The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-17004, in the name of Rhoda Grant, on combating commercial sexual exploitation. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. I invite members who wish to participate to press their request-to-speak buttons.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament understands that prostitution is recognised by the Scottish Government as a form of violence against women; considers that, despite the Scottish Government’s commitment to deterring demand for prostitution, it is currently legal to perpetrate this form of violence against women in Scotland, including in the Highlands and Islands region; further considers that Scotland is an attractive destination for sex traffickers due to pimping websites and paying for sex being legal; notes the findings of the report, International Insights: How Scotland can learn from international efforts to combat commercial sexual exploitation, which was published by the survivor-led campaign, A Model For Scotland; further notes the support for its conclusion that outlawing pimping websites and paying for sex, and decriminalising victims, is critical to reducing the demand that drives commercial sexual exploitation; understands that the right has been secured to introduce the proposed Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill; believes that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls recommends that states adopt the prostitution law reforms advocated by the campaign, A Model For Scotland, and contained in the proposed Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill, and notes the calls for the Scottish Government to outlaw pimping websites and paying for sex, and to decriminalise and support victims of sexual exploitation.
17:04
I thank the members who signed my motion, which enabled this debate to happen.
It has been a long-held view of the Scottish Government and the Parliament that prostitution is violence against women. It is the epitome of inequality when a man can buy a woman for their own pleasure—a pleasure that has, at its very core, the overpowering of another’s free will in return for money. It exploits the seller’s need for money to take their power and agency away from them. By its very nature, the payment is to negate the need for consent—but you cannot buy consent.
We all know that prostitution is inherently dangerous. Those who sell sex often face rape and abuse from sex buyers. Despite the recognition that this is violence against women, there is little in our law that protects women from such violence. Indeed, the law criminalises them and exonerates the perpetrator.
I commend Ash Regan for bringing forward her Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill. We need to decriminalise those who sell sex, who we recognise are being subjected to violence. We need to hold the sex buyers who perpetrate that violence and create demand to account. Although our law holds men who kerb crawl to account, it does not hold pimping websites to account, nor those who profit from prostitution by hosting the adverts and those who place them.
According to police figures from 2020, 84 women were sexually exploited by trafficking gangs in Scotland. Nine of the women were underage, with the youngest being only 13 years of age. We know that that is a tiny fraction of those who are exploited. Many women do not believe that they are being exploited because they came here of their own free will to try to find a better life and blame themselves for the situation that they now find themselves in. Others fear retribution from traffickers and flee.
The police use pimping websites to identify trafficked women. The cross-party group on commercial sexual exploitation carried out an inquiry into those websites and found that although they enable violence against women they are subject to no redress at all.
I am a member of the A Model for Scotland campaign group that campaigns for a law to effectively stop this exploitation. In 1999, Sweden became the first country to combat demand for prostitution by criminalising paying for sex while decriminalising the victims of sexual exploitation. Evidence shows that, in Sweden, the proportion of men who pay for sex had dropped from 12.7 per cent in 1996 to 7.6 per cent in 2008. That was the lowest level of demand in Europe. Public attitudes changed because the law acts as a deterrent to sex trafficking. Other aspects of their society also changed for the better, including the sharing of caring responsibilities and a narrowing of the gender pay gap.
For such laws to be effective, we need to empower women and address vulnerability. No one chooses to sell sex as an easy option; it is a choice that is made when no other options exist and when there is no other choice. That makes selling sex inherently exploitative—one human being exploiting another’s vulnerability.
Therefore, support to exit must include health support and it must also support empowerment to work and build a future. We need support services—including the police—to be readily available and properly trained to identify this abuse, to intervene and to support those who face exploitation.
In 2020, University College Dublin examined the recent change of law in Ireland, reporting
“an increased willingness amongst women to report crimes committed against them and in their improved relationship with Gardaí overall.”
Similar outcomes have been reported elsewhere. That demonstrates that change needs to be met by a police force that is able to provide the right support.
