Toronto 2008. Eric Parker/Flickr. (CC 2.0 by-nc)
Last September Jean Urquhart, a member of the Scottish parliament for the Highlands and Islands, launched a consultation on a new bill that would decriminalise sex work in Scotland. It would do so along the lines of the 2003 New Zealand’s Prostitution Reform Act (PRA), which fully decriminalised sex work, brothel keeping, and living off the proceeds of sex work. The consultation received an overwhelming 70% positive response supporting the proposed legislation and the bill will be reintroduced in the next session of the Scottish Parliament after the May elections. This is the first time in Scottish history a coherent review promoting the decriminalisation of prostitution has been proposed.
Urquhart worked closely with SCOT-PEP, a peer-led charity that advocates for sex workers, while preparing the bill. Nadine Stott, the co-chair of SCOT-PEP, describes Scotland’s current legislation as mismatched laws, shaped at different times, with different intentions, “albeit, none that are really about the safety of people who sell sex”. In contrast, New Zealand’s PRA is mature, coherent, comprehensive legislation that has undergone formal review and puts sex workers’ rights at its heart.
