Prostitutes have become more brazen than ever in Norway’s capital, with many aggressively peddling their wares on Oslo’s main streets and around key tourist attractions. Politicians are quarreling over whether to finally make the trade illegal.

One prostitute was noisily trying to sell her services inside this store on Karl Johans Gate, just behind the Norwegian Parliament Building. PHOTO: MORTEN ANDERSEN Many of the prostitutes on Oslo’s streets are from overseas, and they’re also active in the area just behind the historic Akershus Fortress. PHOTO: Bjørke Magnus Knutsen Tor Sannerud of the Oslo visitors’ bureau is among those calling for a crackdown on street prostitution in Oslo. PHOTO: TOM A KOLSTAD

Prostitution currently remains legal in Norway, but sellers of sexual services traditionally have stuck to specific areas of downtown and let customers approach them.

A recent influx of prostitutes from eastern Europe, Nigeria and South America has changed all that, and now prostitutes are openly going after potential customers, most notably on Karl Johans Gate, Oslo’s main boulevard through the heart of town.

Aftenposten.no reported on Tuesday that some also have been aggressively selling their services inside local stores, including the 7-Eleven convenience store on Karl Johans Gate at the square called Egertorget.

Officials at 7-Eleven pressed charges, and one prostitute was recently convicted of disturbing the peace after she allegedly yelled at the store’s lone employee and made threats after being told to leave.

Visitors to Oslo have also been complaining about the aggressive prostitution on downtown streets, and the head of the city’s visitors’ bureau is among those calling for a crackdown.

Both the Socialist Left and Center parties, which make up part of Norway’s center-left government coalition, now want such solicitation to be illegal. Polticians from their dominant government partner, the Labour Party, are expected to debate the issue at their annual convention later this week.

Politicians disagree over whether the solicitation or the purchase of sexual services should be made illegal. One proposal calls for making the purchase of sexual services a criminal offense. That would hit the person buying a prostitute’s services, not the prostitute.

Oslo’s city council, meanwhile, has approved a measure prohibiting “aggressive prostitution” (pågående prostitusjon). Store owners and irritated targets of the prostitutes expect the measure to be enforced.

By Nina Berglund

Lifted and published by African Press in Norway, apn,

source.aftenpostenEng

It will probably still be legal to sell sexual services in Norway, but soon illegal to buy them. The country’s powerful Labour Party agreed over the weekend to limit a sex trade that’s recently turned aggressive, especially in the capital.

Street prostitutes in Oslo don’t welcome a looming ban on the purchase of sexual services. PHOTO: ARASH A. NEJAD

Labour, revitalized and once again Norway’s largest political party, listened to calls for a crackdown on street prostitution. A majority of its delegates agreed to ban the purchase of sexual services at the party’s annual meeting, assuring majority support for expected legislation aimed mostly at getting pushy prostitutes off the street.

Debate was heated, though, with some Labour politicians (including Justice Minister Knut Storberget) arguing that a ban on buying sex won’t solve the problem. Some also argued that a ban could make life even more difficult for prostitutes, although the majority believed a ban can hinder human trafficking.

One female prostitute from Eastern Europe who’s lately been working on Oslo’s streets called the proposed ban “crazy” as long as selling sex remains legal. She said, though, that she’d probably “go home,” which seems to be exactly what the poiticians and Norwegian prostitutes want.

An influx of foreign prostitutes has literally taken market share from Norwegian prostitutes, and the foreigners are known for being more aggressive. They’ve also expanded the trade from traditional areas of town (most recently, the streets behind the Akershus Fortress called Kvadraturen) to such main streets as Karl Johans Gate, and that’s raised the ire of locals and tourists alike.

It remains unclear whether prostitutes’ customers face fines or jail terms if caught buying sexual services. Storberget promised to draft a proposed law “as quickly as possible” and police will get more resources to enforce it.

By Nina Berglund

Lifted and published by African Press in Norway, apn,

source.aftenpostenENG

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hopes to persuade both Russia and NATO allies that a European missile shield is a good idea.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend the Oslo NATO meeting. PHOTO: SAUL LOEB – AFP

Rice arrives in Oslo on Thursday to take part in the NATO foreign ministers meeting. These are held twice a year, one formal meeting in the NATO headquarters in Brussels and another ‘informal’ hosted by an alliance member nation.

Informal does not mean that real business will not be discussed. Oslo will stage meetings between NATO and Russia, as well as NATO and Ukraine, and the situation in Afghanistan and the future of Kosovo are on the agenda.

The Oslo meeting is also set to cover the controversial US plan to deploy a missile shield with the help of Eastern European partners Poland and the Czech Republic.

The USA has tried to thaw Russian skepticism with an invitation to share information about the system, but achieved no change in reaction.

“It is too early. The Russians need more time to examine the American offer,” A NATO diplomat told Reuters. A breakthrough on the Russian front over the missile shield is not expected at the Oslo meeting.

Norway is also highly skeptical of the plans and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is expected to express this at the Oslo NATO meeting.

Norway believes that the threat situation used to argue for the missile shield has changed, since the danger posed by North Korea and Libya has diminished.

German political leaders are growing more positive in regard to the missile shield plans, but there is far from united agreement about the idea of American missiles on European soil.

By Kurt Haugli and Jonathan Tisdall

Lifted and published by African Press in Norway, apn,

source.AftenpostenENG/NTB/Reuters

Every other Norwegian man believes that flirtatious women have themselves to blame if they are raped.

Nearly half of men surveyed felt that open flirtation was an invitation to sexual assault. PHOTO: JOHNNY SYVERSEN

The shock results appear in a report compiled by Amnesty in cooperation with Reform – resource center for men.

One in five men surveyed said that a woman known to have several partners is fully or partly responsible if sexually assaulted, and 28 percent believed that a woman who dresses sexily is wholly or partly responsible for a sexual assault.

“I think the results of this study are frightening. I am the father of a teenage girl. It is disturbing to see that Norwegian men believe she is responsible if she should be assaulted after flirting with a man,” John Peder Egenæs, secretary general of Amnesty International Norway told newspaper VG.

Fully 48 percent of those surveyed believe that women are fully or partly responsible for a sexual assault if they openly flirt before the attack.

“It is unacceptable to blame women who have been exposed to sexual assault and violence. This confirms that female-hostile attitudes are alive and well,” said victim’s legal counsel Trine Rjukan.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said he was disappointed over Norwegian men’s attitude towards women and found the study’s results frightening.

“I had hoped and believed that we had come further than that in terms of men’s view of violence against women,” Stoltenberg said.

Lifted by Korir and published by African Press in Norway, apn,

source: AftenpostenENG.ntb