Original subtitles

You can't live like you lived before you had Gustav.

- Do you mind? - Who's acting responsibly here?

Go home.

Sometimes it's as if we're on our way back together.

At other times, he's difficult to suss.

Aren't we going to meet him?

This agreement is with the New Democrats.

We are a party.

It's a highly significant victory for the New Democrats.

It puts them on the political map.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" - Old saying

When the girls appear, we roll.

Action! Are the girls in the background?

In a basement in Vesterbro,

three captive Romanian girls are forced to have sex with 10 men a day.

This is the dark face of prostitution.

They service men who are not in the wrong.

Prostitution is legal in Denmark for customers and practitioners alike.

Erik! Welcome to the New Democrat group office.

Goodness! I thought you said it was cramped.

300 signatures, and we'll have the 20,000 we need to run for election.

Pernille Madsen, what about the Romanian girls?

It's appalling that it can go on in a society based on law.

- What are you going to do? - The government refuses to act.

But the Labour Party will try to create a majority in the house

in favour of a ban on what's always been a crime against women.

- She gets shriller and shriller. - But she's right.

She has a very annoying way of being it.

Oh, so you are au fait, I see. And that's good.

Pernille Madsen will be in this room in a moment.

- May I sit over there? - Of course.

We want a ban. It must be made illegal to buy sex in Denmark.

- Only the buying? - Criminalising the girls won't help.

- We need to hit the customers. - Have you asked the other parties?

- If we can persuade the Freedom... - Can you persuade Saltum?

No, but I have asked Benedikte Nedergaard.

She represents the more modern wing of the party. She's willing to talk.

We can form a majority to defeat the government.

Episode 25 - Thou shalt not commit adultery

Thanks. It'd be a real blow for Hesselboe.

And we'd look like a true party of the centre.

Press-wise, it's a good cause. Loads of headlines in it.

Time to vote. The amendment to the marginal zone bill. How exciting!

- Where's Jon? - In the US. Why?

Prostitution and sexual policy is his area.

We're going to have to act quickly this time.

Yes, but Jon, we haven't had a policy on prostitution before.

Personally, I am moderately in favour of a ban.

And tactically it makes sense.

Yes, I would like to read a new study.

Can't you just mail it to me? I've got to go. Let's do that. Bye.

New trainers? I've just given him a new pair.

Weren't they the right brand? Eh, Magnus? What are you fixing?

- Muesli. - No. Supper's in half an hour.

- Christ! - Where did that come from?

He's being quite difficult at the moment.

And you reward him with new trainers.

I'd have done the same thing. We're lousy parents.

Can you take the kids for the next couple of days? Swap days with me?

They're big enough to be left on their own a bit.

Yes, but... it isn't work.

- Oh? - A gentleman's coming over.

Oh, OK, Jeremy? Isn't it about time they met him?

No, it's not like that, we're... It's kind of...

- Thanks. - See you, then...

Bye.

Torben. Hey, are you OK?

Yes. But things are a bit tricky at home.

Torben, stop it. People can see. Yes, they can!

Torben, don't. Torben, stop it. You are due in the Krea room.

- I can't be bothered. - Now. Goodbye.

You're working really hard on your relationship to me as your boss.

And your department's achieving fantastic ratings. I'm very pleased.

But I've been thinking.

What if we sex-segmented the news just a little bit?

Women watch the 18:30.

Women like all the domestic, intimate stuff, right?

Put more of that on the 18:00,

and keep the heavyweight foreign stuff for the men.

- Also the biggest foreign stories? - Oh, they can be on the 18:00.

But we'd keep the big analysis for the 20:30 edition.

Don't just agree with me! I want to hear what you think of the idea.

I don't like the idea of sex-segmenting the news.

All right, we'll just leave it be for now. What else have you for me?

I hear the executive is planning to abolish the 12 o'clock news.

- Well, it has lousy ratings. - Must ratings be the only criterion?

We want to be a serious brand.

Right. So we won't touch the 12 o'clock for now either. Fine.

Here is the news.

The prime minister is refusing to comment

on the current prostitution debate...