Many of those in prostitution have multiple vulnerabilities, including a lack of money and a history of childhood sexual abuse; looked-after children are particularly vulnerable.
As an example, I highlight the case of Eva, who grew up with a chaotic home life. She battled anxiety and depression and was moved into supported accommodation for her own safety after a couple had groomed her into selling sex. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the accommodation was targeted by men who were looking to build relationships with young people and offer them drugs and alcohol in return for sex. She was approached there by a 20-year-old man who built her trust and offered her free drugs.
Eva did not recognise that as grooming. She introduced her friends to him—they would gather at his flat for drink and drugs, and he asked her and her friends for sex as payment. He then had Eva sell sex to other men to help him out financially. She believed that he was her boyfriend, and she agreed to do that to help him. She did not get involved with that man to set up a business—she was vulnerable. He gave her time and attention as well as drugs and alcohol. He groomed her into prostitution. In Scotland today, she is committing a crime but those who buy sex with her, from her boyfriend, are not.
When people see the reality of prostitution, no one can be under the impression that it is harmless. Christian Action, Research and Education—CARE—for Scotland undertook a Savanta poll of more than 2,000 United Kingdom adults, which found that seven in 10 people back a ban on pimping websites that advertise sex for sale.
In 2024, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, in her report on “Prostitution and violence against women and girls”, recommended that states
“Adopt the abolitionist legal framework and its five pillars, including the decriminalization of women in prostitution; providing comprehensive support and exit pathways; criminalizing the purchase of sexual acts; criminalizing all forms of pimping; and implementing sensitization campaigns for sexual act buyers”.
We must take that action, and I urge the Scottish Government to work with Ash Regan to ensure that we create a model for Scotland that combats exploitation and prostitution, in order to create a Scotland where women are truly equal.
We move to the open debate.
17:12
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to the motion in the name of our colleague Rhoda Grant, and I pay tribute to her long-standing work on tackling human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and in particular her advocacy for women and girls who so often feel that they are failed by the system.
It is a painful truth that, in modern Scotland, prostitution remains a legal avenue through which violence against women is perpetrated. That is not just a contradiction; it is a failure of justice. The Scottish Government rightly recognises prostitution as a form of violence against women and girls, yet we are faced with the grim reality that the law, as it stands, does not yet reflect that recognition.
Let us be crystal clear: no woman aspires to be sexually exploited, and no girl dreams of being bought and sold. We, in the chamber, have a responsibility not only to condemn this form of abuse, but to act—legislatively, practically and compassionately—to bring it to an end.
The report, “International Insights: How Scotland can learn from international efforts to combat commercial sexual exploitation”, which was produced by A Model For Scotland, led by survivors, is not just a policy document, but a testimony. It is a call from those who have lived the reality, who know its cost and who refuse to accept that the next generation should suffer the same fate. It tells us that reducing demand is the key to reducing harm. It tells us that we must act on the so-called pimping websites: those online platforms that act as digital marketplaces for the commodification of human beings. Those sites are not neutral spaces—they are greedily profiting from exploitation by acting as intermediaries between buyers and vulnerable women.
The report tells us also that we must criminalise the act of paying for sex, not to punish those who are engaged in survival prostitution but to hold to account those who fuel and finance the trade. We cannot say we that oppose violence against women and then allow a system to flourish in which women are bought, sold and discarded like consumer goods.
However, the third and equally vital part of the model is support, which means decriminalising those who are being exploited. It means recognising that the women in prostitution are not criminals—they are victims of inequality, poverty, trauma and abuse, and they deserve not just our compassion but concrete, sustained support such as housing, trauma-informed services, mental health support, education and employment. Those are not luxuries, but necessities if we are to help women to exit exploitation and rebuild their lives.
We know that the so-called Nordic model, which is sometimes called the equality model, actually works. It has been adopted in countries such as Sweden, Norway, France, Ireland and others; those countries have seen a reduction in demand and in trafficking, and improved outcomes for women. The United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls has called on states to adopt those very reforms, as has the European Parliament, along with countless survivors, researchers and human rights organisations.
