MSPs warned new laws on prostitution will drive it underground

LABOUR proposals to clamp down on prostitution through new legislation could drive the sex trade further underground, MSPs have heard.

A police chief and a prostitute support service rejected the plans, which would make it a criminal offence to engage in, advertise or facilitate paid-for sexual activity.

Lothian and Borders Police Assistant Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said further consultation was necessary and expressed fears that new legislation would only drive prostitution further underground.

Mr Livingstone said: "We do have some concerns that you will increasingly drive, or potentially drive, more prostitution further off-street, so it's harder to identify vulnerable women."

He also said he believed police had sufficient powers to deal with prostitution. If the legislation were approved, officers would robustly enforce it but he had concerns about evidence-gathering.

Despite being supportive of the "overall principle" about banning adverts for sex, Mr Livingstone thought the legislation was "narrowly worded". He added: "I still have an anxiety about legislating for a social phenomena."

George Lewis, co-chairman of Scot-PEP, an education project for prostitutes, said Labour MSP Trish Godman's amendments for the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill would not tackle the real problems.

He said: "It just feels like a blunt instrument … it will not work in addressing real issues of trafficking and violence."

Mr Lewis said legislation risked driving prostitution "to the fringes" and said police powers were sufficient to combat issues such as trafficking and assault.

However, Ann Hamilton, head of equalities and women's services for Glasgow Community and Safety Services, said there was a need for extra powers, particularly in relation to advertising.

She said: "What we'd like to see is something that challenges the acceptability of prostitution. At the moment, buying sex is seen as something men do, that is an entitlement and causes no harm."