Christian and charitable organisations have thrown their support behind a private member's bill in Scotland that would make it illegal to buy sex.
Independent member of the Scottish Parliament, Ash Regan, has put the proposal forward. Under the proposed law soliciting would no longer be an offence, but buying sex would. The so-called “Unbuyable Bill” would also put in place extra support for women seeking to leave prostitution.
The governing SNP voted to make buying sex illegal a part of their policy platform in 2017. However, no such law has yet been passed.
Regan was previously a member of the SNP, however she defected to the late Alex Salmond’s Alba party in 2023, before going independent earlier this year. Regan claimed she was not happy with the direction the Alba party was going in and also wished to devote more time to her attempts to criminalise prostitution.
Her plan has been backed by anti-human trafficking charity, Restore Glasgow, Christian group CARE for Scotland, and the Evangelical Alliance.
Chris Ringland, Public Policy Officer for Evangelical Alliance Scotland, said, “The Scottish Government's Equally Safe strategy states that the definition of violence against women and girls includes commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution, lap dancing, stripping and pornography.
“Despite this, our legal framework doesn't reflect this while women and girls remain trapped in cycles of completely degrading exploitation, violence and abuse, with devastating lifelong impacts.”
Stuart Weir, head of CARE for Scotland, said that the Scottish government’s inaction on the issue, despite the official stance of the SNP, was “inexplicable” and called for the end of the “utterly unacceptable” sexual exploitation of vulnerable women and girls.
“It would be a genuine tragedy if yet another parliamentary session was to conclude without any definite action to criminalise this recognised form of violence against women and girls," he said.
Restore Glasgow’s Secretary, Karen Miller, said that passing the bill would be one of the “most effective” ways to deal with the problem of human trafficking and exploitation.
“It's time for Scotland to speak up for the unseen, voiceless victims of the sex trade," she said.
