Sex in Finland

Finland might not scream “European sex capital”… and that’s because it obviously isn’t one. There are no bustling red light districts, and doing something stupid – like running a brothel – could land you in jail.

But don’t be fooled by the country’s outward reserve… the Finnish adult scene still has plenty going on, just often behind closed doors. This Nordic nation of 5.5 million is famously tech-savvy and liberal, which shows in its thriving online escort market, high porn viewership, and a quietly open-minded approach to sex and sexuality.

So what is sex in Finland like? And what makes the Finns so adventurous in the sack? This guide tells all about the side of Suomi that rarely gets spoken about. 🇫🇮🍆

Prostitution Laws in Finland

Prostitution in Finland is legal but many activities surrounding it are not, including soliciting streetwalking and organised prostitution (pimping or running a brothel).

Street prostitution is banned under the Public Order Act, and if some third party profits by arranging or facilitating prostitution… well, say hello to Finland’s anti-pimping laws.

Those profits will not last for long.

Prostitution laws were relaxed after World War II, prior to which it was actually illegal to buy and sell sexual services.

There are discussions ongoing in the Finnish government that are looking to criminalize the purchase of sex and bring the country’s laws in line with other EU member states. At the moment, the legislation is seen as a compromise. The de factor position is along the lines of: tolerate the individual sex worker, discourage the whole business.

It isn’t clear just how many women are working as prostitutes in Finland, and the visibility of the profession is low; most transactions are conducted privately or via the internet.

However, advocates of prostitution, Pro-tukipiste r.y. claim that between 1500 and 2000 women use their services each year. The majority of these women are migrants (often from nearby Estonia or Russia) and the best estimates suggest that around 4000 prostitutes work in Finland with 70% of these being foreign.

So where does that leave Finland’s sex trade?

Largely online and in the shadows. Escorts and clients still find each other through various means: international listing sites, Twitter/Telegram, closed forums, and classifieds.

But the sex scene on the street?

Practically non-existent in Finland.

Escort Industry

Since brothels can’t legally exist, escorts (independent or semi-independent) form the backbone of Finland’s paid sex scene.

These are women (and some men) who arrange private meetings via phone or online, and the law means that they must work solo – no official agencies with mamasans or Dennis Hof types managing a stable of girls.

An agency that sets up calls and takes a cut would be considered pimping under Finnish law, so what you get instead are informal networks and online platforms. We have no doubt that ‘unofficial’ escort agencies exist, but the difference is that they cannot be public-facing in Finland.

You’re not going to find glossy databases of models with live schedules and active socials.

What we have instead is a scene dominated by non-Finland-based escort directories (covering most of Europe). For example, RealEscort’s Finland section features dozens of profiles with photos, rates, and contact info.

It had around 300 escort ads at the time of writing, most of them based in Helsinki but with a smattering further afield.

There’s also the ever-present EuroGirlsEscort, covering the whole of Finland, with 360 escort ads at the time of writing.

Still, Finland takes the pimping ban so seriously that it has historically targeted even online platforms.

Until 2019, the country’s most popular sex classifieds website was Sihteeriopisto.

Sihteeriopisto was the place where independent sex workers and clients connected; kind of like an old-school forum but with an avalanche of ads that made up over 90% of the country’s entire call-girl industry.

The authorities viewed it as abetting pimping, and an international bust in 2019 took it offline. The site has bobbled back to the surface many times since then, under different domains and URLs, but it’s mostly just crude attempts at leveraging the famous old brand… rather than any serious attempt at an actual relaunch.

Brothels

Finland has no legal brothels – operating one is illegal, period.

The country shut down its tolerated brothel system way back in the 19th century (the last legal brothels were banned in the 1870s), and since then it’s been a firm no-go.

That said, does prostitution occur in fixed locations? Yes, but the rise of apartment brothels is quite different to the official ‘brothel scene’ found in countries like Germany or Switzerland.

On the street, Finns sometimes wryly refer to certain locations as “treffikämppä” (meeting flats) or use code talk like “model apartments.” But unless you’re in those circles, you won’t stumble into one, and if you did, you’d be running into an illegal establishment.

One place where quasi-brothels do thrive is under the guise of other businesses – which brings us to…

Massage Parlours

Here’s Finland’s open secret: Thai “massage” parlours.

