 Fyelwch yn gyffredinol ar iawn cyfnodau y yw codi'r cyffredinol, oedd eisiau 8-74-0 i'r breedfeyd rhodo grwnt o'r Arhefion ac yn gwaith oedd yn amlwgau cymserol. Mae'r breedfeyd yn y cyfnod honno i datblygu'r cwrsau ymErmwyth Cymru. Arefroddan iawn y gwir y byddai y byddai, rwy'n dechau gallu ddweud o bwyd, ac mae'r breedfeyd yn cyfnod argyflodd Grydd. Mae'r breedfeyd yn 7 mor chyddo i gwarth. Ond amddir nhw, mae nhw'n gwybod o'r drwy 16 pnymau wrth gyrfaenidol ag nregor,Feith eri'r cyd-mestodau fel gwaith a chynllewch. The right of women and girls not to suffer from violence, discrimination, humiliation or harm. The right to treat a human being with the same value as everybody else. Commercial sexual exploitation is a glaring example of how women and girls are treated differently. that their right to be protected from violence and humiliation are set aside in favour of the sexual gratification of others. Scottish Government's equally safe strategy recognises that commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and human trafficking, is a form of violence against women and we all support the Government in making this clear statement. However, when it comes to the strategy and the work that flows from it, the approach to tackling commercial sexual exploitation lacks vision, the vision commitment and resources, which are rightly directed at other types of violence against women. Prostitution is profoundly harmful, violent and exploitative. The Scottish Government's research with professionals who worked with women in prostitution reported in December last year that most respondents who provide services and support to those involved in prostitution emphasised a range of risks and adverse impacts associated with prostitution, in the short and longer term in relation to general and mental health, safety, wellbeing and sexual health. Research with women in prostitution in Glasgow published in 2010 found that 21 of the 33 women interviewed reported violence from men who purchased sex. Another study has shown that women involved in prostitution are 16 times more likely to be exposed to rape than the general population and 12 times more likely to commit suicide. A telling example of the damage to women's mental health caused by prostitution comes in a study of female drug users in Glasgow. It found that women who were engaged in prostitution were more likely to show symptoms of anxiety and depression than those drug users, not in prostitution. Another study with women in prostitution found that 68 per cent of those surveyed suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The reality of these statistics comes home when listening to women tell of their own experiences. In a women support project video, a woman called Stephanie says this. A lot of people think that it is easy money but it is definitely isn't because there are a lot of psychological problems, a lot of violence. I have been attacked four times, raped twice and there is a lot of danger in it. They are just treating you like something that they bought and that you will do what they say. If you do not agree tough, just get on with it. Presiding Officer, in no other circumstances of life would such a high risk of physical and mental harm be tolerated. The Equally Safe strategy says that it should not be accepted that prostitution is a form of violence against women yet too often the response is that prostitution has always existed, it will always exist and there is nothing that can be done about it. The truth is that something can be done about it. We can hold to account those who use others for their own sexual gratification. We can send a clear message that is not acceptable in Scotland for women's bodies to be bought and sold. In Western Europe there has been a sea change in attitudes to prostitution in the past three years. Since late 2014 Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, France and Canada have all adopted laws which make it a criminal offence to purchase sex. Those laws drawn the experience of Sweden which pioneered the progressive approach in 1999 followed by Norway and Iceland in 2009. The official evaluation of the Swedish law found in 2010 that on-street prostitution had halved and there was no increase in off-street prostitution since the law passed. A 2014 evaluation of the Norway law concluded that the ban on purchasing sexual services has reduced demand for sex and has contributed to reducing the extent of prostitution in Norway. If we are to fulfil the vision of the equally safe strategy and create a strong and flourishing Scotland where all individuals are equally safe and respected and where women and girls live free from all forms of violence and abuse and the attitudes that help perpetrate it, we must work to eradicate prostitution. We can only do that by addressing those who perpetrate it. The men whose demand for paid sex creates a market in which vulnerable women and girls and indeed some vulnerable men become objects for sale. We must also make greater strides in helping women to find routes out of prostitution. The motion that we are debating tonight particularly is to amend the organisations that support women to exit prostitution. Sadly, this is an area that is all too often underfunded. A woman referred to as Katie in the women's support project. If there had been a chance earlier to get out of what I was doing, I would get out of it. I would have took that chance, changed my life earlier. The Government's own research showed that organisations supporting women to exit prostitution were facing serious challenges due to insecure and short-term funding. Many of those organisations are well known to us all, the women's support project, whose work I have quoted Tara, who does a huge amount of work with people trafficked into sexual exploitation. Others whose work is less well known are organisations such as the co-op. I am a member of the co-op party and I was unaware of that, but it provides support and employment opportunities for people escaping modern-day slavery. That comes in the form of a 12-month paid employment and support project. This is just one example of what can be done to support people. However, we need to realise that people exiting prostitution will have complex problems, the problems that drew them into prostitution in the first place and the harms that it has since caused them. Project Turnkey also offers alternative support to victims of commercial sexual exploitation. It provides legal information, workshops to boost confidence, links to partners who have offered employment and training. It offers this to women who are quite often in prison, who are either involved in or at risk of becoming involved in prostitution. We must ensure that those services are available to all those who need them. The 16 days of activism has been a great and raising awareness. However, gender-based violence is still happening and it is not limited to 16 days. That is why we must act now to fulfil the vision of the equally safe strategy to work to prevent exploitation through prostitution by challenging the notion that sex can be for sale, by making it a criminal offence to pay for sex, by helping women to exit prostitution through services and by making sure that they are not criminalised for being victims of exploitation themselves. I remind members that if they wish to speak in the debate, they have to indicate that by pressing their request to speak button. When I'm to the open debate, speeches are four minutes. I call Rona Mackay, followed by Liam