Iceland: (Young) People and Prostitution: Knowledge Base, Social Initiatives and Legal Measures

In this chapter, I seek to answer the following questions which guide this Nordic
research project: What is the current state of knowledge on young women’s and men’s experiences of prostitution? Which social programmes address young women’s and men’s experiences of prostitution and what ideology informs these programmes? What is the legal environment in this context and how is it being implemented? Research on prostitution in Iceland is scarce, let alone research focusing on different groups of people such as young people between the ages of 18 and 25. Given the scarcity of secondary literature on the subject matter in Iceland, the topic will be approached more generally with special mention of young people when such information is available. No social programmes specifically address the experiences of young women and men in prostitution in Iceland and only a few service providers offer specialised services for people with experiences of prostitution. In 2009, Iceland followed Sweden and Norway and criminalised the buying of sexual services. There is reason to believe, however, that this legislation has had limited impact due to the way in which it is being implemented.