RealStars once again participated in the Book Fair. It was an experience filled with engagement and important conversations. This year, we focused on spreading specific knowledge about the Gothenburg police’s inaction regarding the high-profile Swish list containing 229 names of potential sex buyers linked to a pimping case from last summer. Every name counts.
At the Book Fair, we had many interesting conversations with visitors, who showed great interest in the situation in Sweden and Gothenburg. In our booth, we had a large poster that read, “Over 2 million is spent on sex purchases during the book fair” – which made many passersby stop and want to share their thoughts on this and learn more. The message was well received by most visitors, but there were a few who looked at us sideways and hurried away from our booth with downcast eyes. It is likely that we encountered several sex buyers during our time there, which further underscores the significance of our presence at the fair.
Louise (intern at RealStars), Malin (Secretary General), and Maria (dedicated volunteer and author) stood at the booth spreading the word about RealStars’ message.
We had the opportunity to exchange a few words with a visitor who is knowledgeable about the issue. She said, among other things, “Buying sex is not okay. It is to destroy another human being,” which we truly agree with.
Many visitors also chose to sign our petition for the Gothenburg police to actively work to combat the demand that drives sex trafficking, allocate resources to identify sex buyers and vulnerable individuals, and investigate the 229 names linked to the trafficking case. Every name counts. Read more about the trafficking case here. We will forward the petition to the Police Authority and the Gothenburg District Court to point out that the decision does not align with public opinion.
We are very happy to announce that at this year’s fair, we achieved our goal of gaining 20 new members. If you would like to become a member, click here or send 300 SEK (regular) or 150 SEK (student, pensioner, job seeker) via Swish to 123 337 2927 along with your name and email address. Our Instagram account gained 50 new followers, and several others received information leaflets to help spread our message. Additionally, 152 people signed up for our newsletter!
The book lottery with gifts from publishers and authors
Our popular book lottery was a fun and easy way for a large number of visitors to engage in our ongoing work. With around 600 tickets sold, we would like to extend a big thank you to all the authors and publishers who generously donated books to us. We had the opportunity to raffle off books addressing important social issues such as feminism, grooming, and prostitution, as well as various thrillers, novels, and poetry collections. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Katarina Wennstam, Helena Björk, Camilla Läckberg, Eva F Dahlgren, Caroline Engvall, Maria Balck, Johan and Johanna Hurtig Wagell, Sven-Eric Liedman, Ida Östensson & Thor Rutgersson, Paulina Bengtsson, Piratförlaget, Atlas, Bonnier Förlag, Ekström & Garey, Bokfabriken, Bookmark Förlag, Romanus & Selling, Bokförlaget Forum, Norstedts, and many more. Your contribution is a tremendous help for our continued work against trafficking and for Fair Sex.
We had the opportunity to exchange a few words with and give a FFS shirt to Katarina Wennstam after a stage performance. She has generously donated many books to us, and this year we received “Död mans kvinna” and “Döda kvinnor förlåter inte.”
Tomas (dedicated board member) and Lisa (committed volunteer) are selling tickets for our book lottery. We sold about 600 tickets!
Thank you to all the volunteers, board members, authors, and publishers who made it possible for us to participate in the fair. A special thanks to Louise, our intern, who coordinated our stay. Our message was able to reach a diverse range of visitors. Thank you to everyone who visited our booth and to all the new members. We’ll see you again next year!
Kalle (board member) and Tekla (process leader of RealStars Gothenburg) are being interviewed by Advent Church.
The author and speaker Hasse Carlsson visits the booth and talks with RealStars’ knowledgeable and dedicated volunteer Monica.
Torbjörn (board member), Malin (secretary general), Tekla (process leader), and Maria (volunteer) in front of our booth.
