Prostitution in Norway is illegal and a criminal act when sexual acts are purchased, but not when sold. In early times, proscription of prostitution fell under more general laws on fornication and adultery , particularly after the Reformation. Around this time, sexual acts started to be moved from civil law largely with fines to criminal law. For instance, in one part of Mediaeval law, the Frostathing Law , it is stated, "If a woman lies with a man whom she is not allowed to possess, she owes a fine of three marks, just as he does with whom she lies".
Regulation of sexuality in the High Middle Ages was largely a function of the Church, for whom only heterosexual sexual relations within marriage were acceptable. Despite this, prostitution was not considered amongst the most serious sexual crimes, but was frequently associated with other nuisances such as gambling, drinking, and causing a disturbance. Prostitution was criminalised in Norway with the introduction of the new Criminal Code Norske Lov in , but was made legal again when the Penal Code Straffeloven was revised in , [3] when the prohibition of both the sale and purchase of sex was lifted.
However, even during that time, it was actually tolerated and regulated in practice, in the larger cities such as Oslo , Bergen , and Trondheim. While prostitution was defined as an immoral vice , it was street prostitution that was especially frowned upon, being visible. It was also considered important to distinguish between "decent" and "indecent" women. Regulation was at least on the surface contrary to the Penal Code which had made fornication and hence prostitution a criminal offence in In practice the latter law was considered only to apply to males.
The media, the church, and social commentators started to express concerns about prostitution which was labelled as The Great Social Evil. Various institutions stated a desire to rescue 'fallen women', and help them exit their trade and 're-enter society', training them for positions such as domestic servants. In the mid-nineteenth century, there was a growth of organised society, in which religious and philanthropic organisations developed, many of which had a predominance of women members.
Amongst these were "societies for the defense of moral standards", concerned inter alia with prostitution and the government's failure to deal with it.
