Prostitution Scotland: Campaigner warns Scottish Government's plans could put women in 'more danger'

Audrey Jones, who works as a prostitute in Scotland and is part of the campaign group Decrim Now, said prostitution should be completely decriminalised. However, the Scottish Government is against this, instead having committed to implementing what is known as the ‘Nordic model’, which makes selling sex legal, but buying sex illegal.

Ms Jones, who is also part of the Sex Workers’ Union, said of their Scottish members, “none are in favour of the Nordic model”.

They say the Government’s policy could lead to a rise in violence against prostitutes and give police officers more power over those who try to report crimes as their clients would still be criminalised.

Ms Jones said the Government should back complete decriminalisation – something the Scottish Greens support.

Speaking to The Scotsman, she said: “Full decriminalisation would mean sex work is brought under employment law, so sex workers would have rights and be able to organise against bad bosses and change their working conditions.”

The Nordic model would shift the burden of criminality off the women selling sex and onto the men buying sex, and make pimping websites illegal in Scotland. This move is being championed by a group called A Model for Scotland, who say the Government also needs to reduce men’s demand to pay for sex.

A Model for Scotland says Scotland has the chance to be on the “right side of history” by implementing the Nordic model, and said there could not be true gender equality unless women were no longer able to be bought and sold.

However, Ms Jones, who became a prostitute after being let go of her job for mental health reasons, said this model could force women to work alone as they could still be prosecuted under brothel-keeping rules.

She said she also worried some could be made homeless as it could result in their landlords profiting off of prostitution.

Ms Jones, who has been a prostitute for the past five years, said: “You can’t end the demand – people don’t enter into it [the profession] because of the demand. They enter into it because of poverty, or childcare, or because the job they have already doesn’t pay enough.”

The SNP pledged in its 2021 manifesto to bring in the Nordic model in Scotland, but so far this has not happened.

However, Ms Jones said she believed this was about politicians trying to get an “easy win”, saying if the Government “cares about the safety of sex workers”, they would think again about this policy.

She said: “It is interesting how the Government keeps pursuing the Nordic model when there is a wealth of evidence from other countries that it is more dangerous for workers. I sense they think they can say they are doing something about it without tackling the root causes of why people go into sex work.

“There is decades worth of stigma surrounding sex work, which means they are viewed as victims that need to be spoken on behalf of, or not the right kind of victim. This is not coming from people who have been in sex work, it’s coming from people who think it is gross and shouldn’t happen.”

Ms Jones said some former prostitutes advocating for the Nordic model had been “traumatised” by prostitution. But she said public policy should not be made on the back of this.

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Survivors of prostitution have previously told The Scotsman they experience high levels of violence and felt they were exploited or trafficked into prostitution. However, fully decriminalising prostitution is something that is supported by the UN working group on the issue.

In 2016, the working group said the criminalisation of women selling sex “places them in a situation of injustice, vulnerability and stigma and is contrary to international human rights”.

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The working group added in 2023: “There is now sufficient evidence on the harms of any forms of criminalisation of sex work, including criminalisation of clients and ‘third parties’ related activities.”

Ms Jones said the UN’s position showed decriminalisation was a “global call” and “not a fringe position”.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The primary aim of our strategic approach, which was published in February, is to enable women to safely, and sustainably, exit from prostitution. This will include piloting a new support pathway from summer 2024, to make it easier for women to access the assistance they need.

“A new multi-agency group on commercial sexual exploitation, which met for the first time in March, will help progress this work.”