Council pushes for the purchase of sex to be criminalised

Glasgow City Council is pressing for amendments to existing legislation in a bid to criminalise the purchase of sex.

Led by Councillor James Coleman, Deputy Leader of Glasgow City Council, the ‘End Prostitution Now’ campaign is pushing to amend section 72 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill currently before the Scottish Parliament.

According to the Council, the terms of the amendment would allow for the closure of premises involved in the “facilitation of the sale of sexual services”. An amendment to the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 would then be used to create and define the offence “facilitation of the sale of sexual services”.

The Council said the amendments will create a range of offences which would affect those who buy or seek to buy sex, those who arrange or advertise the sale of sex and those who provide accommodation where the sale of sex takes place.

The driving force behind the bid to change the law is addressing the harm caused by prostitution to families, women and the community. The council has already unveiled posters and a new website to raise awareness of the campaign.

Councillor Coleman said legislation must go further and send an unequivocal message that buying sex will not be tolerated. According to Cllr Coleman, tackling demand is the key to this issue.

“It is demand which fuels the vicious cycle of sexual exploitation that supplies vulnerable people in to the sex industry,” he said. “Recent kerb crawling legislation went some way to address demand, but it left significant gaps. The amendments we propose will extend the reach of the law so there is no hiding place for the pimps, punters and brothel keepers who prey upon others.”

West Renfrewshire MSP Trish Godman will be proposing the legislative amendments in the Scottish Parliament in the coming weeks. MSPs, councillors, unions, faith groups and other support groups have backed the campaign.

Godman said: “We believe these amendments present a simple but devastatingly effective means of challenging demand for prostitution. Introducing these amendments as a law would ensure that anyone involved in the purchase, marketing or facilitation of sexual services would be criminalised whether these acts took place in the street or indoors.”