The Swedish Model

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I will argue that it is justified for the government to implement the Swedish model, that is, to criminalise the purchase of sexual services.
Government’s role in a country is to protect, stabilise, and ensure the welfare of its people, and therefore, one of the most important functions of a government is to protect its people’s rights and dignity through the regulations it makes. Prostitution, or the act of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money, is commonly seen as a serious threat towards a society’s morality and humans’ right, autonomy and dignity.1 Therefore, it is a widespread practice for governments to try to reduce the occurrence of prostitution, commonly by criminalising prostitution, or making the selling of sex illegal. …show more content…

However, the implementation of Swedish model places the burden on the clients, or buyers of the sexual service, which sets it apart from the other two alternatives. This may be seen as a form of invasion or intervention done by the government towards the personal life and decision of their people. These are important and controversial issues that need to be assessed carefully to provide justification for the implementation of the Swedish model. Therefore, I will focus this essay more on assessing these issues specific to the implementation of the Swedish …show more content…

Prostitution is deemed as an “immoral” occupation especially in a more conservative and religious society since sexual activities are viewed as a sacred activity that is done by a married couple under the religious and traditional view. Traditional and radical feminists also viewed prostitution as “immoral” since it reinforces both male dominance over women and gender inequality. 7
Aside from the immorality of prostitution, engaging in prostitution exposes the prostitutes towards different risks, such as sexually transmitted diseases, violence, social stigma, and lack of legal protections. These factors have made prostitution to be viewed as immoral and inherently wrong.
However, aside from the values assigned by religions and cultures towards sexuality, prostitution is essentially providing bodily services with certain risks, which in Nussbaum’s view is just the same with other occupations such as being a domestic worker, chicken plucker, or even a colonoscopy artist. 8 Therefore, these characteristics are not enough to justify that prostitution is morally wrong, as we will not classify those similar occupations as

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