If we are to live up to our obligations under the Istanbul convention and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and indeed under our own human rights framework in Scotland, that is the direction that we must take. It is not about morality, but about human dignity. We must ensure that no woman in Scotland is ever left in a position in which her only choice is to be bought and used by someone who holds economic and social power over her. We must say clearly, as a Parliament, that women are not commodities and that the buying and selling of human beings has no place in a just society.
I add my voice to the calls from members across the chamber, from survivor-led organisations and from international human rights bodies to let us move forward with the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill. Let us end the legal impunity for those who exploit and dismantle the online infrastructure that profits from pain, and let us support, not criminalise, those who have been caught in the cycle of abuse. Scotland has the opportunity to lead and to make a principled, progressive stand for justice—let us take it.
17:17
I thank Rhoda Grant for bringing this important debate to the chamber. The topic is rightly receiving increased attention in the Parliament and beyond, and I look forward to engaging with another colleague, Ash Regan, as she takes her Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill through the legislative process.
I think that we can all agree that the protection of vulnerable women, many of whom have had miserable lives at the hands of abusers, criminals and opportunists, is paramount. As we have heard in evidence many times, it is often a succession of terrible events in a woman’s life that brings her to the point of prostitution or sex work. When she finds herself in that situation, it is then almost impossible for her to escape.
We know that it is not only Scottish women who find themselves forced down that destructive path. For human traffickers, especially those in places such as Romania and Bulgaria, Scotland appears to be an attractive place to send women. Police in Scotland spend huge amounts of time trying to intervene at airports and other entry points to ensure that women who are forced into coming here from those countries can be supported before they disappear into the hands of serious organised criminals. It is a tall order for officers in Scotland to dismantle international organisations that make millions of pounds from the lives of young women, many of whom are under age and forcibly addicted to drugs.
We, in Parliament, can do our bit by making Scotland a more hostile place for those twisted and dangerous individuals to target. We may not agree on every facet of the motion or on Ms Regan’s bill, but I think that we would all like the same outcome: that the days of Scotland being a soft touch for the criminal sex trade be consigned to history. We have the benefit of being able to look at how other countries have addressed the problem, and it is important that we learn from their progress and from their mistakes. We can examine how some Nordic countries have flipped the onus on criminality, moving it from the woman who provides sex work to the male customers who pursue it. We can look to Northern Ireland, where offenders who are engaged in human trafficking and sexual exploitation receive fines of up to £1,000 and up to a year’s imprisonment.
We should also learn from those who have been tasked with dealing with the problem in the past. Many of us in the chamber will have been moved by a recent account that was provided by the commentator Susan Dalgety, who was formerly a senior councillor in the City of Edinburgh Council. She recalled, in an article in The Scotsman, how applications would come before committee for the capital’s notorious saunas. On the face of it, those were meant to be above-board facilities that were simply offering an innocent sauna experience for anyone who wanted it. However, Ms Dalgety told how everyone, from the police to council officials, knew exactly what was going on and nodded through those de facto brothels anyway. Of course, she now regrets that such attitudes prevailed, and it is important that we do not now take a similar approach to sex work and prostitution. We must pay attention to the women themselves who have lived through it. What would they do to solve the problem?
The Scottish Conservatives look forward to participating in the debate as it moves forward, working constructively with all other parties in the chamber and finally reaching a resolution to this long-standing, complex and deep-rooted issue.
17:21
I commend Rhoda Grant for lodging this important motion for debate and for her long-standing commitment to work in this area. I also commend the cross-party group on commercial sexual exploitation for the excellent work that it has done recently. I extend my thanks to the members of the Parliament, and to those outside the Parliament, who have supported me in my journey towards getting the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill to its current stage.
As we have heard this evening, prostitution is a system of violence that reduces women to commodities, and it affects the ability of all women to achieve equality. There is currently—as, I think, we all recognise—an absolute epidemic of violence against women and girls in our society, and I believe that commercial sexual exploitation is a very important area from which we should not look away. It is connected to that epidemic and is a great place to start.
