A former sex worker has told a Holyrood committee that Scotland needs to “put the not for sale sign out” and pass new laws on prostitution.
Diane Martin was giving evidence to the Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday to support proposals put forward by Alba MSP Ash Regan which, if passed, could see those convicted of buying sex fined up to £10,000 or face jail.
The Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill aims to criminalise those buying sex, while decriminalising those selling it.
Ms Martin told the committee, which is scrutinising the bill, she had previously worked in London at “the supposed highest end of prostitution”.
However, she said: “It is no different if you are in a five-star hotel or in an alley.”
She urged the MSPs to back the proposal, telling them: “We think of ourselves as a progressive country, and we need to put the not for sale sign out.”
Another ex-sex worker, Amanda Jane Quick, said criminalising those buying sex would act as a “deterrent” and could therefore “reduce demand and reduce violence”.
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She recounted her experiences working both on the streets and in a brothel.
Ms Quick said she was raped at the age of 18 by a client in a brothel, and also told how when she became pregnant and tried to leave, she was encouraged to stay as “men liked young pregnant women” and therefore would be able to make more money.
Ms Quick, who now campaigns for the introduction of the so-called Nordic model, where selling sex is decriminalised but its purchase is made a criminal act, said selling sex “can never be made safe”.
She told the committee such work “will always be underground, because the men and women who sell don’t want anybody really to find out”.
Ms Quick said prostitution “thrives on silence and thrives on violence”, adding: “When I sold sex I was also selling silence and secrets, not just my body.”
She said the proposals outlined in the bill would help “change the thoughts and attitudes and beliefs of society”.
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Bronagh Andrew, operations manager for Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA), said: “There needs to be a very strong message sent out to civic society that paying for sex causes harm to a significant number of women.
“It is overwhelmingly men that are the ones paying for sex, and it is overwhelmingly women who are selling sex.
“That needs to be understood better and a clear message going out saying ‘this is not a harmless activity, this does cause harm to women and society in general’.”
Other campaigners warned the legislation could leave sex workers at an increased risk of violence.
Laura Baillie of Scotland for Decrim – which wants sex work to be fully decriminalised – told the committee the group “strongly oppose” the bill, saying: “It does increase the likelihood of violence against sex workers.
“It puts them in more danger because it limits their ability to conduct safety checks such as asking for ID or providing a deposit so there is a record of a financial transaction.”
She went on to say an app which is a “vital lifeline for many sex workers”, allowing them to warn each other of clients who are violent or abusive, may not be able to continue if the law is changed because it could be “seen as facilitating a crime”.
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Niki Adams of the English Collective of Prostitutes also said criminalising those who buy sex would “endanger sex workers and push us underground”.
She said: “There is no evidence it reduces prostitution.
“We really feel that the biggest flaw of this bill is it does not address the poverty, homelessness, lack of pay equity, expensive childcare and many of the other reasons that push women in particular and mothers in particular into sex work.
“We agree with the aim, ultimately, of trying to reduce prostitution, because we think women should have the option to leave if they want to.
“But we do not understand why the focus is not on ending women’s poverty.”
