A recent court case in Lithuania has reignited debate over whether the country should criminalise the purchase of sex and exempt those forced into prostitution from punishment.
After a Kaunas court sentenced two people to up to nine years in prison for trafficking and exploiting a woman with disabilities, anti-trafficking advocates renewed calls to shift legal responsibility from victims to buyers.
The Kaunas Regional Court found the pair guilty of human trafficking after investigators determined they held the victim against her will, used physical and psychological violence, and forced her into prostitution across several cities, including Klaipėda, Marijampolė, and Alytus.
The woman escaped after jumping from a third-floor apartment window where she was being held, said Kristina Mišinienė, head of Lithuania’s Centre for Combating Human Trafficking and Exploitation. “She jumped out of the apartment, covered in blood and injuries, begging passersby for help. That is how she was rescued from sexual slavery,” Mišinienė told reporters.
She argued that said current laws discourage victims from reporting abuse because they face fines for selling sex.
“It’s the sex buyers who bring profit to the criminals,” she said. To fight exploitation, the law must hold buyers accountable and remove punishment for those who are being sold, she argued.
“There was an episode in this case that shocked us,” Mišinienė said. “The woman was begging one of the clients, telling him she was locked up, kept against her will, begging for help. He listened to her, demanded sex, and afterwards called her pimps and complained.”
Under existing law, only traffickers face criminal charges. Buying or selling sexual services is treated as an administrative offence, with fines ranging from 140 to 300 euros.
Mišinienė and other advocates argue that Lithuania should follow the so-called “Nordic model”, first adopted in Sweden and later in Norway and Iceland, which criminalises sex buyers but treats prostituted persons as victims in need of support.
Some lawmakers agree the issue deserves renewed discussion. Social Democrat Julius Sabatauskas said that the law should distinguish between perpetrators and victims. “If we criminalise buyers, those exploited in prostitution must be treated as victims, not offenders,” he said.
But others remain sceptical. Agnė Širinskienė, a member of the Democrats “For Lithuania” party, said while criminal liability for buyers could be considered, full decriminalisation of sex work would not be a good solution.
“I really don’t think that decriminalising and not punishing prostitution, women selling their bodies, at all would solve the problem,” she said.
According to prosecutors, cases of trafficking for prostitution have declined in recent years, while forced labour exploitation has increased. However, fear remains a major obstacle in investigating such crimes, as many victims are too afraid to contact law enforcement.
“Abusers are often nearby, they can threaten, take away phones or documents,” said Kaunas Regional Prosecutor Gabija Večerinskienė. “Reporting to the authorities requires enormous courage from the victim.”
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