Although some legislators in Sweden are intent on making buying sex abroad a crime, it continues to struggle with prostitution issues at home. Suspected bordellos disguised as massage parlors now threaten the country's feminist reputation. The lounge is heavily promoted on the social media with salacious photos of female masseurs from behind. A closer inspection revealed that massage parlor ads were being placed on sex and escort sites.
The main attraction of the parlor targeted by the investigators is the Japanese erotic "nuru massage," in which both parties are naked and the masseuse rubs her body against the customer's. By contrast, a male "customer" was instantly offered a slot within an hour. In Sweden, where only the purchase and procurement of sex is criminalized, the boundary for what constitutes a sexual act is very vague.
Naturally, the police don't automatically grab everyone who visits massage parlors. Claes Lernestedt, a professor of criminal law at Stockholm University, argued that laws on the purchase of sex have not markedly changed despite a major expansion of what is defined as sexual offence, which now includes so-called "infidelity checks" and sexual abuse on the internet.
Therefore, it's nearly impossible to determine whether naked massage constitutes a sexual act or not, SVT reported. In fact, the level of convictions has not changed markedly," Kajsa Wahlberg, a criminal commissioner at the police's national operating department, told Swedish Radio , venturing that sex purchases are made throughout the country on a daily basis.
In , purchases of sexual services were reported. About half of the reports led to a trial. Where do they come from? What nationality dominates? Romania, as is the case in many other European countries," Wahlberg explained. Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis. Despite having criminalized the purchase of sexual services almost 20 years ago, Sweden continues to tussle with this problem.