Walk around Helsinki (or other cities) and you’ll see plenty of innocuous storefronts advertising Thai Massage.

Most of them do offer genuine traditional massage… but some will also offer you a “special” service for an extra fee. In a country where running a brothel is illegal, the massage parlour workaround has become a de facto tolerated thing. Authorities largely turn a blind eye unless there are trafficking or underage concerns.

And to be fair, Finland is hardly the only country where this business model prospers. It’s existent on pretty much every developed corner of the globe. The Happy Ending is a universal language, right?

Hundreds of Thai women work in massage shops across Finland, many sending money home to families. An in-depth Yle (Finnish Broadcasting Co.) investigation found that many Thai massage parlour workers sell sex to make ends meet, often charging an extra €20–€30 for a happy ending or more for full service.

They’d prefer other work, but as one candidly told reporters, when every other customer is asking for extra and you need the cash… “you learn to say yes”.

Pretty grim.

The Thai parlours with extras aside, there isn’t a big “massage and escort” culture like in some countries. The Finnish version is more low-rent and hidden.

While several popular massage shops are discussed on Reddit, and on punter boards, we cannot publish details of them here.

Sex Clubs

You’re not going to find commercial sex clubs in Finland.

What you do have are strip clubs and swinger clubs.

And… not many of them, unfortunately.

Helsinki is the obvious hot spot for strip clubs, the most notable being Helsinki Gentlemen’s Club, Crystal Show Club and Alcatraz. There’s precious few alternatives outside of the capital.

The ones we’ve mentioned are standard strip bars: you pay entry, buy overpriced drinks, watch stage shows, and can purchase private dances. No sex is officially sold on-site (that would be illegal). The dancers are often Eastern European or Baltic, with some Finns.

Be warned: some Helsinki strip clubs have a reputation for being tourist traps.

It’s worth noting here that Finland’s sex laws don’t target private sexual behavior. So, technically, a private members’ club where people go to have group sex isn’t illegal as long as no one is profiting from prostitution.

This has given rise to at least one notable venue: WildClub.

Wildclub is an adult playground located in Kirkkonummi (a rural area outside Helsinki). It’s not a brothel – rather, it’s a private swingers’/fetish club where couples and singles can tap up the latest local events and, well… get wild.

We’ll talk more about Wildclub in the swinging section below.

Notable Red Light Districts

While Finland lacks a classic red-light district, Helsinki historically had an area known for street prostitution: the Kallio district, particularly Vaasankatu and Aleksis Kiven katu.

However, since the ban on public solicitation and increased police surveillance, the street scene has largely dried up. It’s a shell of its former self, which was still pretty tame compared to some European red light spots.

Today, if you wander Vaasankatu at 4am, you’re more likely to encounter drunken students hunting for late-night snacks than sex workers hunting for johns.

Attitudes Towards Sex

Finns are often stereotyped as quiet, reserved, and perhaps a tad uptight. Spend a bit of time here, and you’ll find that while they aren’t as flamboyant about sex as say, the French or Italians, their attitudes are quite liberal and tolerant.

In general, the public attitude towards sex in Finland is fairly open-minded with the country even ranking as the most promiscuous nation in Europe in one particular survey.

However, over half of all Finns aren’t satisfied with their sex-life and are likely to rate their own sexual performance quite poorly.

In a survey conducted by YouGov, Finland topped many of the more adventurous sex charts in Europe, ranking as the highest proportion of people surveyed who:

• Have filmed themselves having sex (15%).
• Use costume during sex (14%).
• Used a sex toy (39%).
• Have taken Viagra (11%).
• Have been to a strip club (27%).
• Have been unfaithful to a partner (32%).
• Watch pornography (63%).

Unfortunately this level of promiscuity has also led to Finland topping the same poll with the number of people who have reported an STI (16%).

When it comes to commercial sex or kink, attitudes can be mixed.

Prostitution, for example, is legal to do but carries a massive social stigma – it’s not admired to be a sex buyer or seller, but Finns also pragmatically shrug that “it happens.”

A recent government study estimated the Finnish sex trade’s annual value at up to €200 million, noting that demand had increased due to greater supply and more relaxed attitudes toward buying sex. Still, it’s not something people boast about.

