In Finland we have quite an interesting phenomenon: At the same time as Finland is one of the leading countries in general violence statistics, it seems that the sex workers face violence only rarely. It can be said that for a person in Finland it is more likely to get beaten in a marriage than in sex work.

In this presentation, I will try to explain where, why and what type of violence prostitutes face in Finland.

Currently, there are some 8000 (eight thousand) prostitutes working in Finland annually, half of them Finns and the majority working part-time. On a daily basis, about a quarter and during the year one third of them work with or under the control of the pimp.

The field of prostitution is divided ethnically: the Finns offer traditional sex services (incalls/outcalls) and special services, the Thais offer erotic massage and the Russians and Estonians visiting Finland usually offer only traditional sex services.

Every sex worker knows what the whore stigma means. Harrasment by neighbours or officials is not unusual. Many prostitutes can’t tell about their work to anyone. The media treats them as mythological aliens. Still, violence and especially misbehaving clients are not common because the position of women is relatively good in Finland and there is more demand than supply for sex services. So, in theory, prostitutes are relatively autonomous and they can decide what kind of services they offer, for what price and for whom.

In practice, their situation is not so good. Of course a great number of prostitutes are more exposed to abuse than others. For example drug addiction or mental health problems may decrease sex workers’ level of autonomy.

In Finland also the legislation puts some prostitutes in a difficult position. One major problem is that even a suspicion that one might sell sex is a legal reason for turning away a foreigner. Foreign sex workers get also robbed more often than Finns or those with permanent residence permit. The illegal immigrants are the most vulnerable group, like everywhere. It is not possible for them to rely on police or health care services, not even in case of emergency.

Some minorities are ”overrepresented” in prostitution, and they face violence in society wether they are sex workers or not. You can get battered in the street because of your sexual identity or your ethnic background. Intolerance and racism even force people to practice commercial sex against their will, because they are not welcomed to the mainstream society or conventional jobs.

As a summary, the greatest part of the insecurity that the sex workers face is caused by the negative public atmosphere and partly by the harmful legislation. Clients, pimps or other prostitutes don’t usually threat sex workers in Finland.