top of page

Introducing A Model for Scotland

Sex trade survivors and front-line organisations launch campaign calling for urgent reform to Scotland's prostitution laws


Today, an alliance of sex trade survivors and front-line organisations have joined forces to launch ‘A Model For Scotland - Modail airson Alba’, a campaign calling on the Scottish Government to adopt a progressive legal model that combats commercial sexual exploitation.


Under existing legislation, online pimping is legal, men who exploit women by paying for sex enjoy impunity, while women abused through prostitution can face criminal sanctions for soliciting.


Diane Martin CBE, Scottish survivor of sex trafficking and prostitution who is chairing the campaign says:

"Now is the time for Scotland to develop a new approach to prostitution, ensuring victims no longer face criminal sanctions but are provided with tailored support to exit; and where pimps, sex buyers and pimping websites are no longer able to operate and exploit with impunity. I am a survivor of so-called ‘high class’ prostitution in the UK and of overseas trafficking. I have also spent over 25 years providing frontline exiting services and have witnessed first-hand the devastating reality for women. I want to be part of a Scotland that completely rejects the idea that women and girls can be for sale, treated as commodities by men who believe this is their right and entitlement."

The campaign is calling on the Scottish Government to shift the burden of criminality off victims and place it on to those who perpetrate or profit from sexual exploitation by:

  • Deterring demand from men who pay for sex

  • Holding pimps and traffickers to account

  • Supporting, rather than sanctioning, victims of sexual exploitation

Front-line support organisations forming part of the campaign alliance include TARA, the Encompass Network, Routes Out and Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland.

How to get involved

There are lots of ways to show your support for A Model for Scotland:

Comments


bottom of page