On the other hand, porn consumption is off the charts (more on that soon), and nobody bats an eye at adult magazines or racy material on TV after midnight.

City Guides

For detailed intel on the sex scene throughout Finland, check our guides to three major cities:

Porn Viewing Trends

If there’s one area where Finns are unabashedly promiscuous, it’s in watching online porn.

This country loves its adult content. Finland consistently ranks among the top countries in the world for porn viewership per capita. PornHub places Finland as the 17th biggest consumer of porn through its website (on mobile devices)… this despite a population of just 5.5 million.

WTF!

Who needs the Northern Lights when you’ve got this much smut at your fingertips?

Top Finnish Porn Sites

Have they tapped into some otherworldly porn site that the rest of us don’t know about?

Nope.

Finns watch the same major tube sites that the rest of the world does. 

Pornhub, XVideos, Xhamster, YouPorn…. the usual suspects.

In fact, Pornhub is massively popular in Finland, ranking among the top websites overall. As of mid-2025, Pornhub was the 33rd most visited website in Finland (not just adult site – site overall!), outranking even LinkedIn. That’s a whole lot of self-time for the Suomis.

Are there any Finnish-specific porn sites?

Not many that are internationally known, and certainly very few that we’ve heard about over the years.

Finland’s market is small and most viewers just hop on the global platforms for their next fix.

There have been Finnish porn production companies (like WSOY’s erotic line in the 90s and smaller studios). Nowadays, any Finnish content creators stick with the major platforms like OnlyFans or ManyVids.

And there’s not enough demand (or supply) for a professional Finland-based porn company.

Closest we can think of is the old girly magazines like Jallu and Kalle. Sadly no more.

The top porn genres for Finland are pretty standard for the course: a lot of “MILF,” “teen (18+ obviously),” “amateur,” etc.

But one thing of note: Finland has a famous subgenre called “Suomiporno”, which just means Finnish porn, often denoting 80s/90s grainy videos that achieved cult status back in the day.

Notable Finnish Porn Stars

Top of the list is Rakel Liekki.

She’s often dubbed “the apostle of Finnish porn”… a nickname she earned in a newspaper after becoming one of Finland’s first internationally recognized adult film actresses.

Rakel (born 1979) starred in a number of European porn productions in the early 2000s and became something of a media personality. She’s a redhead with an outspoken personality, known for being articulate and intelligent as well as, well… getting railed on camera. These days, she writes columns, hosts radio shows and even dabbled in politics.

Another famous (infamous?) figure is Henry Saari, aka “Henry the Great” (Henry Suuri). He’s a Finnish male porn star who gained international cult status in the 90s. Henry is a tall, blonde fellow from Pori who apparently once won the Mr. Finland body-building/pageant title, placing third in the Europe-wide competition.

He retired from the industry due to a knee injury, but had a pretty epic career along the way.

While Rakel and Henry are the big two, a few other Finns have dabbled in adult entertainment:

• Satu Söderström – stage name Lilith Lee. She was a 90s actress who did a bunch of Euro porn; was one of the first Finnish women in Penthouse magazine as well.
• Dolly Buster – okay she’s Czech by nationality, but Dolly (real name Katja-Nora Baumberger) grew up partly in Finland and speaks Finnish. She became a huge porn star in Europe in the 90s. Some Finns like to claim her by association since she has Finnish ties.
• Puma Swede – although known as a Swedish porn actress, Puma Swede (real name Johanna Jussinniemi) is actually Finnish-born (of Finnish heritage). She was born in Helsinki but raised in Sweden.

Popular Cam Sites in Finland

Live camming has quietly become huge in Finland. Possibly because it offers live interaction… which in a somewhat introverted culture, can be easier behind a screen?

Whatever the case, the most popular cam platforms in Finland are global ones: Chaturbate and LiveJasmin lead the pack.

Chaturbate, being largely free/ad-supported with countless amateur performers, is known for drawing a younger crowd. It became so popular that in mid-2025 it was the newest entry to Finland’s top 100 sites.

Other cam sites like BongaCams and Cam4 (popular in Europe/Eastern Europe) have Finnish users too.

What about Finnish camgirls?

It’s worth noting that there are Finnish cam models out there, though many don’t necessarily advertise their nationality unless it’s a selling point. Industry expert CamsRank places Finland fairly mid-table in terms of number of cam models. The country averages 33 models online across the major platforms, according to their most recent data.

