Justice committee  As I told you before, I don't support the bill in its entirety because I disapprove deeply of the criminalization of those who are victims in prostitution. I think that is unconstitutional and contrary to any gender equality or human rights measures. I do, however, support an ame

Justice committee  It is true that Sweden has a more comprehensive approach than other countries, mainly because our focus on this started 10 years before the other two countries in Scandinavia that have done it. But if you look at other countries in Europe that are now considering having a similar

Justice committee  Sorry, but I didn't hear the last part. You trust that...?

Justice committee  That's right. In 2008 a special inquiry was put in place, chaired by the Chancellor of Justice, looking at the effects.

Justice committee  The inquiry did a comparative study between Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. At the time, Norway did not have the provisions that criminalized the buyers; nor had they the more comprehensive approach that Sweden took. In Denmark, the approach is to not implement the legislation, whic

Justice committee  That's correct. But I also want to say that in the 16 years that we've been doing this, we have not been able, of course, to eliminate prostitution and human trafficking completely. Also, I want to add— I'm sorry...?

Justice committee  Let me look at both the underground and violence. First of all, “underground” is not a place. It's impossible for prostitution to go underground. In order for buyers to be in contact with those they want to purchase in prostitution, there needs to be a communication. That can b

Justice committee  Violence was also included in the special inquiry. But also, if you talk with women who have experience in prostitution in Sweden who are not related to the prostitution industry, they will tell you that the prostitution industry as such is a very violent place to be, and there i

Justice committee  Again, just as an aside, I am a Canadian citizen and I have lived in Canada for many years so I'm quite aware of the system. I think if we want to take a comprehensive approach to the prevention and tackling of prostitution, it needs to include aspects of, for example, training

Justice committee  If you're referring to the communication offence that is related to those who are exploited in prostitution, if that is retained that would make bad policy, yes. But it would also have serious direct effects on the victims, obviously.

Justice committee  I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.

Justice committee  As for the communication provision that relates to selling a sexual service, as it is phrased in the bill, I would argue that it is unconstitutional because it targets those who are victims of, first of all, a human rights violation but also a crime. I think it would specifical

Justice committee  If I look at our experience in Sweden, first, it was incredibly important to us, when we created the Swedish approach and then implemented it, that what we did was based firmly on principles. In our case we looked at gender equality, international human rights, and anti-discrimin

Justice committee  Good morning to you, and good afternoon from Copenhagen. I am, in fact, not a professor of law yet. I am a Canadian lawyer and I've worked on prostitution and human trafficking issues since the late 1980s in a number of countries. First, I would like to thank the committee for