Scotland will become a 'pimp nation' unless we ban the purchase of sex, says MSP
Scotland risks becoming a "pimp nation" if it does not ban the purchase of sex, an MSP has said.
Alba's Ash Regan has introduced her bill to clampdown on people who pay for sex to Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee.
The Edinburgh Eastern MSP said: ' Prostitution is not a theoretical debate. It is happening right now - in our cities, towns, and communities—to real women, many of whom are poor, addicted, traumatised, or displaced.
"When women are reduced to what men can buy from them - we cannot look away. We must not allow Scotland to become a pimp nation.'
kerb crawling laws.
Regan's Bill would turn the tables by criminalising the purchase of sexual acts and decriminalising the selling of sex.
She is proposing fines of up to £10,000 and six month jail sentences for sex buyers.
Criminalisation of the buying of sex has been adopted in countries such as Sweden and Norway.
It comes after the Daily Record's bombshell front page about a former prostitute claiming current MSPs bought sex from her when she sold her body for money.
Regan told us last month the woman who was a former prostitute came forward to her after recognising her former male clients on TV.
She said at the time: 'We know that in Scotland about one man in ten will buy sex, so that would suggest to us that there is a likelihood that there would be MSPs that buy sex, and there would be people in the civil service that buy sex.
'It was confirmed to me today that there are current, serving MSPs - and that is plural, so not just one, but there are multiple - who are sex buyers.'
She added: 'She described seeing them on television'.' Asked if she believed the woman, Regan replied: 'Yes.'
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has since called for an investigation into 'horrifying' claims male MSPs paid a prostitute for sex.
The issue was also later raised in Westminster by Labour MP Tracy Gilbert.
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