- Hello, darling. - Hi, Mum.

Good morning.

I was wondering if you'd like to put him to bed this evening?

Shall we read a bedtime story tonight, you and me?

The case of the Romanian girls

has emphasised how important it is to act quickly.

Today, the Labour party, the Greens, the Solidarity Party,

the Moderates, the New Democrats and the Freedom Party unite to...

She's a bit premature announcing it already, isn't she?

Pernille has just announced on the news that we've agreed to her bill.

- That was a bit bloody quick. - Tell me what you're thinking.

What happened to those girls in Vesterbro

is already covered by the penal code. Rape is and so is kidnapping.

It can never be in order for women to be traded as chattels.

But that's already illegal. My wife is...

- Black. - ...a lawyer.

She does a lot of pro bono work for the prostitution environment.

- She's told me quite a few things. - Such as?

Such as there's very little trafficking compared to the media attention.

And there are very few girls on the street.

You're criminalising something that's actually already a crime.

A few facts wouldn't do any harm. My black wife has given me some.

The facts will be ascertained when the bill's actually being drawn up.

Pernille Madsen seems incredibly determined.

And you all seem very emotionally involved in this case.

I'm primarily tactically involved. We can hurt Hesselboe.

This could become law any moment.

- Law based on tactics, emotions... - Is bodged law. Don't worry.

That's what we're up against.

It's very disturbing.

How much do we know about the Danish girls who work in brothels?

- They're victims too. - You can't separate the two.

We have to criminalise the customers.

- Any comments on the bill? - Just one small detail.

We must punish the Eastern European and African traffickers.

- Ah, the foreigners. - We want a general crack-down.

It's a good opportunity to set up fixing rooms in Vesterbro.

Today we just need to sign the provisional bill.

We can sort out the details later. I'll start with my signature.

- Benedikte? - Thanks.

Let's not rush it through without being properly informed.

- What? - This requires thought.

We are equating prostitutes with trafficked women.

But any prostitution means that women are treated as chattels.

It's not that simple, as this conversation shows.

But do we agree on a ban in principle?

I can't sign this until we know a bit more.

We are united here from the extreme right to the extreme left.

I'm sorry.

We'll end up as the ones who refuse to help the poor girls.

Our opposition to hasty legislation is one of our key issues.

We can't abandon it just to score a tactical victory.

We need more research.

The case of the Romanian girls has really caused a stir.

Some parties want to criminalise the purchase of sexual favours.

Success seemed on the cards. But Pernille Madsen, what went wrong?

- Birgitte Nyborg pulled out. - She's just asked for more time?

It's very unfortunate that we're throwing away the opportunity

to act quickly to help girls very much in need of protection.

I do hope she will see sense.

- Good night. - Good night.

I've put a towel out for you.

I'm sorry if I was a bit harsh.

Children are an upheaval.

The rest of you cope. We split up before he was even one.

I was 25 when I had Asger, and I was also completely at sixes and sevens.

I had an affair when Asger was 6 months old.

What?

With who?

Johan Mikkelsen.

The man next door?

Wow...

- Does dad know? - No.

I've never told anyone else.

Goodness.

Life is a mess for all of us, darling.

Nobody prepares us for the upheaval it is to have a baby.

Suddenly to be a mother.

You managed pretty well yourself.

- Good night. - Good night.

- We want a time-out. - GIVE ME A BREAK!

No, we haven't taken sides.

- We've found a vacant standpoint. - 40 people have asked for comments.

The NGOs, including Refuge, are really unhappy.

Laugesen is happy though.

Birgitte Nyborg could have protected these girls.

But her old craving for power has been re-aroused.

Has Hesselboe tried to buy her off?

And who'll pay for her opportunism? The poor girls we saw yesterday...

30 people have resigned from the party since yesterday.

She just asked for more time!

Yeah, but she appears as if she's dithering.

- Not all prostitutes feel abused. - Not if they're traumatised enough.

It's not as simple as that. Not where I come from.

- And where's that? - The non-leafy suburbs.

If the alternative is a job on the tills, it can be a real option.

A girl from school got a job as a hostess at the local night club.

