Exclusive:Majority of Scots oppose Scottish Government stance to overhaul prostitution legislation

Ministers are being told to drop their “extremist” proposals to overhaul prostitution laws after a new poll found the majority of Scots oppose the SNP Government’s stance to decriminalise the selling of sex.

The planned moved by the Government would instead criminalise the buying of sex, known as the Nordic model.

The Nordic model is in place in a number of countries worldwide, including Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, France and parts of the US, and is being looked at as an option in Scotland. However, a new YouGov poll carried out for the charity National Ugly Mugs suggests the majority of Scots disagree with the proposals.

The poll suggests only 13 per cent of Scots support the Nordic model and only 32 per cent think paying someone for sex should be illegal, compared to 47 per cent who think it should be legalised. A further 62 per cent oppose the Scottish Government’s declaration that “sex work always equals violence against women” - only 13 per cent said they support the idea. 

However, only 1 per cent of adults think overhauling prostitution law in Scotland should be a priority for the Scottish Government at the current time.

Dr Raven Bowen, chief executive of National Ugly Mugs, said: “This poll shows that Scots are opposed to the SNP’s extreme plans to criminalise the purchase of sex, which international evidence shows only serves to increase violence against sex workers, by eliminating their revenue streams, making them desperate and destitute.

“It is now clear that mainstream Scottish voters side with charities, researchers and international organisations such as Amnesty International, UN AIDS and the World Health Organization in calling for a fundamentally different approach to regulating sex work that focuses on supporting sex workers’ rights and safety, and improving their quality of life and life chances.”

The manifesto commitments put forward by the SNP also include banning pimping websites, which are completely legal and unregulated in Scotland. This new poll suggests 63 per cent of Scots would prefer prostitutes to advertise themselves online, compared to just 2 per cent who think this should be done on the street.

It also found 45 per cent of Scots believe two prostitutes should be allowed to work together in the same premises, despite the risk of being charged for exploiting each other under brothel-keeping legislation.

Dr Bowen added: “Despite being the UK’s largest sex worker safety charity, supporting more sex workers through our NUMbrella Lane Glasgow hub than any other organisation in Scotland, the SNP has barred National Ugly Mugs from sitting on any Government-backed sex work policy groups.

“This is because we are an evidence-based organisation that cannot sign on to their extremist ideological statement that all sex work equates to violence against women.

“We now know that the Scottish public also overwhelmingly rejects this inaccurate and oversimplified notion, which is the basis for the government’s entire sex work policy agenda.”

Full decriminalisation is something the Scottish Greens support. The party says it would vote against any proposals put forward by the SNP to adopt the Nordic model in Scotland.

However, this is not deterring the SNP government.

A Government spokesman said: “Prostitution is a form of violence against women and girls and is completely unacceptable. Our recently published strategic approach to challenge men’s demand for prostitution outlines a number of actions to support the recovery and sustainable exit of those involved in prostitution, including the creation of a pilot programme for a new national hub.

“Lessons learned from the piloting of the strategy will help inform any future legislative considerations, including whether to criminalise the purchase of sex.”

SNP MSP Ruth Maguire said: “I absolutely agree that those involved in prostitution should not be stigmatised and the conditions that drives women into forced labour and survival sex needs addressed women need safe routes out of prostitution. 

“However, it is undeniable that the market that trades in sexual access to women and girls contributes to those conditions and any move to legitimise further that trade would only see an increase in the abuse and harm caused. 

“I’m clear that when presented with the reality of the industry which harms so many the majority of Scots will agree that it is Sex buyers, pimping websites and traffickers who should be criminalised not the women they exploit.”