title: What we talk about when we talk about buying sex.
abstract: This article explores the discourse on prostitution, trafficking, and buying sex. Buying sex or the purchase of sexual services, as the law says, has been a criminal act in Sweden since 1999. In the summer of 2006 Finland followed the lead, making it a crime to purchase sex from a person who has been subjected to trafficking or procuring. These reforms give a signal that the customers are responsible for increasing the international sex trade, but as the author argues, the commercial language used by the law makers may be a double-edged sword.
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Finland. Johanna.Niemi-Kiesilainen@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niemi
mesh_terms: D003132:Commerce / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D011640:Public Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011477:Sex Work / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception; D013548:Sweden