NUM and Scot-Pep: A Letter to the Scottish Minister for Community Safety
3 March 2022
NUM and Scot-Pep have submitted a joint letter to the Scottish Minister for Community Safety, Ash Regan MSP, regarding the lack of meaningful inclusion of sex workers as the Scottish government debates new legislation to regulate the sex industry.
We are concerned about the lack of engagement with sex workers and sex worker-led groups as new laws and policies are debated and developed that will overwhelmingly affect their lives, rights and safety. Despite the Scottish government pledging to include sex workers throughout this consultation – a clear request in the evidence given during the Equally Safe consultation – this has not taken place. In the meantime, proposals for bills and debates have been put forward without their input.
While Scot-Pep has been invited to join a reference group to develop these laws, this group has not met, and has been given no opportunity to meaningfully feed into policy development.
We ask that sex workers be given meaningful involvement as part of the short life ‘expert working group’ – involvement which not only values and respects but prioritises their lived experiences as the people who be the most affected by any laws passed with regards to their lives and working practices.