An exhausted mother who faces neglect, poor nutrition and blame for producing a daugher is likely to pass on that neglect, social workers say. For an infant, that can mean the difference between life and death.
Whatever the Swedish government claims, socialworkers who deal with prostitutes say the law has simply driven the sex trade underground, thereby making it harder to clamp down on trafficking in foreign women, one of the law's main aims.
"I've been taking phone calls from socialworkers and other health care professionals who say it would be a routine part of their work to give evidence in very complex court cases, " she said.