Kerr. Ms Mackay, please. I'd like to thank Rhoda Grant for bringing this important debate to the chamber. At the outset, it's one that I wish it wasn't necessary to have. I can't believe we're debating such an incredibly distressing subject that so many women are suffering violence and intimidation from men throughout the world, whether through prostitution or domestically. The fact that in 2017 there's an international day for the elimination of violence against women and tackling commercial sexual exploitation beggars belief, but the facts do speak for themselves. Millions of women today are victims of violence and sexual exploitation and this is simply not acceptable in any civilised society. It is a fundamental abuse of women's rights. We've come a long way in achieving equality in Scotland over the past ten years, with fairer workplaces for women, providing funding to gender equality organisations, getting the gender balance right, increasing child provision and the rest. As equality secretary, Angela Constance has said, we cannot take our foot off the gas when it comes to gender equality and safety. Women should feel safe in every space they wish to inhabit, whatever profession they are in. This is a matter of fundamental human rights. We all have a duty to ensure that our daughters and granddaughters are safe from violence, sexual harassment and intimidation. It's our responsibility and it should be on top of everyone's agenda. The new domestic abuse bill will, if passed, make an enormous difference to women who've been abused both physically and psychologically and crucially it recognises the enormous harm done to children caught in the crossfire for the first time. The Scottish Government and indeed the Justice Committee of which I'm a member are working hard with women's charities and stakeholders to get it right. The many brave women who came forward to give evidence of their experiences deserve nothing less. The sexual exploitation of women has, of course, been around forever. The late Margo McDonald did a lot of work to improve the lives of sex workers and at the SNP conference in March this year, a resolution was passed to support the Nordic model, which Rhoda Grant described, based on 1999 Swedish law, which criminalises the purchase of sex but decriminalises the person selling it. I believe that this is a progressive way to deal with violence against the trafficking and monetary exploitation of women. Having heard directly from women who worked in the sex industry and their harrowing experiences, I defer to their belief that this is the way forward. As Rhoda Grant says, prostitution is violence against women by its very nature. We all know that violence against women and sexual exploitation of women is about the abuse of power. It's perpetrated by cowardly inadequates who must be made aware that society will simply no longer tolerate it. As I said earlier in my speech, I believe that it's incumbent on every decent citizen, men and women, to get the message of zero tolerance over to these inadequates. There's simply no hiding place for you now and women's rights will no longer be abused in Scotland or anywhere else in the world. On a general level, we must ensure that our daughters and granddaughters never have to deal with abuse of any kind and we must educate our sons and grandsons that it's never acceptable to perpetrate violence against women. Mutual respect between the sexes has to be the goal as we go forward. We need to make 2017 the year in which the First Minister described as a watershed when it comes to sexual harassment and the abuse of power. The time when society says enough is enough. Women must never again live in fear and, crucially, that includes sex workers throughout the world. It's time for a radical rethink on this issue. Thank you. I call Liam Kerr to be followed by Ash Denham. Mr Kerr, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm very pleased to speak in this debate to recognise the international day for the elimination of violence against women on the 25th of November and then the following 16 days of action. The theme of 2017 is Leave No One Behind, which, according to the UN, reinforces the United Campaign's commitment to a world free from violence for all women and girls around the world while reaching the most underserved and marginalised. On that basis, I acknowledge the inclusion of commercial sexual exploitation in the Scottish Government's definition of violence against women in the paper Equally Safe. The Scottish Government's strategy commits to working with others to develop thinking around commercial sexual exploitation and ensure that women working in this area are protected from violence and abuse and supported to exit situations where they are being sexually exploited for commercial purposes. On the 28th of November, the Scottish Parliament debated the subject of violence against women and specifically the Scottish Government's delivery plan for its Equally Safe strategy. My colleague Adam Tomkins put on the record in that debate the commitment of the Scottish Conservatives to tackling violence against women, and I am pleased to restate that commitment today. I am genuinely grateful to Rhoda Grant for drafting a motion to open that side of the debate on prostitution as commercial sexual exploitation. I grew up in Leith in the 80s and 90s, which really brought home to me the effects of prostitution on both individuals and communities. The sight of women being propositioned by men and looking to buy sex is not healthy and not cohesive for any community. That informs part of my view of the way forward, as we will discuss later. However, I have a concern about the absolutism of the motion. That is why I am glad that we are having a full and open dialogue on that. The motion states that prostitution is a form of violence and a barrier to equality. I accept that in some, perhaps in most cases, it can be, but not necessarily always. If that premise is not established, then the solution, the criminalisation of the purchaser, does not automatically follow. Furthermore, I wonder whether, in proposing a solution that holds the purchaser accountable, we risk failing to remedy the other societal, health or economic drivers behind the offer. More precisely, the motion predicates on people being forced into sex work. If that is right, prostitution is exploitation, is violence, is fundamentally not a choice, which it may be, then surely we must ask, as I think Rhoda Grant was highlighting, and then address what is it that is driving people into this situation to address the cause, as well as the symptom. I agree with my colleague Michelle Ballantyne when, in a debate on 28 November, she said that we must not vilify all men as perpetrators of violence against women, but we must ensure that we identify those who are, hold them in abhorrence, and ensure that they are duly punished for the crimes that they have committed. That nuance is, in my view, correct. Similarly, I am not persuaded that all sex workers are only there due to desperation and a last resort. I'd like to. Will I have time at the end? Yes, thank you. Elaine Smith. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I just first of all ask if the member recognises that the term sex workers includes pimps, pornographers, brothel owners, et cetera, working in the so-called sex industry? I wonder if the member would also agree with me that prostitution is never a career choice and actually the reasons for it are based on poverty, drug abuse and invulnerability. