Security, Equality and the Clash of Ideas: Sweden’s Evolving Policy Towards the Trafficking of Women for Sexual Purposes

Abstract

Since 1999, Sweden has banned the purchase (albeit not the sale) of sexual services, a policy strongly influenced by powerful domestic ideas regarding gender power imbalances. Upon the adoption of this legislation, the public debate shifted to include the issue of trafficking, as both policy entrepreneurs and policymakers sought additional means to decrease the supply of, and demand for, commercial sexual services. Yet, while ideas about gender equality were also prominent in this new debate, initial policies chiefly reflected more entrenched securitization concerns. The impact of a gendered ideational framework on policy first occurred when a political consensus emerged in favor of granting permanent residency to victims of trafficking who assist criminal prosecutors. Far from being a radical shift in which the persuasive power of one set of ideas fully displaced another, we argue that concerns over the integrity over national borders and fighting transnational organized crime remain largely dominant. A gendered perspective may have achieved inroads in terms of shaping policy, but it still holds a comparatively weaker position in terms of overall influence.