Nordic Model Disaster in Ireland and Scotland for Decrim campaign

This year Scottish sex workers have launched a campaign to fight proposed new laws that would criminalise the purchase of sexual services in Scotland. Here we are publishing our media digest dedicated to this topic (“Legalife-Ukraine”)

The Scotland for Decrim campaign has been set up to oppose Alba MSP Ash Regan’s new Prostitution (Offences And Support) (Scotland) Bill, which is set to be presented to the Scottish Parliament.

Sex workers have warned that these laws would put them in more danger, pushing the industry underground, increasing stigma, and exposing people to more violence and poverty. This isn’t just about policy – it’s about real lives. Criminalising clients won’t stop sex work, but it will make it far less safe.

Campaigners are urging members of the public to use a new one-click online tool to email their MSP to block the new legislation, which polls show is opposed by the Scottish public.

A YouGov poll of 1,088 Scottish adults, carried out last year, showed that Scots firmly oppose the Nordic Model, with 47% saying it should be legal for a person to pay someone to have sex with them, versus 32% who think it should not be legal.

The poll showed that 69% of Scots say the MSPs should focus on protecting the health and safety of sex workers, and providing support to people who want to leave the industry, compared to just 14% who support new laws to prevent people exchanging sexual services for money.

An official government review of similar legislation in Northern Ireland – the only nation in the UK to enact the Nordic Model – found that there was “no evidence that the offence of purchasing sexual services has produced a downward pressure on the demand for, or supply of, sexual services”.

It also found that “the legislation has contributed to a climate whereby sex workers feel further marginalised and stigmatised”.

Source portal nen.press/tag/scotland-for-decrim-campaig

Problems with the Nordic Model. Ireland vs Scotland

Mark McDougall’s December 2024 article for The Herald covered the protests by sex workers over the proposal by Alba MSP Ash Regan to introduce the ‘Nordic Model’ of prostitution law to Scotland. Advocates claim that this law would criminalise the purchase of sexual services, but not the providers of such services – which punishes those who keep this trade going, and helps those working in the industry to get out. This model is also touted as a means of ending sex trafficking.

So why do the providers have an issue, you may ask? It’s not a question of money, as the more cynical among you may suppose. The answer touches on the whole concept of women’s rights, which the Nordic Model has demonstrably undermined everywhere it has been implemented.

When put into practice, criminalising clients means that otherwise law-abiding ‘clients’ are less likely to provide custom to sex workers, who may not be in a position to take on alternative forms of employment, and due to stigma and other factors aren’t able to access the help needed to exit the sex trade that is often promised. So to make a living, they have to be less choosy about the sort of clients they take on, even if said clients are more aggressive and violent.

Far from helping sex workers, such legislation only serves to make them more vulnerable to harm.

The island of Ireland provides plenty of evidence of the failure of this ‘Nordic Model.’ Northern Ireland has had such legislation since 2015, in the form of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act which was advocated by Lord Morrow. And the Republic of Ireland has the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017. In both jurisdictions, the results of this legislation – in force for nearly a decade now – are clear.

• In Northern Ireland, since the legislation was introduced, there have been 75 arrests and only 1 conviction. However, according to Women’s Aid, the number of trafficking victims they supported increased from 47 in 2021 to 230 in July 2023.
• Furthermore, Women’s Aid stated in November 2024 that they now receive one referral per day to support a trafficking victim – this was after a case was reported of two trafficking victims being rescued from a south Belfast flat.
• Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland, by 2020 crime against sex workers had increased by 90% and violent crime in particular had increased by 92%.
• A 2022 research piece conducted by Amnesty International uncovered that the legislation has facilitated abuse of sex workers, that the state has failed to protect sex workers, and that sex workers have a marked distrust of the Gardaí (the Irish police force), leading to a lot of crimes which sex workers suffer being unreported.
• One major exception to this, which made headlines, was when Romanian sex worker Geila Ibram was murdered in April 2023 by a ‘client’ in Limerick.
• An October 2024 report from Victoria University in Australia concluded that the current legislation in Ireland negatively impacted the health, safety, and wellbeing of sex workers, and it needed to be changed to reverse these effects. The report also noted that sex workers in Ireland faced more stigma than those working in New Zealand and – notably – Scotland.
• On November 28th 2024, it was announced that 14 Czech women were charged with operating a prostitution ring in Ireland and Northern Ireland from 2019.

