365: What 25 Years of Sweden’s Sex Purchase Act Revealed

Anna-Carin Svensson joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how Sweden’s decision to punish buyers instead of victims has reshaped who feels safe coming forward — and how that same principle is now being applied to hold online exploitation accountable.

Anna-Carin Svensson

Anna-Carin Svensson serves as Sweden’s Ambassador to Combat Trafficking in Persons, representing Sweden in multilateral anti-trafficking efforts including at the United Nations. In this role, she has participated in high-level discussions related to the appraisal of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, including the side event “Proactive by Design: Leveraging Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Digital Innovation to Prevent Human Trafficking.”

Previously, Svensson served as Director-General for International Affairs at the Swedish Ministry of Justice, where she led Swedish delegations in international human rights forums and oversaw Sweden’s implementation of international legal obligations, including under the Convention against Torture. Across her career, she has consistently emphasized state responsibility, institutional accountability, cross-government coordination, and the importance of translating legislation into effective practice.

Key Points

Sweden’s Sex Purchase Act, introduced in 1999, was a landmark legal shift that criminalized the buyer of sexual services rather than the seller, placing the state firmly on the side of the more vulnerable party in the transaction and signaling that prostitution is a harm to all of society — not just to the individual.
A 2010 official evaluation of the law found measurable results: street prostitution decreased, criminal networks were deterred from establishing trafficking operations in Sweden, and public attitudes shifted significantly — evidence that law can have both a direct and a normative effect.
As exploitation moved online, Sweden updated its legislation in 2025 to extend the same principle into the digital space, criminalizing the purchase of live, on-demand sexual acts performed remotely — because if something is illegal offline, it must be illegal online.
Many victims who had been coerced into performing live cam shows said the new law would have made it easier for them to refuse, illustrating how legal frameworks can shift power back to the exploited person even before a crime is prosecuted.
Correct application of the law matters as much as the law itself — broad training across all professions, not just specialized units, is essential so that any first responder can recognize a victim, give an appropriate initial response, and connect them to the right support.
Multidisciplinary collaboration is not optional: criminal justice, social services, civil society, health professionals, schools, and international partners must all work in concert, because victims often feel safer disclosing to a social worker or nonprofit than to law enforcement, and that trust must be honored.
Digital literacy and healthy relationship education must begin before exploitation happens — teaching young people to recognize manipulation, loverboy tactics, and online red flags is one of the most important prevention investments a society can make.
Hope lies in the growing global community of organizations and individuals bringing creative, collaborative solutions to every aspect of this problem — and in the simple recognition that for every challenge, there are many possible answers.

Resources

Transcript

[00:00:00] Anna-Carin Svensson: the catch line was, if it’s illegal offline, it must be illegal online.

[00:00:08] Speaker: For more than 25 years, Sweden has taken a different approach to trafficking by punishing buyers instead of victims, and that legal choice has reshaped who feels safe. Coming forward in this episode, you’ll hear how that decision changed incentives, reduced harm, and why accountability depends not just on having laws, but applying them correctly.

[00:00:31] Ambassador Svensson also shares how Sweden updated its legislation as exploitation moved online. What that shift means for prevention today. Hi, I’m Delaney. I’m a student here at Vanguard University and I help produce this show. Today, Sandie talks with Ambassador Anna-Carin Svensson, Sweden’s ambassador to Combat Trafficking in Persons who represents Sweden in global anti-trafficking efforts in the United Nations.

[00:00:58] And now here’s their conversation.

[00:01:07] I’m very happy to welcome to our podcast, Sweden’s Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking in Persons, Ambassador Anna-Carin Svensson. Welcome.

[00:01:20] Anna-Carin Svensson: Thank you so much. Happy to be here.

[00:01:23] Sandie Morgan: Well, I was privileged to meet you at the UN recently during the UN appraisal of the global Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons. And I’m curious, what was your perspective as far as what was accomplished at that appraisal?

[00:01:46] Anna-Carin Svensson: Well, I was very fortunate to be there for the first time, and I think it was a great opportunity to meet like-minded colleagues from all over the world to take stock of what is happening in this particular area and to see that we have indeed large problems and we share many challenges, but there are also, you can trade experiences, the best practices.

[00:02:21] It’s a great way of getting together and seeing what is the state of cooperation against trafficking in human beings in the world today. And there are many ways of doing that, of course, in the corridors and listening to speeches and meeting new and old colleagues. So I think it was very, very interesting.

[00:02:47] Of course it’s a dire situation. We see almost every year there’s an uptick in how many people are subject to trafficking. So we certainly have a challenge before us, and then we need to have this kind of conversations in the big, global organizations that really offer this platform for us.

I think.