It is already policy and strategy that prostitution is violence against women. That is the Scottish Government’s position and the position of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, and it is reflected in the way that we police the issue. To put it simply, the law now needs to be updated. My “Unbuyable” bill reflects international best practice and what all the available research data shows to be the best way to challenge the demand for prostitution, which is what drives human trafficking, and reduce the number of women who are then exploited in prostitution.
It is necessary that we do that, because prostitution is harmful. In all my years of research and work on the issue—I think that it has been more than a decade now—of all the women I met who had been exploited in prostitution, not one wanted to stay in it for a moment longer than they had to. In many cases, although they had left the sex trade decades before, I could see that the effects of what they had been through still haunted and harmed them. One trafficking victim I met in a safe room in Glasgow said that she had been trafficked and that what was happening to her was so horrific that she prayed every day that she would die or that the pimps or punters would kill her.
Prostitution cannot be made safe—it is inherently harmful. A US study said that women who are exploited in prostitution are 18 times more likely to be murdered than a member of the general population. Another study, on rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, put the rates of PTSD among women who have been through prostitution at 70 per cent, which is higher than we see recorded in combat veterans and is consistent with rates among victims of state torture.
There is no way to make prostitution safe. That being the case, we need to reduce it as much as possible, and my bill will do that. If we do not change the law, we are protecting and enabling pimps and punters, abusers and exploiters. If anyone does not believe me on that, even a cursory glance at the contents of Punternet would confirm it. That is a website where men review women like takeaway meals, rating their bodies, their compliance and their willingness to endure abuse. Prostitution is not a normal job—it is a marketplace of degradation and abuse.
If we change the law, we will be protecting the victims. They are girls who have entered prostitution as children; girls who have been through the care system; girls who have been victims of child sex abuse; and girls and women who have been coerced and trafficked into this trade. Surely, in modern Scotland, we know—or we should know—who the exploiters are and who the victims are, and it is long past time that the law reflected that.
17:25
I, too, thank Rhoda Grant for bringing this important issue to the chamber.
I wanted to speak in the debate in order to be sure that at least a few men would be taking part. The cross-party group on commercial sexual exploitation tends to have mainly women attending, both among MSPs and other members and speakers. That is understandable, as women are by far the main victims of CSE. However, men are the main perpetrators, as we have heard, and we need to hear some of them speak in favour of the motion and Ash Regan’s bill.
I can accept that a very few women see prostitution as a glamorous career, can be choosy about whom their clients are and are largely in control of what happens. However, as other members have said—and as we have heard repeatedly at the cross-party group and in other meetings—in the vast majority of cases, the women involved are clearly victims and do not want to be involved in the trade. We have often heard from survivors about how they were treated as men’s possessions to be bought and sold, and about how they were expected to take part in various weird sexual activities just to satisfy the warped desires of some men.
Most women who are involved in prostitution are there only because they are in the direst of circumstances, whether they are being exploited by a partner or, as is very often the case, in financial need and debt. We see that in the Ken Loach film “I, Daniel Blake”, from 2016, in which Katie turns to selling sex only because of her need to feed her children. How can we say that we are serious about tackling male violence against women when, at the same time, we allow women to be bought and sold by men?
We all accept that there is a gender pay gap, that women still get overlooked for promotion in some jobs and that misogyny happens, as does domestic abuse. All of that is broadly accepted to be happening, and the vast majority of us are signed up to tackling those interrelated sets of problems. Surely we also have to accept that being able to buy sex is not unrelated to those other issues and that it devalues women in the eyes of boys and men.
Similarly, we are all signed up to ending human trafficking, yet we need to remember that one of the drivers of human trafficking, whether that is from Nepal to India or from eastern Europe to Scotland and the UK, is commercial sexual exploitation. I would not argue that changing the law would, in itself, sort everything, but we understand from the Nordic countries that such a change, along with education, is part of achieving more respect for women and promoting more equality for women in all parts of society.
