Public opposition to sex work has been growing in Europe, despite more liberal policies in some countries. A study forthcoming in the Archives of Sexual Behavior shows that decriminalizing sex work does not necessarily lead to greater public acceptance, as reflected on a ten-point scale. While public attitudes in Spain did become more liberal after decriminalization in 1995, the opposite was the case in Slovenia (2003) and The Netherlands (2000). Moving toward the “Nordic model” in Sweden (1999), Norway (2009), and France (2016), which criminalizes only the buying of sex but not its sale, has also led to less tolerant public attitudes on the part of both women and men.
Despite liberal laws Europeans grow more hostile to sex work
