Ban on buying sex will have ‘limited impact' against exploitation

Times

14 hours ago

Banning the purchase of sex would have limited impact on stopping trafficking and sexual exploitation, claims Scottish government research as MSPs prepare to scrutinise Ash Regan's prostitution bill.
The Alba Party MSP's proposed law sets out to criminalise those buying sex while decriminalising those selling it, known as the Nordic model.
Under the proposals, those convicted of buying sex could be fined up to £10,000 if the case is prosecuted in the sheriff courts, which could also impose jail sentences of up to six months.
The legislation also proposes quashing convictions for those involved in prostitution.
However, a research paper published by the Scottish government, to inform its trafficking and exploitation strategy, has found the measures set out in Regan's bill would have a limited effect on stopping the activity.
The paper acknowledges that there are 'notable evidence gaps' behind claims by supporters of the bill that prosecuting buyers of sex would reduce exploitation in Scotland, in particular in relation to prevention.
The research comes after independent reviews carried out for the Irish and Northern Irish governments, which have both criminalised the purchase of sex, reported that the Nordic model had not reduced the demand for sexual services.
The Scottish government report authors wrote: 'Much of the literature reviewed focuses on criminal justice interventions. This tends to focus on the effectiveness of preventative measures which aim to reduce demand for prostitution (eg via deterrence). The evidence reviewed suggests that such measures may have limited impact on preventing trafficking and sexual exploitation.'
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Sex worker groups, led by National Ugly Mugs, the UK's national sex worker safety charity, have warned that criminalising those who purchase sex has no effect on stopping exploitation. They believe the law would simply make life more difficult and dangerous for sex workers, by pushing the industry underground.
Lynsey Walton, chief executive of National Ugly Mugs, said: 'Sex worker groups, alongside leading NGOs like Amnesty and the World Health Organisation, have long warned that criminalising the purchase of sex only serves to make life more difficult and dangerous for sex workers, while having no impact on trafficking and exploitation.
'We are pleased that the Scottish government has now accepted that the international evidence backs this up. MSPs now need to pull the plug on Ms Regan's misguided and dangerous legislation, and focus on supporting sex workers' rights to work safely and free from stigma.'
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Siobhian Brown, the community safety minister, has highlighted 'significant and deep concerns' about the bill. She insisted that quashing convictions — as proposed for those involved in prostitution — was an 'exceptional' measure and 'not a step that can be taken lightly'.
While Brown acknowledged Holyrood had passed legislation to quash convictions of those caught up in the Post Office Horizon scandal, she said the cost of this was 'estimated to be £804,000 based on 200 people'.
She noted that documents submitted as part of Regan's Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill suggested that 10,459 women had been convicted of soliciting since 1982.
With these documents also indicating that Police Scotland 'currently holds 2,773 case records involving 791 individuals', Brown said this 'raises some concerns about the accuracy of the associated costs — around £250,000 — detailed in the bill's financial memorandum'.
Her comments came in a letter to Holyrood's criminal justice committee, which is due to scrutinise the legislation proposed by the Alba MSP.
Brown said there was 'insufficient detail' on how proposals to provide support to those involved in prostitution to help them change their lifestyle would work in practice, including how long such measures would be available and what the costs would be.
She stressed that while the Scottish government backed the 'underlying intent of the bill to challenge men's demand and to tackle commercial sexual exploitation', she added there were still 'significant questions and concerns regarding the measures within the bill and how they would work in practice, the extent to which they would deliver on the policy intent, and the associated financial implications'.