Ideologiska förutsättningar för den svenska och den tyska prostitutionslagstiftningen

Abstract

"The ideological bases for prostitution policies in Sweden and Germany" by Susanne Dodillet, PhD Candidate at the Department of History of Ideas. At the end of the twentieth century, both Germany and Sweden engaged in extensive discussions on prostitution - discussions that resulted in two very different prostitution policies. Whereas the purchase (but not the selling) of sexual favörs was forbidden in Sweden, prostitution was made a legal profession in Germany. This artide examines the debates that preceded these legislations and analyses their ideological backgrounds. The ideas behind the Swedish client criminalization are traced back to the welfare ideology of the 1930s. Sweden, still known for its sexual liberalism during the 1950s and 1960s has at no time during the 20th century accepted prostitution. Prostitution has been condemned as an expression for the gender inequality in the society.The Germans renounciation of explicit feminist arguments, on the other hand, can be explained by the power struggles between the conservative Christian Democratic parties and the liberal left wing in the German parliament and a broad skepticism toward feminist ideas in the parliament. Also the leftist German legislators understand their prostitution lawthat approved prostitution as a regular profession - as a way of liberating woman. Apart from their Swedish colleaugues the supporters of the German legislators had to disguise their arguments into a new rhetoric to be accepted in the parliament. They also adopted a liberal attitude towards sexual behaviors that have been oppressed by conservative double standards and Christian norms.