[00:03:12] Sandie Morgan: I was encouraged with the reports of growing numbers of victims being identified, because I feel like that means we’re getting better at identification, but I was discouraged at the very low number of perpetrators that are captured, that are facing prosecution that have been through our criminal justice system.

I really am encouraging my students to pursue careers in criminal justice and they wanna be leaders in anti-human trafficking, and I think holding the perpetrators accountable is really important. So, and you talk a lot about international legal frameworks, and can you especially outline for us Sweden’s leadership, particularly in the equality model and recent legislation.

[00:04:22] Anna-Carin Svensson: I will be happy to do so. I want to go back a bit in time to be able to give you the full picture here. In Sweden, the purchase of sexual services is listed in the criminal code under sexual offenses. So Sweden has had a legislation that criminalizes the purchase but not the sale of sexual services for more than 25 years.

[00:04:49] We introduced this legislation in 1999 and there was a very clear analysis behind this legislation when it was introduced, and it was quite radical at the time. Firstly, by punishing the buyer, but not the seller, the legislature wanted to shift the balances to stand on the side of the weak part in the transaction.

[00:05:13] And secondly, prostitution affects not only the individual who has often a very social, difficult situation of course, but also affects society. Around those that are subject to prostitution, there are often widespread criminality of different kinds, drugs soliciting, often orchestrated by organized criminal network. So the conclusion was that it’s important public concern to address prostitution and its damages.

[00:05:38] Legislation was and is intended to encourage individuals involved in prostitution to seek help, to leave, as they can be confident that there will be no criminal consequences for them and to make it easier for the police and social services to reach out to women in prostitution and initiate support processes.

[00:06:07] of criminal proceedings of perpetrators. So very important to have this criminal justice response as you were talking about. I’ve been talking here about prostitution, but we see a clear link between prostitution and organized crime, but also with prostitution and human trafficking.

[00:06:26] There they’re clearly intertwined and cannot be viewed as two entirely different phenomenon. Prostitution drives demand for trafficking. So Sweden has had this legislation for a long time. The support is firm from across the political spectrum, and since Sweden introduced the Sex Purchase Act in 1999, several other countries have adopted similar legal frameworks including Iceland, France, Israel, Ireland, Canada, and the.

[00:07:00] Negotiations and debates are ongoing in several other different countries, like Germany, Scotland, Spain. So still a very, very new piece of legislation, we can say. But still we have seen impacts of it so far and 10 years after it was introduced. In 2010, we had a big evaluation, an official evaluation, and what we saw was that street prostitution had decreased.

[00:07:37] The law had also acted as a deterrent to prospective buyers, and therefore reducing demand. And there had also been a significant change of attitude and mindset in society. We also saw that the law had deterred trafficking, as criminal networks shied away from establishing organized trafficking networks in Sweden.

[00:08:07] We saw, however, that online prostitution had increased, but not to the extent that it could be said that it just replaced street prostitution and street prostitution had simply migrated. So bit of pros and cons there. We did another, more limited survey in 2021.

[00:08:39] And then we could see that there was still a decrease in street prostitution, but also an increase in websites offering escort services and sugar dating and so on. It also showed that more children have been targeted mainly in the digital arena. But that’s bearing in mind the digital revolution in all areas. So it’s not a surprise to see that we had an increase on the digital arena.

[00:09:16] Sandie Morgan: Let’s talk about that just a little bit more because, 1999, more than 25 years ago, Sweden was a leader in innovative legislation. And when we were talking at the UN, I learned that as we have made this transition to a digital age, the impact, like you have already mentioned, a lot of the mechanics behind the trafficking has moved online, but also a great deal of the exploitation has also moved online.

Can you explain a little bit about the background and how the legislation was recently passed to address that virtual exploitation.

[00:10:20] Anna-Carin Svensson: Yes. And that was a result of this more limited survey in 2021, seeing that we had a move to the online world. And we see now that it’s not only selling of prostitution online, but the criminal networks use digital channels for recruiting victims, for selling victims, for payment, and so on for,

[00:10:53] all aspects of human trafficking, they can use digital channels. So we thought that we have to also address this in the legislation. And the catch line was, if it’s illegal offline, it must be illegal online. So from 1st of July last year, several changes in the legislation were introduced to enhance the criminal law protection against sexual violence.

[00:11:31] And before the amendments for someone to be convicted of purchase of sexual services, it was required that there has been some kind of physical contact between the person undertaking and the person purchasing the sexual service. And an important part of the changes was that the provision was amended so that the purchase of sexual acts carried out remotely was criminalized and.

[00:12:01] Anna-Carin Svensson: That means that the physical contact is no longer required. It’s not even required that the person undertaking and the person purchasing a sexual service is in the same room. And that means that the purchase of sexual service provided via the internet is now prohibited. So not even in the same country.