We did some sleuthing and calculated that the vast majority of these girls (over 60%) perform exclusively on Chaturbate or StripChat.

Below are some live shows from Finnish cam girls broadcasting right now:

LGBTQ Scene

Finland might be geographically tucked in the cold north, but when it comes to LGBTQ acceptance, it’s pretty warm and welcoming. Overall, the country is seen as a liberal and gay-friendly destination, with some fairly progressive gay rights legislation.

The current status of LGBTQ legislations can be summarised as follows:

• Homosexuality was made legal in Finland in 1971 and declassified as an ‘illness’ in 1981. Transvestism took another three decades to follow suit but was dropped as an official ‘illness’ in 2011
• In 2014, Finland legalised same-sex marriage and was the 12^th European country to do so.
• The age of consent was equalised in 1999 and is currently 16 years old; the same for heterosexuals.
• Gay and lesbian men and women can serve openly in the Finnish military.
• Transgendered men and women can legally change their gender.
• Gay men must abstain from sex with another man for at least a year before donating blood. This change was a repeal of the total ban on blood donations from homosexuals that was in place before 2013.

An annual Pride festival is run from the country’s capital of Helsinki ,and is a well-attended event attracting around 10,000 people.

Helsinki naturally has the most to offer in terms of LGBT nightlife. The city’s gay partying historically revolved around a few key clubs and bars: DTM (sadly now gone), Hercules (the new fave) and others like Mann’s Street, Fairytale, etc.

Unlike many European capitals, Helsinki historically only had one gay sauna, called Vogue (or Club Vogue). It operated for years but closed in the late 2010s. As of now, Helsinki doesn’t have an active gay sauna.

Turku and Tampere, the next largest cities, have much smaller scenes.

Swinging Scene

You might not immediately picture Finland as a hotbed of swinging… and your first impressions wouldn’t be far off the truth!

While The Lifestyle has some popularity here, it certainly doesn’t have the endless sprawl of clubs and parties that are available in other European hubs.

The standout venue in Finland’s swinging circuit is undoubtedly WildClub, which we mentioned above. It’s located in Kirkkonummi, just outside Helsinki. This venue has fetish nights, swinging events and even the legendary “panopuu”, which has to be seen to be believed.

WildClub is Finland’s answer to the on-premises sex clubs found in Germany or the Netherlands, just on a much smaller scale. Most reviews are positive… some even describe it as the best swingers’ club in the Nordics.

Outside of WildClub, there are smaller, more DIY operations. Here we’re talking mostly cottage weekends, sauna socials, or apartment parties coordinated via invite-only Telegram groups or Finnish-language forums.

Single guys are generally treated with caution (no surprise there), and most events that do allow single men operate on a quota basis. Single women, predictably, are welcomed with open arms, often literally.

If you want to get involved with the swinging scene in Finland, it’s a good idea to join one of the private online communities where local events are posted and organised.

We’d recommend SDC (excellent throughout Europe), or RedHotPie (less popular in Finland but still decent).

Hookup Dating and Classifieds

If you wanna get laid in Finland without spending €300 on a hotel escort, your best shot is an app. This is a nation of introverts, after all.

Tinder dominates the casual sex scene. It’s the de facto hookup app in Helsinki, Tampere, and basically anywhere with a bar and broadband. The matches are decent.

Bumble is a close second in terms of popularity, especially in cities like Turku and Espoo where the student crowd is a bit more cosmopolitan. But it’s certainly one of the worst for actually initiating a hookup, since the woman has to message first. Who’s got time for that?!

OkCupid, Pure, Feeld and even Grindr (gay #1) all have a presence here, but the user base is small compared to the Big Two.

Outside the app sphere, there’s also some throwback activity on classic Finnish forums like Suomi24 Treffit — the digital equivalent of whispering “wanna fuck?” into the void and hoping someone replies. 

There’s also a small sugar dating scene in Finland, mostly centered on platforms like Seeking.

This got some media attention in recent years when it turned out a surprising number of Finnish university students were looking for sponsors to help cover rent (or “spa treatments”).

No real surprise there: tuition is free, but Helsinki rent definitely isn’t. 😂