National Organization for Women

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Why Decriminalizing Consensual Sex Work May Be the Evidence-Based Path Forward

For years, the Florida National Organization for Women (FL NOW) has aligned with the Nordic Model, also known as the “Equality Model” or “End Demand” approach. This framework decriminalizes the selling of sex but criminalizes the buying of sex, alongside brothel management, third-party support, and most forms of advertising. The Nordic Model is often promoted as a feminist intervention intended to reduce exploitation by targeting demand rather than criminalizing sex workers themselves.

But as more data emerges, and as sexworker–led organizations continue to document the real-world consequences, FL NOW and other feminist groups across the country are reassessing whether the Nordic Model actually protects the people it claims to help.

The evidence is increasingly clear: criminalizing any part of consensual adult sex work makes sex workers less safe, not more. That is why sexworker–led organizations overwhelmingly support full decriminalization, not the Nordic Model, as the policy framework that best advances bodily autonomy, safety, and human rights.

What the Nordic Model Actually Does

The Nordic Model is often misunderstood as “decriminalizing sex work.” In practice, it creates a legal environment where:

  • Clients are criminalized, making sex work more clandestine
  • Landlords can evict sex workers for “brothelkeeping”
  • Drivers, security, partners, and roommates can be charged as “pimps”
  • Advertising is criminalized, limiting workers’ ability to screen clients
  • Police surveillance increases, often targeting marginalized communities
  • Workers are still viewed as needing to be “rescued” and their autonomy is denied

Although sex workers themselves are not arrested for selling sex, the model criminalizes the entire ecosystem around them, forcing their work further underground. Sexworker–led groups consistently report that this model increases violence, reduces bargaining power, and makes it harder to report abuse.

What Sex Worker Organizations Say

Across the United States and globally, sexworker–led organizations, including the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW), the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), and dozens of local collectives, are unified in their position:

Full decriminalization is the only model that improves safety, health, and human rights for consensual adult sex workers.
Their rationale is grounded in lived experience and supported by decades of research:

1. Criminalizing clients increases danger
When clients fear arrest, they:

  • Rush negotiations
  • Demand more isolated meeting locations
  • Resist screening
  • Are less willing to share identifying information

This creates conditions where violence is more likely and harder to escape.

2. Criminalizing third parties harms workers
Under the Nordic Model, anyone who helps a sex worker, driver, roommate, partner, friend, co-worker, receptionist, etc., can be charged with “pimping.” This forces workers to:

  • Work in isolation
  • Avoid hiring security
  • Avoid renting shared spaces
  • Hide their work from loved ones

Isolation is one of the strongest predictors of violence.

3. Police surveillance increases stigma and fear
Even when workers are not the target of arrest, they are still:

  • Stopped
  • Questioned
  • Harassed
  • Threatened with childwelfare involvement
  • Pressured to act as informants

This erodes trust and makes reporting violence nearly impossible.

4. Trafficking, Violence, and Forced Sex Work, including those who are minors, are still crimes
when consensual sex work is decriminalized.

5. The Nordic Model does not reduce trafficking
Research from countries using the Nordic Model shows no evidence that criminalizing clients reduces trafficking. In fact, by pushing consensual sex work underground, it becomes harder to identify and support trafficking survivors.

5. Full decriminalization improves safety and health
Evidence from New Zealand and parts of Australia, where sex work is fully decriminalized, shows:

  • Increased reporting of violence
  • Better relationships with law enforcement
  • Improved health outcomes
  • No increase in trafficking
  • Stronger labor protections

Sex workers in these regions overwhelmingly report feeling safer, more empowered, and more able to refuse clients.

Why Feminist Organizations Are Reconsidering

Feminist movements committed to bodily autonomy, racial justice, and economic equity are increasingly recognizing that:

  • Criminalization, partial or full, disproportionately harms women, LGBTQ+ people,
    migrants, and people of color.
  • Policies must center the voices of those most affected.
  • Consent and coercion cannot be addressed through policing.
  • Safety comes from rights and support, not criminalization.

Sexworker–led groups are clear: the Nordic Model does not protect them. It endangers them.

The Rationale for Full Decriminalization

Full decriminalization means removing criminal penalties for both selling and buying consensual adult sexual services, while maintaining strong laws against:

  • Trafficking
  • Exploitation
  • Coercion
  • Violence
  • Child abuse

It is not legalization, which imposes heavy regulation and often creates two-tier systems that still criminalize marginalized workers. Decriminalization simply means sex work is treated like any other form of labor, with access to:

  • Workplace protections
  • Community
  • Health services
  • Housing
  • Safety planning
  • The ability to call 911 without fear of criminalization

It is the model supported by:

  • Amnesty International
  • Human Rights Watch
  • The World Health Organization
  • UNAIDS
  • The ACLU
  • Every major sexworker–led organization in the U.S. and globally

A Path Forward for FL NOW

As FL NOW continues to evaluate its position, the central question is this:
Which model actually keeps people safe?

The Nordic Model, despite its intentions, has not delivered safety, dignity, or autonomy for sex workers. Full decriminalization, backed by global evidence and the lived experience of sex workers themselves, offers a path that aligns with feminist values of bodily autonomy, harm reduction, and
human rights.

If the goal is to reduce exploitation, improve safety, and support survivors, then the evidence points in one direction: listen to sex workers and support full, consensual sex work decriminalization.