Realstars at the Nordiskt Forum in Malmö

Last weekend 20,000 people attended the Nordiskt Forum in Malmö, which offered a variety of activities and perspectives on gender and feminism. We were five people from Realstars who during 4 days occupied the booth for 28 hours and passed on our message about Fair Sex trafficking.

We were hosting a seminar on Sunday with an exciting program where the Hotel Flora, the first Fair Sex-branded hotel talked about the cooperation with Realstars and how they work against prostitution and trafficking. Skåne police informed about their work against human trafficking, and we also got to listen to how an organization in Iceland stopped the so-called Champagne Bars, that turned out to be prostitution (no chat with women).

What goes through the mind of a sex buyer and how do they justify buying sex? Two students gave us the answers based on interviewes made with five sex buyers. During this forum, all of us from Realstars were “Agents of Fair Sex” and inspired many to take a stand and sign our campaign for a Europe free from trafficking. We displayed an exhibition of young creative expressions, art, and ideas for fair sex, that high schools had contributed to our inheritance fund projects.

We also occupied the Workshop, where many made collage. It also feels good that we sold T-shirts that are now seen on the streets of Oslo, Trondheim and Copenhagen, and buttons that have ended up in such diverse places as Zambia, Finland and Iceland.

We met women who engage in shelters, mostly as volunteers, who work as teachers, preschool and young people with disabilities. Lawyers who specialize in law about buying sex and women who talked about student discussions ’68.

Nordiskt Forum became an important meeting place for us who want to strengthen women’s human rights. Now we hope for more actions, reflecting in improved gender equality.