She was the dishiest girl in class. She was dead popular.

And prostitution didn't make her any less popular.

- But it's a slippery slope. - For some. She loved it.

Has anyone phoned not to yell at us?

Yes. Helene from SD. Sex-workers in Denmark.

It can't do any harm to talk to her.

- SD represents prostitutes? - We prefer "sex-workers".

You give legal and tax advice?

And general professional guidance.

We also try to combat the prejudice.

So it's a big thing to come here.

Most of your members are Danish girls who work in brothels?

They account for 80% of all sex workers in Denmark.

They include a lot of mature ladies, too.

- What do you think of a ban? - It turns us into victims.

It's patronising.

I have trouble with the idea of the happy hooker.

It's weird to associate "happiness" with a trade.

We don't talk about the happy nurse or the happy policeman, do we?

You have 200 members out of perhaps 3200 prostitutes in Denmark.

A mere fraction.

We'd have far more if it wasn't such a stigma to go public.

Do all these women who work in secret share your views on a ban?

The buyer and seller both get something out of the transaction.

No drugs are sold, no violence is committed.

- Where is the crime? - The Vesterbro girls...

Yes, they must be given help. But a ban won't help them.

A ban expresses a moral view held by certain members of society.

You think that going in for a ban is a bit prudish?

I respect your efforts to help these women.

I don't just help them, I'm also a sex worker.

Wow! Thank you.

She was a prostitute.

- Katrine has just met a... - Sex worker. She told me.

She seemed very laid back but...

What did she think of the bill?

She says it makes victims of them.

"We collect taxes from them, but we won't recognize their trade."

But she's not enough. She may be with it, but she is one of thousands.

And the tax thing's right, but it's a very cold argument.

It's not too late to go back to Pernille Madsen.

- Erik, what were you telling me? - The Swedish ban.

Research shows that it is ineffectual.

There's been no drop in prostitution but more girls street walking.

And a steep rise in assault and rape.

The girls haven't a chance of appraising the customers first.

- So a ban endangers the girls? - It opens the door to pimps.

Do we really want the state to regulate our sex lives?

Actually I know of a couple of cases where it would help.

We're ready to go on TV with arguments for opposing a ban.

- Erik, will you do it? - I'm an ancient heterosexual.

I'm married to a beautiful young black woman. Not the right signal!

I'll do it.

Educated women regard prostitution as an assault on women

and a zone in which to wage their gender wars.

- So Nyborg's being tactical. - No, she's just using her head.

We know you like legal prostitution.

Men screw around anyway. Better they go to a pro.

No, Hanne! You can't compare prostitution to adultery.

So I should feel less guilt about shagging a tart than an affair?

In your case, no. Did you have something to say, Torben?

Did Alex dictate any more dramatic cutbacks?

- No, and the 12 o'clock stays put. - Well done, Torben.

She wanted to ban prostitution. Then she asked for more time.

Where do you stand now?

The New Democrats can't support a ban like those in Norway and Sweden.

There, life has become more dangerous for the girls most at risk.

No smoking.

Thanks.

- You're not used to it. - No.

- Thanks for a great night. - You, too.

- Up for a replay? - No. Last time, I won.

So you did. Better not, then.

- Right. - Right.

- Call me if you change your mind. - I will.

The girls can just go to the police.

This study shows that the Swedish ban has not had the desired effect.

Shouldn't we heed the facts?

There are loads of facts on the table and they all support a ban.

You haven't asked the prostitutes.

I listened to the experts.

So sex workers don't know their trade?

Prostitution isn't a trade.

Do we agree that prostitutes pay tax?

They charge for a service. Now, that's a trade.

We can agree that it's going to go on being a grey area

since you oppose a ban.

- Is that what you want? - Absolutely not.

I want enlightenment before we legislate.

Let's have a public hearing.

We'll just set up for the 12 o'clock.

Probably the cleaners.

Thanks for helping me out.

This prostitution thing is certainly big.

The research is fun.

Why people have sex, when they have sex, how they have sex...

- What can sex do? - Did we split up because of no sex?

It did take me a long time to get back into action.

