Prostitution: SNP backbencher Ruth Maguire says men who buy sex must be criminalised to gain gender equality in Scotland

Ruth Maguire MSP and campaign group A Model for Scotland say the burden of criminality needs to be shifted off the women selling sex and onto the men buying sex

Ruth Maguire MSP wants to see prostitution legislation in Scotland overhauled.

An SNP backbencher says the government needs to criminalise men who buy sex in order to get true gender equality in Scotland.

However she is likely to see push back from the government’s Green partners, who say they will not support such a move.

Ruth Maguire MSP and the campaign group A Model for Scotland are calling for legislation on prostitution in Scotland to be overhauled, shifting the criminality off the women selling sex and onto the men buying sex.

They want to see the Scottish Government following other countries that have changed their laws on prostitution in this way, such as Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland and France.

Speaking to The Steamie politics podcast, Ms Maguire said: “At the moment in Scotland prostitution itself, the exchange of sexual services for money, is legal but the associated activities such as public soliciting, operating a brothel and pimping are criminal offences.

“Men who exploit women by paying for sex enjoy impunity but the women who are abused by men through prostitution face penalties for soliciting.

“It feels the current legal situation is hugely unjust and you can see who is profiting and who is protected, and it’s not the women at the heart of it.”

Around four per cent of Scottish men have paid for sex in the past five years, with the majority being single men between the ages of 25 and 34 in managerial and professional jobs.

Ms Maguire wants any legislation reform to include banning pimping websites, which the majority of prostitution in Scotland is done through.

The Scottish Government has already classed prostitution as a form of violence against women, and in the SNP’s 2021 election manifesto the party pledged to look at changing the law to ‘the Nordic model’ - so far this has not happened.

Ms Maguire added: “In cities some women may be visible on the streets, but online and what is happening behind closed doors, I think people across Scotland would be shocked that in their towns right across Scotland women are being exploited in this manner.

“A Model for Scotland is survivor-led and the thing that struck me is the violence for women involved in prostitution is a daily occurrence.

“It is not a job like any other - in no other job are you at daily risk of rape and violence.

“It is an intolerable situation and for a country that aims to be progressive and have equality for men and women, we send entirely the wrong message by allowing this violence to continue.

“It is hard to imagine any other group in society where we would tolerate this violence and then punish the victims of the violence.”

However this approach is likely to be opposed by the government’s partners, the Scottish Greens.

Unlike the SNP, they want to see the complete decriminalisation of prostitution.

Earlier this month former community safety minister Ash Regan claimed the Scottish Government pushed back prostitution law reform to avoid a clash with the Greens.

The “legal status and regulation of selling sex” is excluded from the Bute House Agreement, which was signed in 2021 and officially brought the Scottish Greens into government.

Maggie Chapman MSP, who is the Greens’ justice, equality and human rights spokeswoman, said: “The model that Ruth Maguire and others are proposing is one that has been long opposed by sex worker rights groups, human rights organisations and the World Health Organisation - there are a lot of very good reasons for this.

“A model that criminalises clients is one that risks pushing more sex workers into poverty and putting them in ever more dangerous situations, as clients seek to avoid prosecution.”

Ms Chapman says in other countries where this approach has been taken, there has been an increase in murder, police abuse, exclusion from social services and sexual violence.

She added: “Any changes that would put their safety, health and wellbeing at greater risk would be completely unacceptable.

“The Scottish Greens will only support an approach that is grounded in dignity and respect and aimed at minimising the harm and exploitation that sex workers face every day.

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“The Nordic-style model that Ruth is advocating for does not do this.”

Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown says prostitution is “completely unacceptable” and it is working with survivors of prostitution on a strategy to help challenge men’s demand for buying sex.

She added: “The strategy outlines a new pilot programme to improve access to support those with experience of prostitution.

“Lessons learned from this pilot will help inform any future legislative considerations, including whether to criminalise the purchase of sex.”

The Scottish Government has signed up to a number of international pledges to reduce the demand for commercial sexual exploitation.

This includes the United Nations’ ‘Palermo protocol’, which says states must strengthen legislation as well as changing social and cultural attitudes to discourage all forms of exploitation that lead to trafficking.

Scotland has also signed up to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination of Women, and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Survivors of prostitution have previously told The Scotsman not to use the term “sex work” or “sex worker” as they claim it legitimises and normalises exploitation and trafficking.