NEARLY 70% of Scots believe paying for sex should be treated as a crime, a poll has shown.
Alba MSP Ash Regan has lodged a bill in the Scottish Parliament which seeks to criminalise those buying sex while decriminalising those selling it.
Under the proposals of the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill, those convicted of buying sex could be fined up to £10,000 if the case was prosecuted in the sheriff courts – with these courts also able to impose jail sentences of up to six months.
Regan commissioned a poll by Find Out Now to find out if Scots back her plans and a survey showed 67% believe purchasing sexual services should be a criminal offence.
A bigger proportion of 87% support the decriminalisation of selling sex on the grounds of exploitation. In the same sample, 90% of women supported the plan, compared to 85% of men.
It comes after Police Scotland said earlier this month that it supports Regan's plans.
When those who neither support nor oppose the plan to make purchasing sex a crime were included in the data, 43% were in favour, 36% were neither for nor against, and 21% were in opposition.
Regan is now calling on the leaders of all of Scotland’s political parties to back her Holyrood bill.
She said: “The people of Scotland have spoken, and their verdict is overwhelming. A clear majority backs my Unbuyable Bill, which shifts the shame and criminality from those exploited in prostitution onto those who exploit them.
"Commercial sexual exploitation of vulnerable, mainly women and girls, should never be about party politics.
"Polling shows support from voters of every main political party, sending a powerful message: Scots across the political spectrum want an end to the buying of women’s bodies and they expect Parliament to act.
"I am calling on the leaders of all Scotland’s parties to listen to the public and prioritise the safety, dignity and rights of women and girls by backing my Unbuyable Bill into law.
"My door is open to any colleague who has questions or wants further information, as this is a chance for us, together, to deliver real change to ensure Scotland catches up with countries like Sweden, France and Ireland and many others, in tackling the exploitation of prostitution.”
Earlier this year Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown raised concerns about the legislation.
She insisted that quashing convictions 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 since 1982 a total of 10,459 women have been convicted of soliciting.
With these documents also indicating that Police Scotland “currently holds 2773 case records involving 791 individuals”, Brown said this “raises some concerns about the accuracy of the associated costs – around £250k – detailed in the bill’s financial memorandum”.
Brown went on to state 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 for, and what the costs would be.
Brown 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”.
The proposals follow the "Nordic Model" approach, which has now been adopted in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Canada, France, Ireland, and most recently, Israel.
