Call for outright ban on the sale of sex in city saunas

CAMPAIGNERS are pressing for another change in the law on prostitution, which would see sex for sale in the Capital's saunas outlawed, just a year after kerb-crawling was made illegal.

They want an outright ban on buying sex, which would apply not just to clients of street prostitutes but also those who visit saunas or private flats.

And they hope the change could be achieved through tabling an amendment to a bill already being considered by the Scottish Parliament.

A number of MSPs from different parties have indicated support for making the purchase of sex illegal. But independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald branded the move "futile" and said it could make the situation worse.

Evangelical group CARE has asked the Scottish Parliament's justice committee to add a clause to the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill, which it is currently scrutinising, to outlaw the purchase of sex.

And Labour backbencher Paul Martin said he would not rule out tabling an amendment.

He said: "Public perception is probably that this is something which is already illegal."

Fellow Labour MSP Marlyn Glen said she wanted to build cross-party support for making it illegal to buy sex. She said: "The message from New Zealand (where prostitution was decriminalised five years ago) is decriminalisation doesn't work because they have seen an increase in the number of women on the street."

SNP MSP Sandra White voiced her backing for a ban on prostitution and Scottish Tory deputy leader Murdo Fraser said the campaigners had made a good case.

"If someone were to bring that amendment forward we would want to have a discussion about it," he said.

Glasgow City Council is also pressing for a ban on the purchase of sex. Ann Hamilton, the council's lead officer on prostitution, said the new law on kerb-crawling was helping to combat street prostitution, but some women were continuing their trade elsewhere.

"Instead of standing on a street corner, they are getting phone calls or using flats," she said.

Lawrie Hutton, executive director of Edinburgh City Mission, said he felt it was self-evident that the buying of sex should be illegal.

CARE claims a law introduced in Sweden making it an offence to purchase sexual services, has seen a "dramatic drop" in the number of street prostitutes.

But Margo MacDonald said the Swedish example showed outlawing prostitution did not work.

She said: "If the aim is to eliminate prostitution, it has been proven in Sweden to fail. It simply drives prostitution underground.

"It makes it infinitely more dangerous for the women because of the way organised crime is moving in and taking over."

HOW THE LAW HAS CHANGED
UNTIL a year ago, it tended to be the prostitutes rather than their clients who fell foul of the law. Women were prosecuted for soliciting, but the only way the kerb-crawlers could be brought to book was to charge them with breach of the peace.

However, the law passed by the Scottish Parliament in October last year meant men who buy sex – or try to – could face prosecution. Under the Prostitution (Public Places) Scotland Act, anyone caught soliciting a prostitute for sex, as well as those "loitering for the same purpose", can be fined up to £1000.