[00:12:25] Anna-Carin Svensson: They don’t even have to be in the same country. So one example where this could apply is where when a person pays another person to perform sexual acts on demand, in the forms of cam shows or other material, it could be OnlyFans, for instance. It’s a well known website for this. And the decisive factor is that the payment was a precondition.

[00:12:54] For the sexual act to take place, and the payment, in turn, was made or promised with a main purpose of allowing the perpetrator to view the acts visually. So, not any kind of pornography or watching something that had already been produced — that is not prohibited. It’s when you pay someone to do something live, because I pay you to do this.

[00:13:28] And obviously this was introduced last year, it’s far too early to evaluate the impact of these amendments. There was of course a big debate on this in the spring before the introduction. Some criticized the legislation from a privacy perspective saying that it’s my privilege to decide what I watch or don’t.

[00:13:58] And there were also many victims who came forward to say that they were very happy with this — if this had been in place before, it could have saved them from being exploited because they were feeling that they had been pushed into performing something as a live act on cam shows and so on, against their will.

[00:14:22] But they were pushed to do so. But if it had been criminalized, it would’ve been easier for them to say no — that was their take. So we will see what happens.

[00:14:37] Sandie Morgan: Yes, I’m gonna be following that very closely, ambassador, and that was one of the most encouraging takeaways from the opportunity to participate at the UN in November. Now you and I were part of a side event on proactive prevention and there was a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary collaboration. Why is that cross sector coordination across not just justice systems, but civil society and international connections? Why is that so essential?

[00:15:25] Anna-Carin Svensson: Well, I think legislation and the social criminal justice response — that is for me the core of the work against trafficking. But it must be paired with support measures and resources. As you said in the beginning, it’s very encouraging that we see and identify more victims.

[00:15:50] That’s a precondition for us to take it to the criminal justice response, but we need other ways of and different ways for victims to come forward. And that’s not always within the criminal justice system. That could be with the help of civil society organizations who encourages and helps and supports victims to make it able for them to come forward, to dare to tell their story.

[00:16:24] And also we need to have resources to ensure that other relevant professions have the necessary knowledge. It could be medical health sector professions, psychologists and schools, migration officers and so on. And we need also, I think, to ensure coordination between these different authorities that they know.

[00:16:55] If you identify a victim or identify a person you think might have been a victim, you might not be the correct person to take that forward in your profession, but you have to know ways of how you could refer this case to the right places in society to have the seamless cooperation and reaching out to more victims and be more proactive. And I think we need a clear commitment from many parts of society. And we also need fresh funding from different parts, from government and civil society organizations. And I think.

[00:17:47] Now we’ve been talking on what is happening in one nation and one society. But of course with all the international connections when it comes to human trafficking, many victims, certainly in Sweden — most of the victims we identify are not from Sweden, they are from other countries. Many of them want eventually to go back to their countries. So we have to have connections between countries also.

[00:18:14] In medical professions or psychology or migration. So it’s not only this seamless cooperation within the country, but also between countries, to help and support the victims to build a new life and not be trafficked, not come again into the grips of these horrible human traffickers that want to use them to earn money for themselves.

[00:18:41] Sandie Morgan: And you mentioned how the victims, you use the word dare to come forward and tell their stories. In many countries, legislation still requires them at the very beginning to make a commitment to local law enforcement, to federal law enforcement that discourages them. And because civil society, nonprofits, other organizations identify a victim, but resources may not be available if the victim is afraid of going to law enforcement.

How do you see changing legislation addressing that?

[00:19:34] Anna-Carin Svensson: For us, we have seen that this legislation with the equality model makes it easier for the victims to talk to the police and social services. They are not so afraid — they are not criminalized. They know that they can talk to the police, even though they might have been introduced in a very difficult situation with a lot of organized crime going on, they know that what they are doing is not criminalized.

[00:20:15] So I think it’s very important to have that incentive to speak to the police and the social services. And they are not at all — they have no loyalty to their traffickers or their pimps. So they are happy to tell everything to the police and so on. So I think you have to build a trust between the victims and the.

[00:20:47] Social services and the police. Some of them are happy to talk to the law enforcement. Some would rather talk first to civil society or social services. But you have to be able to handle that and listen to each and every one and see what works best for that person.

So you have to have a flexible response and support, I think.

[00:21:20] Sandie Morgan: I was reviewing some of your writing and other conferences that you’ve spoken in, and one thing that you had emphasized is that it’s not just important to have the legislation, but its correct application.

[00:21:40] Anna-Carin Svensson: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:41] Sandie Morgan: In my experience, mostly with interviewing victims and trying to understand why they didn’t get the services that we thought they would in an international setting, very frequently, unfortunately, their stories were full of fear that they were going to be arrested for a crime and the risk of that happening to them then reduced their willingness to actually collaborate. So legislation. But how do we assure a correct application.

