Receipts Please! Myths Don't Stand a Chance!

Myth #10: Ending Demand Will End Sex Work

“End demand” laws—often marketed under the more palatable name of the Nordic Model—are frequently touted as a one-size-fits-all solution to sex work and trafficking.

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On the surface, the logic sounds straightforward: if you punish the clients who purchase sexual services, the industry will collapse, and exploitation will end.

But decades of evidence tell us otherwise.

Everywhere this model has been implemented—from Sweden to Ireland to France—it has failed to reduce sex work or trafficking.

Instead, these laws have made the work more dangerous, pushed clients and workers further underground, and ignored the actual structural issues that drive people into the sex trade in the first place.

Why This Myth Persists

Part of the reason the “end demand” narrative has gained traction is that it allows policymakers to appear tough on sex work while claiming not to punish sex workers directly. By shifting the focus to clients, politicians can frame the problem as one of individual bad actors, rather than systemic inequality. It’s an easy soundbite for campaigns and a comforting illusion for those who want to believe there’s a quick fix to exploitation. Framing clients as villains gives the appearance of moral clarity, while sidestepping the harder work of addressing poverty, housing insecurity, and lack of healthcare. In reality, the “end demand” approach does nothing to dismantle these root causes—and that’s exactly why it continues to be attractive to policymakers. It looks bold, but it delivers nothing.

What the Facts Actually Say

The evidence from countries that pioneered this model is clear. In Sweden, where “end demand” laws were first introduced in 1999, sex work has not decreased. What has increased is stigma, police surveillance, and violence against workers【NSWP】.

Sex workers report that the laws have reduced their ability to screen clients, forced them into more dangerous encounters, and increased reliance on exploitative intermediaries who claim to offer protection. Amnesty International and other human rights bodies have documented how the Nordic Model does not eliminate clients—it merely pushes them underground. This makes the work riskier for everyone and makes it harder for outreach organizations to provide harm reduction, health services, or support.

How the Confusion Causes Harm

Although supporters of the Nordic Model insist that workers will not be criminalized, the reality is very different. Police raids and surveillance campaigns often lead to the arrest of sex workers themselves, either directly or through related charges such as immigration violations, “brothel-keeping” laws, or public order offenses.

These policies disproportionately target migrant workers, women of color, and LGBTQ+ communities, reinforcing the very inequalities they claim to fight. At the same time, the real drivers of vulnerability—poverty wages, criminal records, housing discrimination, and barriers to healthcare—go completely unaddressed. By focusing on the fantasy of eliminating demand, policymakers ignore the urgent needs of the people most affected.

What Needs to Change

It is time to reject “end demand” laws as a failed policy experiment and to stop exporting the Nordic Model as if it were a success story. If we truly want to reduce harm and exploitation, we must confront the structural causes of vulnerability: poverty, inequality, gender-based violence, and systemic discrimination in housing and employment. Criminal records, especially those tied to survival economies, must be dismantled as barriers to stability. Most importantly, we need to listen to sex workers themselves.

Overwhelmingly, workers across the globe have called for full decriminalization—a model supported by organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UNAIDS, and the World Health Organization. Decriminalization does not mean endorsing exploitation; it means creating safer conditions, increasing access to services, and allowing workers to report abuse without fear of arrest.

The Nordic Model may make politicians feel righteous, but it leaves sex workers poorer, less safe, and more marginalized. Ending demand won’t end sex work—but ending criminalization just might end the cycle of harm.

👉 Learn more about the failures of “end demand” and the case for decriminalization at SWOPBehindBars.org.