I have to say, however, that we are making very slow progress on the subject. I became a councillor in Glasgow 27 years ago, in 1998, and I was a councillor there for just over 10 years. The subject was on the agenda then thanks to excellent Labour councillors such as Jim Coleman, and Glasgow City Council, the police and the health services were all on board. The phrase “routes out” was frequently used at that time, in recognition of the fact that we needed not only to come down more heavily on the purchasers of sex but to give more support to women who wanted to escape from the trap in which they had found themselves.
However, here we are, in 2025, and very little seems to have changed. A number of other countries have moved against CSE, but, so far, we have not, despite the fact that the Scottish National Party supported Ash Regan’s position and the fact that, as the motion states, the Scottish Government recognises prostitution as violence against women. I have to say that there has been a certain timidity on the part of successive Governments. Therefore, I whole-heartedly endorse both Rhoda Grant’s motion and Ash Regan’s bill, and I express my frustration at the lack of progress in Scotland when other countries have been taking real steps forward.
17:29
I, too, thank Rhoda Grant for bringing to the chamber an important debate that has not, in the Parliament, moved on as it might have done. I support the motion and the introduction of the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill, and I pay tribute to Rhoda Grant and other members in the chamber who continually raise the voices of those who often have no avenue to do so themselves.
I also thank those women who have been trapped in the sex trade for coming to Parliament and speaking to us, as parliamentarians, about the reality of the life that is led by so many women. That includes the grooming, the vulnerability and the trapped, helpless, hopeless feeling that many women have spoken about. Those conversations have really developed my thinking in the area.
If we are truly to realise our shared ambition of eradicating male violence against women and girls, Scotland needs a progressive legal model for tackling prostitution that shifts the burden of criminality from the victims of sexual exploitation on to the people who perpetrate and profit from such activity. Having spent time talking to women about this trade, I see no other way of ensuring that we start to protect women and girls.
We know that much of this activity is underground and not visible to many in society. We also know that, for many years, the attitude to prostitution was that the women were in the wrong or were unable to better themselves. In reality, it is a business that profits from the vulnerability of so many women.
In a previous debate in the Parliament, my colleague Rhoda Grant said:
“It is essential that we deal with demand, because trafficking for sexual exploitation is the most profitable form of modern slavery in the world and is fuelled by demand.”—[Official Report, 18 January 2024; c 35.]
Trafficking is a global industry of more than $100 billion per year. Money is such a driver in manipulating and exploiting vulnerable people, and vulnerable women are exploited all over the world.
In earlier debates in the Parliament, we have discussed how, in countries that take the liberal approach of normalising prostitution, there are higher levels of trafficking, and how, in those that take the opposite approach, human trafficking has decreased. That is where the evidence is leading us. As legislators in Scotland, we must listen to that evidence and act with some urgency.
As we have heard from other members, a more effective solution has been found in the Nordic model approach, as implemented in countries such as Sweden and Norway, which criminalises the purchase of sex and decriminalises those who sell it, thereby recognising the true victims of exploitation. The bill that was introduced by Ash Regan recognises that, and it would add legal rights to support exit services, counselling and real alternatives that aim to give the women involved a genuine path out of prostitution. That is what struck me at a recent meeting in the Parliament, where women were discussing what it was like to be trapped and to feel that nothing could change, and it is an important part of the bill that Ash Regan has introduced.
In the time that I have left, I want to talk about the online pimping websites that other members have mentioned. If we do not start to tackle them, things will only get worse. Those men hide behind the internet and their computers, and we need to look for good examples of how we might be able to change that.
In closing, I thank everyone for speaking in the debate. I hope that the Government can shed some light on the work that it is doing to progress this matter, and on how it might work with Ash Regan on her bill, because it is so important that we work together. I thank Rhoda Grant for continuing to push the issue in the chamber and out in communities.
17:33
I thank Rhoda Grant for creating the opportunity for us to discuss the issue in the chamber, and I agree with John Mason that men need to speak up.