- I should've given it priority. - You didn't turn me on any more.

The sexual side died for me when we became a family.

I couldn't figure out how...

Sure, it was your job to lech for me with my hormones and milk and...

I couldn't figure out how to reconcile

your being... both a mother and a lover.

I can't handle domestic bliss. There's something wrong with me.

- I shouldn't have talked you into it. - You mustn't say that.

Gustav is...

the best thing that ever happened to me.

And I wouldn't want children with anyone but you.

Thank you.

You'd better go.

Instinctively, one may want to ban it.

Thanks

Sometimes I wonder, is it me that's just prudish?

Once at a meeting of EU ministers I talked to woman counterpart

about the impossibility of having a love life in such a position.

But that you still have needs.

She told me she sometimes bought a male escort.

Just cash on the table. No guilty conscience.

Why's it cool for a female political leader but not for an ordinary man?

- Hi, Mum. - Hi, darling.

- Look. The cardie and pants. - Cool.

I can't go home. Mum's secret lover is there.

Aren't you in a rush?

A real rush. Say hi to Jeremy!

Birgitte?

Pernille Madsen is having a hearing, prostitutes invited.

Good.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Welcome to today's hearing on prostitution in Denmark.

Our panel of experts will look at every conceivable angle.

Our first speaker is the sociologist Professor Jytte Hansen.

Thanks, Pernille.

Denmark was a pioneer in abolishing slavery in 1792.

Can we permit slavery in the sex industry today?

"It was like ordering a pizza," that's how a 17-year-old boy

describes his visit to a prostitute.

Will we accept such an attitude to women?

In Sweden, we've realised that prostitution

is nothing but sex-based violence.

The state must intervene when poor citizens compromise their dignity.

There has always been hatred towards my trade.

We live outside the prevailing mores.

We're tolerated more than permitted. We're regarded as victims.

But many of us who've chosen the profession are not victims.

For us, a good day is not when there are no customers.

A good day is when we have lots of customers...

- Thank you. - Our customers are normal people.

Sandra, you were a prostitute. What was your experience?

I was a prostitute for five years and it was profoundly damaging.

I was the victim of incest as a child so my sexual limits...

I'm sorry for you, but the trade can be good for other people.

I didn't know it was harming me.

It took me years of therapy to understand.

Sandra's experience is akin to the Stockholm Syndrome.

The prostitute simply doesn't realise she's harming herself.

I'm not the victim of Stockholm Syndrome or a traumatic childhood.

I chose my trade.

No woman chooses to sell her body voluntarily.

You are deluding yourself.

It's also something the customers claim.

It's precisely the same as when adults have sex with children

and claim that the child was party to it.

You are equating women with children.

Women are as capable of genuine consent as men.

Studies show that 70% of former prostitutes have PTSS.

You mean a single study, carried out among street girls

in South Africa, Turkey, USA and Zambia.

Many of the respondents were homeless, addicts, or victims of war.

Do they represent prostitutes in Denmark?

Let's look at statistics from the Refuge in Copenhagen.

As you see, the girls suffer from huge social and mental problems.

Most are drug addicts or alcoholics.

As we see, the number seeking sanctuary has been growing rapidly.

Those figures don't match ours.

You don't like studies, it seems. But we're talking facts here.

Maybe you fantasise about life as a happy hooker.

But you're just renting out your vagina and mouth by the hour.

Well-functioning women don't do that ten times a day.

It's typical of prostitutes to accuse society of stigmatising them...

You did really well.

Hi, Phillip.

I tried to call but I think your mobile must be off.

Give me those damn loan papers. May I?

- You seem a bit, er... - Have you ever been to a prostitute?

- A man can only deny it. - Not today.

Of course I haven't.

How did it go? The hearing?

The hookers were the victims of abuse.

The customers were psychopathic sex offenders.

But then I looked at the statistics.

There are some 600,000 transactions in Denmark a year.

Let's say there are a number of repeaters...

At a guess, there are 100,000 men who frequent prostitutes in Denmark.

They can't all be psychopathic sex offenders, can they?

A considerable number of ordinary men also frequent prostitutes.

