Bill to criminalise those buying sex branded ‘dangerous’ by sex workers

Sex workers have warned that a bid to criminalise those who use their services could be “disastrous” for their safety.

The new Scotland for Decrim campaign has been set up to oppose Alba MSP Ash Regan’s “dangerous” bid to change the law – which seeks to decriminalise those selling sexual services at the same time as making buying such services a criminal offence.

Regan is due to speak about her proposed Prostitution (Offences And Support) (Scotland) at Holyrood on Tuesday.

She said: “Ending prostitution is essential to achieving true equality between the sexes. A society that allows women’s bodies to be bought and sold cannot claim to value them as equals.

“Challenging the demand that fuels sexual exploitation is not just about justice — it’s about dignity, safety, and the right of all women, girls, and vulnerable men to live free from commodification and harm.”

But a spokesperson for the Scotland for Decrim campaign said that it “absolutely rejects Ash Regan’s attempts to bring in the Nordic Model on sex work in Scotland”.

Sex workers have “experienced more violence from clients and the police” in countries where this system is in place, the spokesperson added.

The group, which described itself as a sex worker-led coalition, went on to state that “this offensive Bill will endanger sex workers by exposing us to more violence, poverty, and exploitation”.

The spokesperson said: “Criminalising clients does not solve the reasons why people go into sex work: because of financial need, caring responsibilities, disability, or simply preferring this work to other kinds of work.

“Sex workers are the experts on our own needs. We know that only full decriminalisation will protect our safety, health, and human rights, giving us the power to choose when and how we work.

“This Nordic Model bill would be disastrous for sex workers’ safety, as we have seen in other countries where this model has been implemented and sex workers have experienced more violence from clients and the police.

“Sex workers don’t want this, the Scottish public doesn’t want this, and politicians from a range of parties oppose this dangerous Bill.”

A YouGov poll last year found almost half (47%) of Scots believe it should be legal for someone to pay another person to have sex with them, although 32% said this should not be legal.

National Ugly Mugs (NUM), the UK’s national sex worker safety charity, also raised concerns about Regan’s Bill.

Chief executive Lynsey Walton said: “This Bill won’t reduce harm, it will increase it.

“Criminalising the purchase of sex doesn’t protect anyone. It pushes sex work further underground, makes it harder for people to report violence, and forces those already at risk into even more dangerous situations.

“NUM stands in solidarity with sex workers across Scotland who are calling for safety, not criminalisation. We hear every day what they need: access to justice, housing, healthcare, and a voice in the laws that shape their lives. This Bill ignores that – and it puts lives at risk.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes, which represents sex workers across the UK, said: “If Ash Regan wants to reduce prostitution she should look at reducing women’s poverty, and specifically mothers’ poverty, which is pushing more and more women into prostitution.

“Criminalisation of sex work increases violence and discrimination against sex workers. We want decriminalisation so that women are no longer branded as criminals for working to feed themselves and their families.”

However, the group A Model for Scotland – an alliance of organisations that seek to support women exploited through prostitution – urged MSPs to back Ms Regan’s Bill.

It wants Scotland to “follow the lead of countries including Sweden, Ireland and France by outlawing paying for sex, decriminalising individuals who ‘sell’ sex and providing support for individuals to leave the sex trade”.

Chair Diane Martin told how she had been “exploited through supposed ‘high class’ prostitution in the UK then trafficked overseas” and said change is “long overdue”.

She stated: “There is overwhelming evidence of the control, violence and terror experienced by the vast majority of women and girls exploited through prostitution in Scotland.

“It is long overdue that those suffering in this oppressive and violent system are not criminalised for their own abuse and that instead the focus be shifted to those creating the demand and those financially benefiting from it, so that they are the ones facing criminal accountability and consequences.”