Listening to Ash Regan today, I have learned things that I did not know and that I wish did not exist. I wish her all the very best with her bill, and I hope that we will all work together to make it happen in our country.
The motion and the bill are all about affirming the principle that prostitution is not a lifestyle choice—it is a form of violence against women. It is an expression of exploitation, often brutal and hidden, and it is too often enabled by our current laws.
Scotland rightly aspires to be a nation that defends the dignity and worth of every individual, but while we continue to allow the purchase of sex, we undermine that aspiration. We are failing to deter the demand that fuels not only prostitution but sex trafficking—two industries that are deeply interlinked. I find it deeply disturbing that, according to the motion, Scotland has become a destination for traffickers. Why? It is because our laws still permit the buying of sex and allow online pimping websites to flourish.
The evidence is clear. We now have the benefit of decades of international learning from countries that have adopted the so-called Nordic model, which is a legal framework that criminalises those who buy sex, decriminalises the women who are exploited, and provides exit supports. A list of countries has been mentioned, and I will recite them because this is not new territory: Sweden, France, Ireland and Iceland have all shown that demand can be reduced, trafficking deterred and women’s lives changed when the law sends a clear moral message.
I am not one who will apologise for using the word “moral”. In Sweden, the proportion of men who buy sex halved after the sex purchase legislation was introduced; public attitudes shifted profoundly from toleration to rejection of this form of exploitation; and enforcement, education and victim support worked together to change not only behaviours but hearts and minds. In France, more than 5,000 buyers of sex have been prosecuted, and almost 600 women have been supported through funded exit programmes, with 90 per cent of them going on to find stable employment. In Ireland, decriminalisation has empowered women to report violence without fear of criminalisation. Scotland can and must do the same.
The Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill provides the vehicle for that change. It reflects the international evidence base as well as our moral responsibility; it rightly targets those who exploit, not those who are exploited; it proposes practical, funded support for those exiting the sex trade; and it aligns with our international obligations under the Palermo protocol and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to actively discourage demand for sexual exploitation.
I am no libertarian—I am a social conservative and I believe that the law must uphold moral order and human dignity. There is nothing empowering about being bought and sold. No economy should tolerate a market in human bodies, and no society that claims to stand against violence against women can allow that form of violence to continue unchallenged.
Let us show courage. Let us act not in fear of criticism but in fidelity to the evidence and experience of survivors. I commend the motion and the leadership behind it; I support the bill that flows from it; and I say clearly that Scotland is not for sale, women are not for sale, and this Parliament will not stand idly by while modern slavery is disguised as choice. When the minister comes to reply, I hope that we will see beyond all the party politics that might surround this issue and the people who are involved with it, so that Scotland can rid itself of this terrible reputation as a favoured destination for traffickers.
17:38
I thank Rhoda Grant and all those in the chamber this evening for their considered contributions on tackling and combating commercial sexual exploitation. Let me be very clear at the start—we all want to see an end to commercial sexual exploitation in Scotland. I will take this opportunity to outline what the Scottish Government is doing to combat it.
I take on board John Mason’s point that he feels that there has not been much progress. Although there has not been any legislative progress in recent years, some things are under way.
I recently invited Rhoda Grant and other MSPs to an update on the work that we have been doing with Police Scotland to agree a national approach to prostitution. The new Police Scotland approach, known as operation begonia, was adopted at the end of April, and it recognises that those who are involved in prostitution are victims of exploitation. It will ensure that police use the powers that are available to them to challenge demand. Through dedicated patrols in areas where street-based prostitution takes place, police will challenge and deter men’s demand.
On the point that the minister has just raised, the powers that the police have are only for combating on-street prostitution. We think that we know—the data is a bit sketchy—that 90 per cent of prostitution has moved indoors. Therefore, is it not now the time to update the law and to give the police the powers that they need to combat prostitution?
I will go on to talk about online, because work is being undertaken in that area as well.
We have provided funding to support the patrols are currently operational across Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow and we will work with Police Scotland to build on that.
