The Social Democrat leadership wants to reverse the party's 1999 decision to decriminalise prostitution
A proposal by the Social Democrats to outlaw prostitution has met public and political resistance.
In advance of their annual congress this coming weekend, the Social Democrats have aired a proposal that would bring Denmark in line with legislation in Norway and Sweden.
Party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt said Denmark was the only remaining country in the region without laws preventing the purchase of sex from prostitutes, and this left it open to becoming a haven for the sex trade. This comes after a long-term discussion within the party over such a move.In 1999, when the party was in power, prostitution was decriminalised. This made it legal to have prostitution as one’s main source of income. Since 1930, prostitution had been allowed only as a secondary source of income. Pimping and running a brothel are still criminal activities.
‘Despite the problems associated with a ban, we’re now taking the step to work for a full ban on sexual services,’ Thorning-Schmidt said.
Other members of the party, however, have expressed their concern about the effects of such a ban.‘I’m concerned about women who earn a living as prostitutes,’ MP Morten Bødskov said. ‘Criminalising prostitution would make the trade even rougher and put it in the hands of criminals.’
He suggested the party instead seek to help women out of prostitution.
The proposal has also met resistance from members of the prime minister’s Liberal Party, MP Sophie Løhde, called the proposal ‘naïve’ and ‘poorly thought out’.
‘It’s an easy answer, but it’s not the answer,’ she said.
She argued that bans in Norway and Sweden had not helped to eliminate prostitution.
The Social Democrats will also face an uphill battle selling their ban to the electorate. In a Rambøll/Analyse Danmark poll for Jyllands-Posten newspaper, only 26 percent said they were in favour of criminalising prostitution.
Within the party’s own ranks, 29 percent said they were in favour.
