Ash Regan MSP’s Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill is currently up for consideration by the Scottish Parliament.
The bill would rebalance the law on prostitution, creating a new offence of paying for sexual acts while decriminalising soliciting.
The Call for Views on the bill to change the law on prostitution in Scotland is currently open for public responses.
Please respond to the call before it closes on Friday 5 September.
The bill would change the law in four ways:
- It would make paying for sexual services a crime
- It would decriminalise soliciting or importuning by prostitutes
- It would quash previous convictions of prostitution
- It would provide an exit pathway from prostitution for those who want to leave
Respond now
Below is our guide to responding. You should respond using your own words.
You can read the bill and its documents online. These documents including Explanatory Notes and a Policy Memorandum which contains a huge amount of international research from other jurisdictions regarding the pros and cons of changing the law on prostitution. It might be helpful if you could give examples from practical service in the area of supporting those wanting to exit prostitution.
1. The Bill proposes to create a new offence of paying for the performance of a sexual act by a person. The Bill (at section 1) includes details of the circumstances in which an offence would be committed. The Bill (at section 9) includes a definition of “a sexual act”. The Bill states that activities such as striptease, pole dancing, lap dancing, or other erotic performances are not included in the definition of a “sexual act”.
What are your views on this proposal?
The proposals in section 1 criminalises buying sex altogether, which is to be welcomed as a deterrent. No distinction is made as to where this happens. This is important as prostitution has been moved into the residential sector since the first Coronavirus lockdown in 2020, as well as the increasing trend of ‘sex for rent’. These will have increased the risk of both adults and minors being entrapped into slavery within the residential sector in particular.
We want to emphasise that prostitution is inherently immoral and unethical and profoundly detrimental to all those who are prostituted as well as to society more widely. It constitutes degradation of women, girls, men and boys who are prostituted by requiring them to sell sexual acts and body parts, thus impairing their own mental and physical integrity and well-being. Those paying for sexual services are facilitating degrading treatment of these people, mostly women, and a legal deterrent is required to uphold true justice.
2. The Bill proposes to repeal section 46 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. Under this section of the 1982 Act, a person who is found guilty of loitering, soliciting or importuning in a public place for the purposes of prostitution commits an offence.
What are your views on this proposal?
We disagree with these proposals. We do agree with the bill’s supporters that the evidence shows that most of those who are involved in prostitution are in that situation due to having been groomed, coerced, trafficked – often from a young age – or due to severe restriction on ability to earn a living. However, it is impossible to ignore the fact that some people in prostitution are advocates for decriminalisation because they approve of prostitution as so-called ‘sex work’. These people naturally oppose the bill provisions for criminalising purchase of sex. Due to this we consider that it is necessary to keep the criminalisation of soliciting, as this preserves the message that prostitution is inherently immoral, degrading all those involved.
3. The Bill proposes to quash historic convictions under section 46 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, which relates to the offence of loitering, soliciting or importuning in a public place for the purposes of prostitution.
What are your views on this proposal?
As with question 2 there is a risk that this proposal will inadvertently lead to the normalisation of prostitution in society. The Policy Memorandum for this bill has not provided solid evidence of the need for this provision, e.g. evidence that women who have exited prostitution are being unfairly treated compared to others who have criminal records, or in comparison to others who have never been involved in prostitution.
There is a real risk that provision to quash criminal convictions will be exploited by supporters of prostitution who have left the trade for more normal occupations, but nevertheless continue to actively support and campaign for full decriminalisation on the basis that ‘sex work is work’
4. The Bill proposes (at section 6) to place a duty on the Scottish Ministers to ensure that a person who is or has been in prostitution is provided with assistance and support. The Bill sets out a non-exhaustive list of the types of assistance and support that may be provided.
What are your views on this proposal?
We agree with these proposals. They are the most positive aspect of the bill.
Given that long-term grooming, coercion and exploitation are likely to have had a effect on the mental health of people in prostitution, their sense of hope for a better life earning a living in a normal way is likely to have been severely diminished. Creating the legal right to support should, if implemented through properly staffed, funded and advertised mechanisms, make the hope for exit into normal, mainstream society visible and possible.
The inclusion of support for leaving prostitution in the bill means it would be put on a statutory footing. If successful, this would be a significant government policy milestone within the UK. We recommend this would require a regular review by a committee of the Scottish Parliament. In addition, there should be regular recording and publishing of data monitoring the background and characteristics of those being helped: for example, were they brought into prostitution as children, were they trafficked from within or outside the UK, etc.
5. Do you have any other comments on the Bill which you have not already covered elsewhere?
We encourage you to write here about any relevant experience you may have serving in this area of helping people exit prostitution.
The provisions outlined in sections 1 and 6 of the bill are overdue as a way of tackling payment for sexual services, as well as putting on a statutory footing the creation of assistance and support for those wishing to exit prostitution. We hope this can contribute to a change of culture across government, police and public services in Scotland which will serve these women and girls who are amongst the most vulnerable in society.
Respond by Friday 5 September