I recently visited Dundee to see operation begonia in practice, and I was able to see the difference that it makes. This year, operation begonia has carried out 100 patrols, resulting in 42 men being charged and 62 women being routed to support services. As Detective Superintendent Steven Bertram, the lead on prostitution for Police Scotland, said:
“This is about building trust and confidence in policing.”
I agree that that is key. I want any women with experience of commercial sexual exploitation to feel able and comfortable to engage with police to report concerns and to access justice and trauma-informed support, if they so wish.
The new police approach includes the development of new training and awareness programmes, the first of which will take place this month. We are also working with Police Scotland to help to strengthen the connections between the police and local support provision, as the relationships between the police and local support services play a key role. Later this month, I will visit a local stakeholder network that supports begonia in Aberdeen.
We will build on that good practice and will hold a meeting in Edinburgh this month to discuss establishing a similar network with local organisations here. Ensuring that local stakeholders are better connected and have clearer links to local police will help to ensure that women have supported access to justice and have clearer routes to local support. A joined-up response will also help us to take a preventative approach to tackling exploitation.
Informed by the implementation of begonia, the Scottish Government will always consider what more we can do to combat commercial sexual exploitation. Taking an evidence-based approach, we will consider what further intervention is necessary.
Earlier, I referenced, as did Rhoda Grant in her motion, the importance of learning from international experience. I am therefore mindful of the difficulty that Ireland has had in policing the legislative framework that it was presented with, and of the lack of cohesion within support services in France. Both scenarios have led to a review of the approaches in those countries.
The Scottish Government is working with Police Scotland to better understand any additional powers that it considers are required and the reasons why, in order to effectively tackle demand, particularly online.
With any piece of legislation, there must be tweaks to ensure that it works properly, but does the minister agree that in the countries that she mentions that have had to make tweaks and invest more in training and support, the legislation is working well and is preventing violence against women? We could learn from that and put in place legislation that would save many women from suffering violence at the hands of perpetrators.
Minister, I can give you back the time for the intervention.
The Scottish Government is not opposed to the intent of Ms Regan’s proposed bill, but I will touch on a few of our concerns later in my speech.
We must be mindful of the challenges online and the need to keep pace with them. Rhoda Grant, Bill Kidd and Carol Mochan mentioned that issue, particularly the websites. The regulation of the internet and online services remains a reserved matter, but there is an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill going through Westminster, which addresses the issue, and my officials are talking to the Home Office about it. My officials are meeting Ofcom tomorrow to further discuss online safety in respect of human trafficking.
Those online challenges are why we are providing funding to support Police Scotland’s work to tackle the online aspects of commercial sexual exploitation, increasing its capability in that area—
I am not sure that I understand what the minister is saying the Government’s position is in relation to the bill. I think that she said that she was going to talk about that, but she seems to have moved on. Can she be—
I said that I would get to that at the end—I will come on to that.
That is why we are providing funding to support Police Scotland’s work to tackle the online aspects of commercial sexual exploitation, which is increasing its capability in that area and helping to inform our approach on how to better reach victims. Rhoda Grant came to a meeting on that with Police Scotland recently.
The Scottish Government’s focus will remain on providing a sustainable pathway to enable those who are involved in prostitution both to exit and fulfil their potential in a sustainable manner.
It remains imperative that we change the culture that drives the acceptability of violence against women and girls and commercial sexual exploitation. Therefore, we will continue to look for opportunities to support that change through educational and public awareness initiatives.
As I said to Mr Kerr and Ms Regan, the Scottish Government is not opposed to the intent behind the bill. As with all members’ bills, we will give it full and careful consideration and take into account Parliament’s scrutiny of it. However, I must raise a few concerns that I have about the bill at the moment. How will it work in practice? What support is intended for those who are involved in prostitution, and what is the cost of that? I note that we cannot support quashing previous convictions.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer.
Will the minister take an intervention?
Minister, are you taking the intervention, or have you concluded?
I have concluded.
That concludes the debate.
Meeting closed at 17:47.Previous
Point of Order