'There is no way to make being raped as a job safe': Ex-SNP MSP Ash Regan on overhauling prostitution law

Ash Regan MSP is on a mission to overhaul prostitution legislation in Scotland, saying there is “no way to make being raped as a job safe”.

In Scotland soliciting in public, kerb crawling and brothel-keeping are illegal in Scotland. But Ms Regan is hoping to change that and shift the criminality onto the men who buy women for sex.

Ash Regan MSP | Lisa Ferguson/National World

The Alba party MSP sat down with The Scotsman to share how she hopes to tackle commercial sexual exploitation by altering Scottish law to what is known as the Nordic model.

This model, which is already in place in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and France, legalises the selling of sex while criminalising the buying of sex. It also looks to tackle men’s demand for buying sex and create a support system to help women exit prostitution.

Ms Regan said: “The Scottish Government is always talking about violence against women, but I don’t know how we can be serious about this unless we criminalise the demand for the purchase of sex.

“SNP party policy regards prostitution as violence against women, so this is the logical and small next step to make.”

The former SNP politician has spent the past few weeks gathering views on the legislation from members of the public. She said she was confident she would get the 18 MSP signatures needed to formally introduce a Bill to Parliament.

One of the issues she wants to highlight is just how prevalent prostitution is across Scotland.

“There is still on-street prostitution in certain areas of Aberdeen and Glasgow, but it is mostly indoor prostitution, which doesn’t give the full scale of the problem,” Ms Regan said.

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“It is a much bigger problem than people think it is, especially in rural areas where people think there is no prostitution. But when it is online, it is available in every part of Scotland.”

Ms Regan said she believed the Nordic model was a better option than completely legalising prostitution, as she said that would not tackle the scourge of human trafficking.

The Nordic model also looks to reduce the market for prostitution, which in turn could reduce the demand for trafficking.

“Prostitution is inherently unsafe”, Ms Regan said. “There is no way to make being raped as a job safe and then put a veneer on it by calling it sex work.

“It is estimated one to 2 per cent of prostitutes are there by choice and want to continue to do that. But we don’t make policy on the back of the 1 per cent, we do what is best for the 98 per cent.”

Many of those who support the Nordic model say criminalising those who sell sex is “outdated”. Ms Regan said the law would not be as it is if this problem only arose in the 21st century.

She is now urging other MSPs in Holyrood to support her proposals, which could take another 18 months to fully draw up and bring forward as a Bill.

Ms Regan said: “We may end up becoming an outlier because Ireland and Northern Ireland have already brought this in, and the new Labour government has suggested England might look to do something like this as well.

“Becoming an outlier is a risk for trafficking, as sex traffickers are less likely to go to countries with the Nordic model. Scotland will be saying it is open to sex trafficking.

“I want to close that down.”