Such are the consequences of the Nordic Model on the island of Ireland – the same Nordic Model that Ash Regan wants to inflict on Scotland. It is a failure at combatting sex trafficking (which should be illegal) and it is a failure at protecting women involved in the sex trade (who should be protected). No wonder that Scotland’s sex workers have no desire to repeat the experiment in Scotland.

Text by Paul Chambers

Published on 7th February 2025

Source portal bellacaledonia.org.uk

Bill to criminalise those buying sex branded ‘dangerous’ by sex workers of Scotland

Sex workers of Scotland have warned that a bid to criminalise those who use their services could be “disastrous” for their safety.

The new Scotland for Decrim campaign has been set up to oppose Alba MSP Ash Regan’s “dangerous” bid to change the law – which seeks to decriminalise those selling sexual services at the same time as making buying such services a criminal offence.

Regan is due to speak about her proposed Prostitution (Offences And Support) (Scotland) at Holyrood.

She said: “Ending prostitution is essential to achieving true equality between the sexes. A society that allows women’s bodies to be bought and sold cannot claim to value them as equals.

“Challenging the demand that fuels sexual exploitation is not just about justice — it’s about dignity, safety, and the right of all women, girls, and vulnerable men to live free from commodification and harm.”

But a spokesperson for the Scotland for Decrim campaign said that it “absolutely rejects Ash Regan’s attempts to bring in the Nordic Model on sex work in Scotland”.

Sex workers have “experienced more violence from clients and the police” in countries where this system is in place, the spokesperson added.

The group, which described itself as a sex worker-led coalition, went on to state that “this offensive Bill will endanger sex workers by exposing us to more violence, poverty, and exploitation”.

The spokesperson said: “Criminalising clients does not solve the reasons why people go into sex work: because of financial need, caring responsibilities, disability, or simply preferring this work to other kinds of work.

“Sex workers are the experts on our own needs. We know that only full decriminalisation will protect our safety, health, and human rights, giving us the power to choose when and how we work.

“This Nordic Model bill would be disastrous for sex workers’ safety, as we have seen in other countries where this model has been implemented and sex workers have experienced more violence from clients and the police.

“Sex workers don’t want this, the Scottish public doesn’t want this, and politicians from a range of parties oppose this dangerous Bill.”

A YouGov poll last year found almost half (47%) of Scots believe it should be legal for someone to pay another person to have sex with them, although 32% said this should not be legal.

National Ugly Mugs (NUM), the UK’s national sex worker safety charity, also raised concerns about Regan’s Bill.

Chief executive Lynsey Walton said: “This Bill won’t reduce harm, it will increase it.

“Criminalising the purchase of sex doesn’t protect anyone. It pushes sex work further underground, makes it harder for people to report violence, and forces those already at risk into even more dangerous situations.

“NUM stands in solidarity with sex workers across Scotland who are calling for safety, not criminalisation. We hear every day what they need: access to justice, housing, healthcare, and a voice in the laws that shape their lives. This Bill ignores that – and it puts lives at risk.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes, which represents sex workers across the UK, said: “If Ash Regan wants to reduce prostitution she should look at reducing women’s poverty, and specifically mothers’ poverty, which is pushing more and more women into prostitution.

“Criminalisation of sex work increases violence and discrimination against sex workers. We want decriminalisation so that women are no longer branded as criminals for working to feed themselves and their families.”

Text by PA Media

Published May 19th, 2025

Source portal news.stv.tv

This media digest was compiled by the team of the “Legalife-Ukraine” portal