Largely the Same Policy, But Largely Different Ideas: The Ideational Underpinnings of the Norwegian and Swedish Bans on the Purchase of Sexual Services

Abstract

Norway and Sweden have both criminalized the purchase of sexual services. Some scholars attribute the sex purchase ban in Norway to the successful lobbying of feminist activists. Examining the prostitution policy reform processes in both countries, this article argues that Norway’s turn to criminalization responded to public outrage over the sudden arrival of Nigerian prostitutes in downtown Oslo, construing the problem of prostitution as cross-border trafficking. By contrast, the earlier sex purchase ban in Sweden resulted chiefly from policy entrepreneurs successfully deploying gender equality ideas, in conjunction with causal stories about the abuse suffered by female prostitutes.