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Will Swedes soon be looking for fairtrade porn?

Lee Roden
Lee Roden - [email protected]
Will Swedes soon be looking for fairtrade porn?
Should Swedes think fairtrade with porn? Photo: Karin Malmhav/SvD/TT

Swedes have a reputation for being both sexually liberated and socially conscious types, but could those two qualities combine to create a preference in the Nordic nation for fairtrade porn?

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That’s the mentality that Swedish health minister Gabriel Wikström revealed he is championing in an interview with Nyheter24 ahead of a government survey among Swedes on sexual behaviour and attitudes.

While a formal fairtrade label for pornography is not being proposed, a more general effort to try to keep a fairtrade perspective in mind is desirable, the minister explained in a statement provided to The Local.

“We won’t regulate this from the state: I think that’s the wrong road to go down. It would also be difficult to create any kind of labelling for porn,” he said.

“However I think one should try to take a fairtrade perspective on it, for example, in which way has it been produced, and is there consent? Then you can move forward in minimizing porn that is misogynistic and produced under bad conditions. It’s good that this question is being talked about and it comes to light.”

The Swedish government's hope is that its major survey will provide a better picture of how pornography impacts attitudes. It is the first national study in two decades on the sex habits of Swedish citizens.

“Right now we know very little about porn and how it impacts sexual behaviour and attitudes. The government has decided that a sexual attitude survey should be done, and with that we can look more closely at, for example, how porn affects standards and values,” said Wikström.

Wikström is well accustomed to fielding questions about delicate subjects. In March, one angry Twitter user took his complaint about neighbours’ noisy sex directly to the Swedish MP.

“Sounds nice for them, I think. Good for their wellbeing and thus public health as well,” was the minister's frank reply.

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