Violence against Women and Prostitution,

“From paper to practice”

Cyprus 29.11.2012

Gudrun Jonsdottir

Spokesperson of Stigamot

Services for women leaving

prostitution

• Stigamot rape, incest; later prostitution and trafficking

• A Hot line

40-50 women in • 40-50 women in prostitution a year

• Shelter for women leaving prostitution and trafficking

• The Swan groups

The strip clubs in Iceland

• In the year 2000 – 1000 foreign women

brought in for the 13 strip clubs in Iceland

• One/100 adult men

• Stayed for a month, came from the Baltic and • Stayed for a month, came from the Baltic and

other poor countries

• Popular and normalized

• In reality brothels with many signs of

trafficking

The buyers responsibility

• Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish

law; prostitution is violence

• Therefore criminalisation

• In Sweden, 150 buyers per woman • In Sweden, 150 buyers per woman

(from 13%-8%)

• Without buyers, no prostitution

• Buyers cannot distinguish between

prostitution and trafficking

• Without porn and prostitution, no

trafficking

Porn, prostitution and trafficking

different faces of the same violenceUN Palermo Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

Trafficking

• without crossing boarders

• prostitution or other forms of • prostitution or other forms of

sexual exploitation

• consent doesn´t matter if the

women´s vulnerability is abused

We cannot distinguish between porn, prostitution and trafficking

The Swedish and the Icelandic models

in the fight against the porn industry

• The Swedish model; the

buying of women is

forbidden

• The Icelandic model

Closing the stores – the

strip clubs are forbidden

Enough is enough!Icelandic women are still going strong

• The head of police –, wrote a negative statement to the Minister of Justice, which should have been enough to close down the the last club. The Minister of Justice ordered the police to withdraw his statement and write a new one. The minister says that it is unacceptable to use arguments as mentioning possible prostitution and trafficking, because there are no proofs. This means that the owner will keep on his business as usual.

• Some brave activists (my daughter included!) decided that enough is enough. The Ministry of Justice needed a thorough cleaning. They called the whole media, thorough cleaning. They called the whole media, stormed the Ministry with aprons, gloves and cleaning equipment and cleaned. The declaration of Human rights was hanging on the wall, and they gave it a thorough cleaning, they cleaned from under the doormats, and called ”CLEANING, CLEANING” (referring to a recent demonstration in Iceland where the police used gas against demonstrants and called on the direct TV ”GAS, GAS”) The Minister got a chock and called them into his office – excluding the Media. He tried to explain for them and later to media that they where only ignorant women that didn’t understand how the law works.

MANSAL MOTMAELI.mp4

Ideal law, but not implemented

• Buying women is criminalized (Law nr. 54

27. April 2009)

• The strip clubs closed down (law nr. 18, March 25. 2010)

• Not a single policeman investigating • Not a single policeman investigating prostitution

• 8 men sentenced for buying prostitution from the same woman in three years

The conspiracy of silence

• The internet still used to sell women

• Ads in newspapers

• The demand is endless• The demand is endless

• The conspiracy of silence

• An endless challenge to put prostitution on the agenda and make sure that it stays.

•

Operation Big sister!

Underground.....

• The key is anonymity

• Internet, false names,

unregistered phones

• Easy to find by playing the game• Easy to find by playing the game

• Therefore anonymity and Burkas

• Big sister explored the

prostitution market

• 85 women, putting in ads, testing

the limits, sending buyers around

Prostitution can´t survive in daylight!

• Reported 56 full names, 117

phone numbers and 26 e-

mail adresses of buyers

• A press conferance covered A press conferance covered

by the whole media

• Special invitation to buyers

(Icelandic Model Agency)

• Are only just starting ....

• The police will not use the

evidence.

• Huge debate

Changing attitudes, changing lives ! “I urge the ministers to wear the glasses every day at work ” JS Prime minister

– Majority in every political party for criminalizing criminalizing buying of women

– 83 % of women

– 57% of men

Greatings from Stigamot!