Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex (Scotland) Bill

I attended a consultation event on the above on Thur 25th October on behalf of the South Sector of the CHP. The following are some key points.

Jan MacLeod, Women’s Support Project (Chaired the Event)

·  Urged people to respond to the consultation by the deadline of 14th Dec 2012

·  More people expected to enter prostitution due to recession

Trish Godman, Former MSP

·  Trish began the political process of preparing this Bill which she handed over to Rhoda Grant MSP

·  She urged people to respond to the consultation as individuals and groups but not ‘round robins’ which tend to be ignored

·  She also suggested that people write to their constituency MSPs to ask if they support the bill and its intent

·  No government tends to pass Bills put forward by the opposition. They like to introduce Bills themselves so this Bill has a difficult journey ahead

Julian Heng, NHS Open Road Project

·  Julian spoke about sexual health and addictions in the context of prostitution

·  He has been asked to prepare the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde response to this consultation

·  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde fully supports this Bill

·  Pro-sex lobby often argues that, if you remove certain elements, like illegality, you remove some harm

·  NHS believe that you cannot remove the harm caused by submitting to unwanted sex unless you exit prostitution

·  NHS believes prostitution is about survival behaviour and the only person who has a choice is the purchaser of sex

·  Prostitution is NOT a right as some gay men, in particular, say

·  Some personal assistants/carers are asked to organise purchased sex for a disabled client as a right. This is not a right and is addressed through workers’ codes of conduct. The disability movement has distanced itself from the idea that exploiting a human being is a right

·  There is nothing in the proposed Bill that stops people involved in prostitution coming forward for help. Evidence that people don’t come forward when criminalisation is introduced comes from countries where there are few or no sexual health services and people have to pay

Gunilla Ekberg, Lawyer and Former Advisor to the Swedish Government

·  Gunilla spoke about the experience of implementing Swedish legislation on demand

·  She is involved in getting a similar Bill passed in Northern Ireland. 96% of responders to Northern Ireland consultation were in favour

·  Swedish law criminalised the purchase of sex 15 years ago. This was not done in isolation. Many other measures alongside

·  Prostitutes are not criminalised and are allowed their day in court to call buyers/pimps to account

·  It is a criminal law in Sweden, not public order

·  Attempts at buying/trafficking/selling people for sex are also a crime. Don’t need to actually have sex etc e.g. an advert leading to you would incriminate

·  Prevention is the main thread through all work in Sweden to eliminate the purchase of sex

·  Police training was important in Sweden: all Police trained that prostitution is wrong; when they arrest buyers, they make them understand their place in a criminal chain. They have to say in court how they got in touch with buyers to break ‘rings’. It is a learning experience for buyers in court when they see the real thugs behind the selling of sex

·  5,000 men have been arrested since 1 Jan 1999. No women. Almost all are married with children and in the most sexually active period of their lives

·  Occasional buyers have dropped away since criminalisation

·  Fines are based on income

·  2-3% of buyers are very high users. They get harsher sentences

·  46% of buyers have gone to court. The rest get letters to the house with their fine etc.

·  The 3 largest cities in Sweden offer a programme for buyers of sex to address their behaviour. This is not linked to the punishment i.e. you cannot buy your way out by attending a course

·  EU has brought people, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria-the two poorest countries in the EU, into Sweden as they don’t need a visa. The women from these countries, who have their day in court, freely admit they came to ‘earn’ money by selling sex

·  Political will is essential to criminalise buyers and a vision that prostitution can be eliminated. Know your facts!

·  The argument that criminalisation drives prostitution underground doesn’t work as sellers have to advertise and the Police are extremely efficient in detection via the internet and phones, for example

·  More rapes have been reported in the past 15 years in Sweden but this is because people feel valued and able to report. FBI statistics show that, where prostitution is high, rape is also high.

Download the consultation paper at

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/54314.aspx

Responses should be submitted by 14 December 2012 to:

Rhoda Grant MSP

Room M1.06

Scottish Parliament

Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Tel 0131 348 5766

Email

Jean Stevenson

1 Nov 2012

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