The Swedish parliament has passed a law that criminalizes the purchase of live sexual online content, on platforms like OnlyFans. The new law targets a rapidly growing market where men pay to access women’s bodies through webcams—in real time. There are few commodities in this world that are more lucrative than men buying women and girls bodies. In Colombia for instance, it is estimated that approximately 400 000 women and girls, mostly Colombian and Venezuelan, are victimized through webcams.
The Swedish law is an important step toward stopping men’s violence against women in the digital age. At the same time, the term “purchase of a sexual service” is changed to “purchase of a sexual act.” The legislative change will take effect on July 1.
The Swedish Sex Purchase Act, also known as “the Equality Model”, which came into force in 1999, was the first law of its kind. It has since inspired similar legislation in several countries. Since the law was adopted, prostitution and human trafficking have moved into new digital arenas. Legislation has not kept pace with this reality.
Those defending the online platforms claim that it is empowering for women. At the same time, research shows that those who are used often have a history of abuse. The majority are women in vulnerable positions—financially marginalised, often carrying a history of abuse or coercion. In a Swedish study, 96 percent reported having experienced some form of abuse as children, and 88 percent reported sexual abuse. 77 percent had been exploited in pornography as children, 84 percent met the criteria for PTSD, 45 percent had a disability, and 69 percent had attempted suicide at least once.
Buyers of sexual acts are overwhelmingly men, exercising power and control in a commodified interaction where the woman is both product and performer. The legislative change in Sweden strengthens the protection of women who are exploited in prostitution and human trafficking, even when it occurs digitally.
These platforms do not offer liberation or agency. They offer a repackaged version of an old system, where women’s submission is monetised and men’s dominance is routine. The difference is that now it happens online, under the illusion of choice and consent shaped by survival.
The new law makes clear that violence and exploitation can take digital forms—and that laws must respond accordingly. Buying access to a woman’s body, even virtually, is not harmless. It reinforces the belief that money entitles some people to use others.
Arguments about “freedom” or “work” fail to ask why it is specifically men exploiting womens bodies. That is not freedom—it is a reflection of deeper, systemic inequality between women and men. Real freedom cannot exist where the conditions are defined by economic necessity and gendered expectations.
Sweden’s decision to extend the sex purchase ban to live-streamed sexual content is a major step toward recognizing and resisting that structure. Other countries around the world should follow suit— in order to dismantle an economy built on the exploitation of inequality and women’s bodies. This is about more than legislation. It’s about drawing a line: women’s bodies are not products. Consent cannot be bought. The right to dignity, safety, and autonomy should not end at the screen. If exploitation has gone digital, then justice must too.
