The year is According to the national press, Nigerian women are flocking to Norway to sell sexual services. She has analyzed the media coverage of prostitution from the s to the present day in order to explain why Norway has criminalized the purchase of sexual services.
She characterizes the s as the decade of human trafficking. It was also the decade when Norway enacted the Sex Purchase Act. The analysis of the media coverage indicates that the s were not only the decade of human trafficking, but also the decade of migration fears.
Foreign prostitution in itself was not a new phenomenon in Norway. In the s prostitutes came from Thailand, and in the s they came from Russia. When prostitution was presented as a phenomenon that got worse and worse, solutions had to be found. Society was supposed to rescue the victims of human trafficking. The highly visible Nigerian prostitutes, however, were a problem that society wanted to get rid of.
The analyses provide some answers to how and why Norway adopted a sex purchase law. The general public and researchers want to understand how the discussion unfolded. They carried out seven evaluations related to prostitution before they criminalized the purchase of sex in Articles from the s and s portray prostitution as an obvious and understandable social phenomenon in which young women deceive men. The women are infectious, the men guiltless. But something happens in the s. At this time the media writes about prostitution as if it were a symptom of another unwelcome phenomenon: Youth who roam the streets and use drugs.
Prostitution is not defined as a problem in itself or for the people involved. It is depicted either as exotic or a nuisance, often tied to criminal activity. Society must do something about the problem, but not through legislation. Social work is the new, up-and-coming solution. Photo: www. In the s, feminists come on the scene with a vengeance. Prostitution is clearly defined as a distinct social problem. It deals with women and it deals with violence.