[00:22:33] Anna-Carin Svensson: Mm.

[00:22:35] Yes. That’s very, very important, I think in all areas to make sure that there is a widespread knowledge within the profession within law enforcement agencies. Not only the specialized prosecutors or police squads working with trafficking, but anyone out there in the street can be the first one to encounter or identify victims, and they must also have.

[00:23:11] Basic knowledge on what to do and what to look for, that’s very important to be able to have that first correct response and to channel these victims to the right instances where they can be supported, but also questioned by the police to give statement on what they have been through and what, who has been using them.

[00:23:44] What route did they take? How did they get there? Who was forcing them to do this or that and how was payments made and so on. And maybe have a lot of more technical investigations in phones or accounts or so on. That’s very, very important to be able to build.

[00:24:09] These cases, to be able to get the perpetrators to face justice, for prosecutors to be able to build cases that will hold up in court. And also to have these convictions to show and get the traffickers to understand that they are being watched. They are not safe to do this line of work in the countries that really apply the legislation properly.

[00:24:47] Because if we don’t apply the legislation properly, it’s a free for all. And continue with the trafficking networks and continue to exploit innocent victims.

[00:25:02] Sandie Morgan: So we all need each other in this battle. Law enforcement can’t do it on their own, and nonprofits can’t become rescuers on their own. We have to do this together, and the victims are counting on us. So I have a question that I’m starting to ask everybody. We have been doing this work. You mentioned 25 years since the first legislation in Sweden.

We’ve been doing this a long time. Looking ahead, what do you see as the most important areas where states must strengthen accountability to ensure prevention efforts are effective and rights respecting.

[00:25:58] Anna-Carin Svensson: Mm. I think prevention is really, really important to work with for the future. And I think that has to start on the digital arena. I think more and more, as I said before, we see things happening on the digital arena. We must be better at teaching what potential victims should look out for in the digital arenas to make them more safe from frauds and cheating perpetrators and loverboy stories and so on.

[00:26:48] We need some more proficiency in identifying what is — if it looks too good to be true, it’s probably not true. So we have to have some literacy in understanding what is going on. So that I think is one of the most important preventive issues.

[00:27:17] Sandie Morgan: We’re working in our schools here on prevention and that kind of digital literacy translates to relational, healthy relationship literacy, competency. And it is becoming very apparent that many of our children feel isolated. And I think this is not — we can’t just look back and blame it on COVID — but that the kind of prevention that you’re talking about, that Ioana Bauer who convened our side event and others were talking about, is prevention that starts before we are just doing warnings of don’t do this and don’t do that. It means to me that we need to involve our schools, our parents, our faith leaders in helping our children develop better understandings of how to identify motives that people have, whether in person or online.

[00:28:36] Anna-Carin Svensson: Yes, I totally agree with you. And it’s about finding the right — it’s the human rights issues. It’s dignity issues. It’s about learning what is right or wrong in society. And it’s the old story of it takes a village to raise a child. I think everyone has to chip in here and also teach how we should view our relations and interconnections and help children to understand what they see.

[00:29:22] On television or in digital channels, on social media and so on. And how to handle what’s going on in social media and how it translates into the real world and how you handle people in the real world.

[00:29:46] Sandie Morgan: Those are good skills. What gives you hope for tomorrow and the next day?

[00:29:51] Anna-Carin Svensson: I am a positive kind of person, so I think that we all have challenges, but we can learn from each other. And there are so many organizations out there, so many ambitious people full of ideas, creative ideas on how we could — for every problem there are many solutions. So I think, if we have only some of those solutions coming through, I’m very hopeful. There are many people working in this area that make me hopeful.

[00:30:33] Sandie Morgan: And I am also a positive person, and I love having your voice on our podcast. I hope we connect in the same space over and over again because our goal is to work toward ending human trafficking. So thank you so much, Ambassador Svensson, and I’ll see you again soon, I hope.

[00:31:00] Anna-Carin Svensson: I hope so too. And thank you very much

for having me and to be on this interesting podcast. It’s been a good experience and I wish you all the best.

[00:31:11] Speaker: A big thank you to Ambassador Anna-Carin Svensson for naming a simple principle that has huge implications. If something is illegal offline, it should be illegal online as well.

[00:31:25] Listeners, if you love this conversation, make sure to check out our website@endinghumantrafficking.org for tons of in-depth show notes and other resources. If you’d love to help us grow this podcast, you can start by sharing this episode with someone and connecting with us on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

As always, thanks for listening.

365: What 25 Years of Sweden’s Sex Purchase Act Revealed

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