[Here's an interesting overview of prostitution in Finland]
Report says most Finnish prostitutes work part-time
According to a recent report by researcher Anna Kontula, the majority of the prostitutes active in Finland work part-time. The report, entitled Prostituutio Suomessa (Prostitution in Finland), was published on Thursday by Sexpo Foundation, the Finnish Foundation for Sex Education and Therapy.
Among those who were interviewed for the report were prostitutes, pimps, customers, and the employees of contact media. The indications are that there are around 8,000 prostitutes working in Finland in the course of a year. Half are Finnish and most are part-timers. Estonians and Russians make up the bulk of the visiting prostitutes.
Kontula is the vice-chairwoman of SALLI, which is an organisation for all who work in sexual or erotic professions in Finland. She has been working to promote prostitutes' rights and well-being.
The share of professional prostitutes is quite small, the report argues. About 200 of those prostitutes who are resident in Finland have registered their own buiness name and pay taxes. Typically, a prostitute is registered as a masseuse or a consultant. According to the report, no professional pimping exists in Finland.
Kontula reports that frequently prostitutes who work abroad are simultaneously able to lead a decent life in their home country.
On the other hand, she suspects that for example those prostitutes who were offered apartments owned by the Russian Trade Representation for their activities were typically from the St. Petersburg region and just doing gigs in Finland and staying only a few days at a time. Since 2003 foreign sex workers in Finland have been older than earlier, and are seldom first-timers.
Illegal immigrants face the worst situation, because normally they do not turn to the authorities unless they are in extreme danger. According to Kontula, their share is increasing in Europe as a whole, including Finland.
While the number of under-age prostitutes in this country is reportedly small, they are mainly of Finnish origin.
Kontula also found references to a type of prostitution that is related to consumer culture. She observed that particularly young women did soft-porn jobs in order to earn some money for luxury products.
Kontula regards Estonia's EU membership as a significant turning point, as since then Estonian prostitutes have been able to work in Finland without a pimp. Unlike Russians, they do not have any real language problems in this country.
Consequently, some Estonian pimping organisations have moved to Norway, where it is difficult for prostitutes to work by themselves. On the other hand, owing to the high price level in the country, the profits there are bigger.
Currently, the most thriving contact medium in Finland is the Internet, says Kontula. "Nowhere else in Europe is prostitution so Internet-centred as in Finland", she adds.
Moreover, the summer and its major events are likely to increase local prostitution even more, Kontula concludes. The report suggests that the entire phenomenon of prostitution in Finland reflects such things as the slow growth of incomes in Estonia and Russia, growing income disparities within Finland itself, and Estonia's membership of the EU.
Report says most Finnish prostitutes work part-time
According to a recent report by researcher Anna Kontula, the majority of the prostitutes active in Finland work part-time. The report, entitled Prostituutio Suomessa (Prostitution in Finland), was published on Thursday by Sexpo Foundation, the Finnish Foundation for Sex Education and Therapy.
Among those who were interviewed for the report were prostitutes, pimps, customers, and the employees of contact media. The indications are that there are around 8,000 prostitutes working in Finland in the course of a year. Half are Finnish and most are part-timers. Estonians and Russians make up the bulk of the visiting prostitutes.
Kontula is the vice-chairwoman of SALLI, which is an organisation for all who work in sexual or erotic professions in Finland. She has been working to promote prostitutes' rights and well-being.
The share of professional prostitutes is quite small, the report argues. About 200 of those prostitutes who are resident in Finland have registered their own buiness name and pay taxes. Typically, a prostitute is registered as a masseuse or a consultant. According to the report, no professional pimping exists in Finland.
Kontula reports that frequently prostitutes who work abroad are simultaneously able to lead a decent life in their home country.
On the other hand, she suspects that for example those prostitutes who were offered apartments owned by the Russian Trade Representation for their activities were typically from the St. Petersburg region and just doing gigs in Finland and staying only a few days at a time. Since 2003 foreign sex workers in Finland have been older than earlier, and are seldom first-timers.
Illegal immigrants face the worst situation, because normally they do not turn to the authorities unless they are in extreme danger. According to Kontula, their share is increasing in Europe as a whole, including Finland.
While the number of under-age prostitutes in this country is reportedly small, they are mainly of Finnish origin.
Kontula also found references to a type of prostitution that is related to consumer culture. She observed that particularly young women did soft-porn jobs in order to earn some money for luxury products.
Kontula regards Estonia's EU membership as a significant turning point, as since then Estonian prostitutes have been able to work in Finland without a pimp. Unlike Russians, they do not have any real language problems in this country.
Consequently, some Estonian pimping organisations have moved to Norway, where it is difficult for prostitutes to work by themselves. On the other hand, owing to the high price level in the country, the profits there are bigger.
Currently, the most thriving contact medium in Finland is the Internet, says Kontula. "Nowhere else in Europe is prostitution so Internet-centred as in Finland", she adds.
Moreover, the summer and its major events are likely to increase local prostitution even more, Kontula concludes. The report suggests that the entire phenomenon of prostitution in Finland reflects such things as the slow growth of incomes in Estonia and Russia, growing income disparities within Finland itself, and Estonia's membership of the EU.