Question reference: S6W-14244
- Date lodged: 23 January 2023
-
Current status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 31 January 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce commercial sexual exploitation by tackling demand among men.
Answer
Commercial sexual exploitation is recognised as a form of gendered violence within Equally Safe: Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls.
The law in Scotland prohibits many activities associated with prostitution, including: trading in the prostitution of others and running a brothel, procuring for the purposes of prostitution as well as publicly soliciting or loitering for the purpose of purchasing sex. No one can lawfully be forced into sexual activity without their consent. Trading in the prostitution of others and procuring for the purposes of prostitution are still offences whether or not they are committed online. The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 gives police and prosecutors greater powers to detect and bring to justice those responsible for trafficking as well as strengthening protections for survivors.
The Programme for Government includes a commitment to develop a model for Scotland which effectively tackles and challenges men’s demand for prostitution. This is being taken forward through the development of a Framework to challenge men’s demand for prostitution and support those with experience of it.
Principles to underpin the Framework were published in December 2022. It is expected that the principles will inform relevant policy and practice across government and the wider public sector. The principles reinforce that there is no place for the commercial sexual exploitation of any individual in Scotland.