Christian and charitable organisations have thrown their support behind a non-public member’s bill in Scotland that will make it illegal to purchase sex.
Independent member of the Scottish Parliament, Ash Regan, has put the proposal forward. Under the proposed law soliciting would now not be an offence, but buying sex would. The so-called “Unbuyable Bill” would also put in place extra support for girls searching for to depart prostitution.
The governing SNP voted to make buying sex illegal an element of their policy platform in 2017. However, no such law has yet been passed.
Regan was previously a member of the SNP, nevertheless she defected to the late Alex Salmond’s Alba party in 2023, before going independent earlier this yr. Regan claimed she was not completely satisfied with the direction the Alba party was entering into and likewise wished to devote more time to her attempts to criminalise prostitution.
Her plan has been backed by anti-human trafficking charity, Restore Glasgow, Christian group CARE for Scotland, and the Evangelical Alliance.
Chris Ringland, Public Policy Officer for Evangelical Alliance Scotland, said, “The Scottish Government’s Equally Safe strategy states that the definition of violence against women and girls includes business sexual exploitation, including prostitution, lap dancing, stripping and pornography.
“Despite this, our legal framework doesn’t reflect this while women and girls remain trapped in cycles of completely degrading exploitation, violence and abuse, with devastating lifelong impacts.”
Stuart Weir, head of CARE for Scotland, said that the Scottish government’s inaction on the difficulty, despite the official stance of the SNP, was “inexplicable” and called for the tip of the “utterly unacceptable” sexual exploitation of vulnerable women and girls.
“It can be a real tragedy if yet one more parliamentary session was to conclude with none definite motion to criminalise this recognised type of violence against women and girls,” he said.
Restore Glasgow’s Secretary, Karen Miller, said that passing the bill can be one in every of the “only” ways to take care of the issue of human trafficking and exploitation.
“It’s time for Scotland to talk up for the unseen, voiceless victims of the sex trade,” she said.
 Christian and charitable organisations have thrown their support behind a non-public member's bill in Scotland that will make it illegal to purchase sex....){kind=link}