Family fathers.

- Husbands, ex-husbands. - You are my children's mother.

I have never slept with anyone but you. That's just how it is.

Helene?

I just turned a customer away.

I couldn't do it after yesterday.

We had no idea it would turn out like that.

I have been a sex worker for 12 years. I have never felt humiliated.

At that hearing, I felt as if I was being raped.

How should they legislate if it was up to you?

Stop the police from turning the place upside down

on the pretext of protecting Tax Office staff.

Let us hire receptionists without them being done for immoral earnings.

They want our tax but not to give us rights.

And those studies... they fiddle the numbers.

And nobody cares. After all, we're just tarts.

- What's wrong with the figures? - The Refuge figures are a sham.

- Why would the Refuge lie? - They get paid by the girl.

We're not the only ones who charge by the customer.

Release the figures immediately or we'll go to the house.

We're trying to get the official figures. It appears Helene was right.

The Refuge adds the new figures to last year's.

Many women are counted again as new entries.

There were 400 repeats last year out of 1200 clients.

- Which means another 40% in funding? - And there are political grounds.

They want to inflate the problem. They are all for a ban.

- We're getting the info? - Nete's working on it.

- There are bigger villains... - They're cooking their books.

The means do not justify the ends.

- She's gunning for the Refuge. - The good folk who help prozzies?

Torben, can we run this? I mean, people love them...

- If they're frauds, they're frauds. - Get Birgitte and Pernille for 6:00pm.

- Should Hanne do it? - You can't do everything.

- Torben? - Yes?

The case has been running on my news programme so far.

I don't mean to pressurise you,

but you should give it to me for 20.30.

OK, fine.

- Will you ring Madsen and Nyborg? - You're doing them?

I'm doing them, yes.

I don't believe it.

The number of street girls is not rising as the figures claim.

Pernille, your figures don't match the facts?

The Refuge is undermanned. It's a regrettable lapse.

400 too many out of 1300.

And Pernille shares responsibility?

I have talked to loads of the girls. I know what I'm talking about.

When you say girls, you mean streetwalkers.

That's just 20% of the total. We must get these things right.

What we need to get right is to stop girls from being sold.

You can't base legislation on your personal moral scruples.

The moral aspect is whether we want to be a society

with room for those who think and live differently.

I wouldn't choose to be a sex worker, but I accept that some women do.

- They need help. - I'm pleased you want to do so.

So why not help them the way they want to be helped?

What would you suggest?

Sex workers should have the same rights as every other taxpayer.

Hi, Birgitte. Really nice work. Fantastic.

- Would you like a beer? - Elegant, to the point.

Just a minute, just a minute, here we have lost another 20 members.

It is simply beyond belief!

The banning wing is still united. Where does the government stand?

We're about to hear.

Birgitte Nyborg says we should listen to the prostitutes.

My government listens to those we legislate for. So we will listen.

- To the prostitutes too? - They prefer "sex workers".

- Shouldn't we use their term? - Might he do more than just listen?

Might he even be persuaded to give sex workers some rights?

It'd be the second time we supported the government.

But haven't we reached the point where we should ignore tactics?

And Hesselboe's final remark was an open invitation.

But how do we ensure their rights?

What if we suggest a special police task force to combat trafficking?

They can't say no to that.

But we still don't have a majority.

Kruse is getting more and more right wing.

For him state intervention is no fun.

- Get onto Kruse and onto Hesselboe. - Message received.

- Cheers! - We can still win this.

Kruse's on his way. Who's going to entrap him?

It's Erik's turn. I had sex with Kruse at a party conference.

- How impressive. - Bad move. He lost respect for me.

- You lost respect for yourself. - Why must everything be about sex?

- How much will he cost? - You're the one who slept with him!

Kruse is vain. Offer him the chance to rub shoulders with the PM.

- Jacob Kruse is here. - Send him in.

Good luck, Erik. Nete?

Karoline?

Hello, darling. What are you doing here?

Since you couldn't be there. Damn it, man.

Hi, there. Sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor.

This is my wife Karoline. Alex.

Hi, Alex Hjort. I have heard so much about you.

