Harassment
Like many other big cities (and yes, I still insist that Oslo is a big city, it is the largest in Norway – even though I know compared to other cities in the world Oslo with its’ 600 000 inhabitants really isn’t that big) Oslo also has problems with drug addicts and prostitution in the streets. This summer the problem has become even bigger as the city in an attempt to hide the problem, has managed to move it to other places where it is even more visible.
Now there are prostitutes patrolling Karl Johan, the main parade street of Oslo, some might even call it the parade street of Norway. It is a street for pedestrians only, and runs from the main railway station in Oslo to the castle of the royal family. It seems like the problem of prostitution has been growing a lot the last years, with foreign criminals moving in and trying to take over this area of “business” in Oslo, bringing with them foreign girls who are forced into the “trade”. These girls probably have a quota they have to fill every day otherwise the men behind them will be very “upset” with them – and because of this many of the prostitutes on Karl Johan are very aggressive in their “marketing”. They harass single men walking alone on Karl Johan in the evening, grabbing them and refusing to let go. Several of my male friends and colleagues have experienced this themselves. There has been a lot of writing about it in the newspapers and a lot of people agree that something has to be done – but so far not much has happened.
I do of course not have a solution to the problem myself, because a solution to this problem – would have to be a solution to how to prevent forced prostitution. I am not against prostitution on a principal basis, if it really is by someone’s own free will, either they be man or woman – and as long as it doesn’t harm anyone, I think it’s their body to use as they choose. I do however suspect that 99% percent of the girls working in the streets of Oslo do not to this out of free will – they do it either because they need money for drugs, or they do it because there are people behind them forcing them to do this.
As for this particular problem with the aggressive prostitutes on Karl Johan, why don’t any of the men that are harassed press charges against these girls? Would it be embarrassing for them, as they are men and are able to protect themselves? And why is it that so many people talk about doing something about it, but no one does? Like a friend of mine said: If there were suddenly men working the streets like these girls do, approaching single women on Karl Johan, grabbing them and refusing to let go while telling them “come with me and I’ll fuck you real nice, and it’ll only cost you 100 kroner” how long do you think it would be before the police and the politicians would react? How long before those men would find themselves locked up somewhere where they couldn’t easily harass women like that?
Why do we allow women to do this to men, when we all know that we would never allow for it to happen the other way around? Oh, yeah, and I know the obvious answer to this one, women are less able to protect themselves than men are. But still, I know that many of those men who have been harassed like this, they feel very ashamed and distressed by this, because it really isn’t nice to be walking down Karl Johan with a prostitute on your arm that refuses to let go, is it? And really, people walking on the street, whether they are men or women should be allowed to do so without having to be harassed by people trying to sell them sexual favours!
Now there are prostitutes patrolling Karl Johan, the main parade street of Oslo, some might even call it the parade street of Norway. It is a street for pedestrians only, and runs from the main railway station in Oslo to the castle of the royal family. It seems like the problem of prostitution has been growing a lot the last years, with foreign criminals moving in and trying to take over this area of “business” in Oslo, bringing with them foreign girls who are forced into the “trade”. These girls probably have a quota they have to fill every day otherwise the men behind them will be very “upset” with them – and because of this many of the prostitutes on Karl Johan are very aggressive in their “marketing”. They harass single men walking alone on Karl Johan in the evening, grabbing them and refusing to let go. Several of my male friends and colleagues have experienced this themselves. There has been a lot of writing about it in the newspapers and a lot of people agree that something has to be done – but so far not much has happened.
I do of course not have a solution to the problem myself, because a solution to this problem – would have to be a solution to how to prevent forced prostitution. I am not against prostitution on a principal basis, if it really is by someone’s own free will, either they be man or woman – and as long as it doesn’t harm anyone, I think it’s their body to use as they choose. I do however suspect that 99% percent of the girls working in the streets of Oslo do not to this out of free will – they do it either because they need money for drugs, or they do it because there are people behind them forcing them to do this.
As for this particular problem with the aggressive prostitutes on Karl Johan, why don’t any of the men that are harassed press charges against these girls? Would it be embarrassing for them, as they are men and are able to protect themselves? And why is it that so many people talk about doing something about it, but no one does? Like a friend of mine said: If there were suddenly men working the streets like these girls do, approaching single women on Karl Johan, grabbing them and refusing to let go while telling them “come with me and I’ll fuck you real nice, and it’ll only cost you 100 kroner” how long do you think it would be before the police and the politicians would react? How long before those men would find themselves locked up somewhere where they couldn’t easily harass women like that?
Why do we allow women to do this to men, when we all know that we would never allow for it to happen the other way around? Oh, yeah, and I know the obvious answer to this one, women are less able to protect themselves than men are. But still, I know that many of those men who have been harassed like this, they feel very ashamed and distressed by this, because it really isn’t nice to be walking down Karl Johan with a prostitute on your arm that refuses to let go, is it? And really, people walking on the street, whether they are men or women should be allowed to do so without having to be harassed by people trying to sell them sexual favours!
posted by Lena M Bakke @ 9:01 AM
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