News: Scottish politician attempts to quietly implement Nordic Model in Scotland at the expense of sex workers’ safety

News: Scottish politician attempts to quietly implement Nordic Model in Scotland at the expense of sex workers’ safety
28 August 2024

UPDATE 29/01/25:
Following the publication of the Consultation Summary, we are sharing the formal submission from National Ugly Mugs in its entirety – NUM’s Submission.
Click here for the consultation summary report in which National Ugly Mugs extensive submission been noticeably excluded from most of the ‘selected responses’ to the consultation questions. Namely missing from the summary report is our specialist service to help sex workers to plan and navigate their career paths. Vocational Support was developed by sex workers who conducted ‘Leaving the Game‘ research, and sex workers now host and deliver NUM’s monthly workshops and self-directed study videos.
One of the selected responses explicitly encourages The Scottish Parliament to draw funding away from sex worker groups. Not Buying It declare, “Measures must be in place to ensure it is not ‘sex worker’ groups who receive the relevant funding– who provide no exiting and whose real purpose is to keep women trapped in the industry even longer and lobby for the decriminalisation of pimps and punters. There must be care to fund only appropriate NGOs.”
The team behind Ash Regan MSP continually fail to incorporate the international research from Amnesty International, The Lancet, UNAIDs, the Council of Europe, UNFPA, Human Rights Watch, Medecins Du Monde, and the World Health Organisation and the harms associated with criminalisation. The consultation summary concludes “a qualitative difference in the evidence provided by pro-prostitution groups who attempt to provide very small, unrepresentative and often discredited studies against a whole body of opposing research. Many cite no supporting evidence at all for their claims and, for the most part, fail to address important research projects, such as the large EU study on human trafficking cited in the consultation“. In addition to this wilful ignorance to the breadth of evidence opposing Nordic Model, Regan abuses her power to criticise small charitable organisations, and consistently conflates sex work with trafficking.

 

UPDATE 30/08/24: The Scottish Parliament has taken our concerns of bias in Regan’s public consultation process seriously & extending the deadline to 30th Sept (originally 12th September). The Nordic Model is contested, requiring insight from a broad range of sex workers, scholars & practitioners.

To have your voice heard, click HERE to access the consultation document and submit a response before 30th September 2024!

 

ASH REGAN IS SNEAKING THROUGH CONTROVERSIAL NEW LAW TO BAN PURCHASE OF SEX IN SCOTLAND, INDIRECTLY CRIMINALISING SEX WORKERS

  • Alba MSP has formally proposed new law to bring in Nordic Model, but has failed to seek public and stakeholder views, in line with Scottish Parliament guidance
  • Leading sex worker safety service National Ugly Mugs labels Regan’s consultation a “sham”, as it fails to mention international evidence showing Nordic Model makes sex workers less safe
  • Proposed new law comes after YouGov polling showing Scots oppose Nordic Model, instead favouring more support for sex workers, alongside leading NGOs such as Amnesty International

 

Ash Regan, a Member of Scottish Parliament, is attempting to sneak through a controversial new law to ban the purchase of sex in Scotland. Regan has formally submitted a Bill proposal to Parliament, but has not notified sex worker support groups or sought views from those opposed to the measures.

Proposed by Regan on 18th June, the Bill would enact the so-called “Nordic Model” in Scotland – making it a criminal offence to purchase sex – a move that is opposed by the Scottish public as well as a host of leading international NGOs.

National Ugly Mugs are labelling the consultation document a sham as it fails to include any of the wealth of international evidence showing that banning the purchase of sex only serves to increase violence against sex workers, by making their lives more difficult and dangerous.

Regan’s consultation fails to mention that an official government review of similar legislation in Northern Ireland – the only nation in the UK to enact the Nordic Model – reports that it finds:

  • “no evidence that the offence of purchasing sexual services has produced a downward pressure on the demand for, or supply of, sexual services”
  • “the legislation has contributed to a climate whereby sex workers feel further marginalised and stigmatised”

The Scottish Parliament’s official Guidance on Public Bills says that the consultation process on a proposed Member’s Bill should allow the policy “to be tested against, and informed by, stakeholder and public opinion”. The guidance says that seeking such views “usually proves valuable in refining and developing the policy and in equipping the member for the challenges involved in explaining and defending that policy during the passage of the Bill.”

However, despite previously pledging to share the proposal with the public for feedback, the Alba MSP has not made any move to publicise the consultation – either via her Twitter account, her Nordic Model campaign website, or via the press – before it closes on September 12.

A YouGov poll of 1,088 Scottish adults, carried out for NUM in May this year, showed that Scots firmly oppose the Nordic Model, with 47% saying it should be legal for a person to pay someone to have sex with them, versus 32% who think it should not be legal.

The poll showed that 69% of Scots say the Scottish Government should focus on protecting the health and safety of sex workers, and providing support to people who want to leave the industry, compared to just 14% who support the government passing new laws to prevent people exchanging sexual services for money.

 

Statement from Dr Raven Bowen, NUM’s CEO:
“Ash Regan is clearly trying to sneak through this controversial proposed Member’s Bill, by slipping out a consultation just before recess, timed to run over the summer break, and then failing to notify affected stakeholders like NUM, presumably in the hope that they wouldn’t notice.
“Her sham consultation fails to acknowledge the wealth of international evidence showing that the Nordic Model only serves to increase violence against sex workers, by eliminating their revenue streams, making them desperate and destitute. The official government review of the Nordic Model in Northern Ireland – the only UK nation to enact this approach – showed it has failed there too.
“The evidence shows that Scots side with charities, researchers and international organisations such as Amnesty International, UN Aids and the World Health Organisation in opposing the Nordic Model. The Scottish Parliament must now do what Regan has failed to do, and consider the actual evidence showing that the Nordic Model would be a disaster for Scottish sex workers, before rejecting this proposed new law.”

There is still time to submit a response, click HERE to access the consultation document. We will do what MSP Regan failed to do, promote the consultation and invite contributions from all stakeholders, irrespective of ideological position.

 

Further Reading