I just dropped by to tell him how much we miss him.

He's very hard-working. We really appreciate him.

In that case, I think I'll toddle off home again.

Bye, baby.

- Nice to meet you. - Likewise.

I need you to talk to production about rationalising the 12 o'clock.

- Is that Pia? - Yes, that's Pia.

If you want to keep it, you'll need to cut back.

- Can you give me a budget tomorrow? - Yes, of course.

A really lovely wife you've got there. She's really hot.

Well done you.

Hi kids. I have someone you should meet. This is Jeremy.

- Have you made some tea? - Will you?

- It's just toast. - Tell him it looks delicious.

- Shall I let him win? - No, wipe the floor with him.

He looks really nice.

- We have to produce a budget. - I'll look at it tonight.

Pia? I'm sorry about my wife.

- I had no idea she'd show up. - That's quite all right.

- I'm sorry. - We agreed I'd present a budget.

We just don't have the money. I'm on your side.

I also want to pick up on gender-segmenting the 6 o'clock.

- I thought we'd discussed it. - Surely it's not that bad?

Your staff are great and can easily make it a bit fluffier.

Have a chat to Pia about it. You two really get on well.

What do you mean?

Don't get your knickers in a twist.

I haven't mentioned it to anyone.

We're meeting the government and we want you to come too.

This time they'll listen to you.

You've managed to win me over.

You couldn't have found a greater skeptic.

OK.

Great.

I really do think you should have rights.

I just don't see how you can do it.

- I give people pleasure. - But you sell your body!

- No, I sell a service. - To anyone who wants it.

No, to who wants it most.

Everyone deserves tenderness and intimacy.

- Don't you feel used? - Why? I chose it myself.

I'm good at my job. My customers are happy.

So if you really want to know, I feel strong. Desired.

Surely there are days when you just don't... I mean...

Some days are less fun than others.

Just like in your work.

Yes, there are.

Thanks.

Maybe the day you were told to fight for our rights was one of them.

- But it's the most intimate... - Not for me.

- There's sex and there's love. - I suppose I dream of them united.

I unite them. With my husband. Haven't you had one-night stands?

Completely casual?

Sometimes sex is just sex.

- I can't wait. - Who are you sending?

My Minister of Justice. And the New Right are coming.

- We hope for an agreement. - We're listening.

We want to tidy up the legislation on prostitution.

I would like to remark that I personally feel I've learned a lot,

because I insisted on really examining the facts.

It's an area that arouses strong feelings in many people.

Especially when you realise

that perhaps things are not quite the way you'd always imagined.

The rules are illogical, you can sell sex

but not run a brothel, yet that's not enforced.

Receptionists and accountants can be charged with immoral earnings,

unless they can prove that it's only a secondary source of income.

There are many ambiguities, as our proposal shows.

We want to secure sex workers rights.

We envisage licensing to control who runs this kind of business.

You're on.

- Break a leg. - Thanks.

The Danish sex clinics have regular conditions and regular hours.

The number of customers is between 10 and 40 a month.

There's no research to show that sex workers

are more emotionally damaged than average.

It's not unusual for sex workers to enjoy their jobs.

Or they would quickly find something else to do.

- Thanks for your input. - Thank you.

We want to considerably increase efforts

to combat crime in connection with prostitution.

We want a police task force to combat human trafficking and exploitation.

Thank you, Birgitte. That was most informative.

We'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Your specific measures on human trafficking are most interesting.

Sex workers rights are a vital part of our proposal.

There are limits to what we can go along with.

Surely you hadn't expected...

You're talking about legislation to the benefit of... well...

Hookers.

You said that, not me.

- What did he say? - He said no.

Unfortunately for Nyborg, the government was not up for it.

Her fight for sex workers' rights ended in much ado about nothing.

Prostitutes will remain in the same grey area as before.

And who are the losers? Let's ask the girls in Vesterbro.

It's Alex. I had a meeting nearby and thought I'd see if you were in.

- Come on up. - Thanks.

Well, what was this meeting about then?

It was just a meeting in the vicinity.

- Come in. - OK.