Prostitution Scotland: MSPs told to 'pull the plug' on Ash Regan proposals over 'significant concerns'

MSPs are being told to “pull the plug” on proposals to overhaul prostitution law as it will have a “limited effect” on trafficking and human exploitation.

Alba MSP Ash Regan is hoping to introduce what is known as the Nordic model to Scotland. This would legalise the selling of sex while criminalising the buying of sex.

However, civil servants who have spent the past few months trawling international evidence on tackling trafficking and sexual exploitation have questioned how effective this model would be.

Ash Regan MSP. | Getty Images

Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown has also written to Holyrood’s criminal justice committee saying she has “significant questions and concerns” about Ms Regan’s Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill.

The Scottish Government research says: “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 (e.g. via deterrence).

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“The evidence reviewed suggests that such measures may have limited impact on preventing trafficking and sexual exploitation.”

In her letter to the Holyrood committee, Ms Brown said she noted the “challenges experienced internationally” in implementing the Nordic model. She said she had “concerns about the accuracy” of the Bill’s cost estimates.

“There remain 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,” she said.

National Ugly Mugs, which is described as a sex worker safety charity, is now urging the criminal justice committee and others to throw the bill in the bin.

Lynsey Walton, chief executive of the charity, said: “Sex worker groups, alongside leading non-government organisations 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.”

Ms Regan said: “The Scottish Government that looks to our Nordic nations for inspiration on baby boxes and oil funds must not have a blind spot on following their lead on tackling the commercial sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking, of women and girls.

“It is unusual for the Government to not have shared with me, at our meetings, that they were publishing a report two days before I presented my Bill to the criminal justice committee last Wednesday.”

She criticised the Government report for “not evaluating legal models such as the Nordic model” and for not assessing how the Nordic model compares to full decriminalisation of prostitution.

Ms Regan added: “The debate on commercial sexual exploitation is now out of the shadows and into the Scottish Parliament, and I welcome scrutiny of all evidence to ensure Scotland becomes a nation where there is equality of the sexes in 2025 from being a pimp state.”