Finnish Member of Parliament Anna Kontula has publicly disclosed that she began working as a sex worker at the age of 16. In an interview with *Helsingin Sanomat*, she explained that financial hardship and curiosity motivated her decision to enter the trade. Over nearly two decades, Kontula worked intermittently as an escort and became an outspoken advocate for sex‑workers’ rights.
In 2002 she co‑founded the sex‑workers’ union SALLI and has since published articles challenging public perceptions of sex work while campaigning for the rights of those in the industry. When Finland passed a law in 2006 that partially restricted the purchase of sex, Kontula regarded it as a partial victory because it included protections for trafficking victims.
Kontula has served in the Finnish Parliament since 2011, continuing her advocacy for sex‑workers. She has announced that she will not seek reelection and is now training to become a social worker, focusing on safe‑sex education. Her decision to speak openly about her past aims to enrich the social debate on sex work and its future direction.
Prostitution is legal in Finland, with certain exceptions. Although Kontula was a minor when she began, Finnish law at the time did not prohibit it. The 2006 legislation criminalised the purchase of sex from minors, trafficking victims, or individuals involved in procurement.
Kontula’s disclosure has attracted criticism. Legal psychologist Pia Puolakka argues that normalising sex work does not make society freer or fairer and that a civilized state should guarantee conditions in which no one has to sell their intimacy. The debate sparked by Kontula’s coming out continues, and its impact on the broader discussion of sex work remains to be seen.
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