A coalition of Christian charities has called on members of the Scottish National Party to support new legislation that would make buying sex in Scotland illegal.
Restore Glasgow, CARE for Scotland, and the Evangelical Alliance have urged politicians to back the Private Members’ Bill, known as the Unbuyable Bill, which has been brought forward by MSP Ash Regan.
It comes aftet SNP Party Members voted in 2017 to make criminalising the purchase of sex official party policy.
If passed, the Unbuyable Bill would criminalise the purchase of sex while removing the soliciting offence and providing greater support for women seeking to leave prostitution.
Northern Ireland is currently the only part of the UK where buying sex is against the law.
Chris Ringland, public policy officer for Evangelical Alliance Scotland, said that Scotland’s legal framework “doesn't reflect” the government’s own commitment to tackling commercial sexual exploitation.
“This situation is intolerable,” he said. “There cannot be genuine equality between women and men if it remains legal for men to purchase access to a woman's body, and the Bill seeks to change all of this”.
A 2023 European Parliament report emphasised that prostitution and trafficking exist because of demand and urged states to make purchasing sex a criminal offence.
The report highlighted the importance of tackling buyers to protect vulnerable women and reduce exploitation.
Stuart Weir, head of CARE for Scotland, described the proposed legislation as long overdue.
“The sexual exploitation of highly vulnerable women and girls, for the gratification of men, is utterly unacceptable,” he said.
“We urge the Scottish Government to support the Bill in full to enable its passage without any further delay.”
Opponents to the bill have said it could drive the trade further underground and harm sex workers.