From the New Year it will be illegal to buy sex. Does this mean women will no longer sell their bodies? Of course this ban will not lead to the eradication of prostitution. Just the thought of it is ridiculous," says "Liv". Steam ascends from a paper cup on the back-seat of the Church City Mission's mobile drop-in centre on Strandkaien β a worn-out Caravelle. There is also the internet, newspapers and the telephone. Here on the street, I think the ban will work for the first six months because the customers are afraid of being caught.
This will make it even tougher for us girls than it has been the last few months. But things will change again," thinks "Liv". There are already fewer of them, these women who inadequately dressed, put up with all kinds of Stavanger weather in order to sell their bodies as a living. There were 30 per cent fewer during the first nine months of the year than at the same time last year, according to the Church City Mission's Albertine project.
From January until September last year, the social workers met 62 different women and one transsexual on the streets in Stavanger. This year, the number has fallen to 51 women and one transsexual.
Altogether, Albertine were in contact with persons last year who sold sex on the streets or from indoors in Stavanger. She therefore plans to stick with the little she has and stay here. She sees no alternative. She has a residence permit in Italy which needs to be renewed annually. They say they can't find work on the normal job market. It has been better for them on Stavanger quay than in Italy.
But now they don't know what to do. I just stand there. They come. They pick out a woman - different men every time. They don't come back," says Β«BenedictaΒ». She bases her prognosis on the experience of Sweden, which implemented a ban on the sale of sex in On the contrary," thinks researcher, Marianne Tveit of the charity, Fafo. Tveit is one of the authors behind the fresh report, "Diverse market: The extent, content and organization of prostitution".
