeted by law enforcement. Demand for victims’ bodies decreases because buyers are concerned that they will be arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated. Many buyers are especially concerned about social stigma and humiliation; they seek to avoid public acknowledgement of their behaviors. When demand decreases, traffickers have fewer incentives to target and traffic victims.
To learn more about how the Equality Model decreases sex trafficking and reduces demand, here are just a few articles to get you started:
The Latest News on Our Fight Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Women Speak: How Commercial Sexual Exploitation Dehumanizes Women and Incites Male Violence, European Perspectives
WoLF is joined by Inge Kleine (radical feminist and activist in Munich, Germany), Francine Sporenda (French-American author and Ph.D.), and Yagmur Uygarkizi (Turkish and French politics student) to discuss the ways in which the sex industry directly exploits women in porn and prostitution while engendering disrespect and normalizing male aggression towards all of us.
Learn More
Learn more about why prostitution is a form of sexual violence and how the Equality Model can help make the world a safer place for women and girls:
The Equality Model US
A campaign to enact the Equality Model in the US.
Nordic Model Now
The movement for the abolition of prostitution.
Prostitution Research & Education
An extensive collection of research articles and resources.
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
An open access, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing original articles on analyzing exploitation and violence.
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
One of the oldest international organizations working to end the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls.
National Center on Sexual Exploitation
The leading 501c(3) non-profit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.
Key WoLF Resources on The Sex Industry
Download our printable one-pager on Prostitution and the Equality Model
This downloadable PDF provides a high-level overview of the hardships facing victims of prostitution, support for the Equality Model, and testimony from survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.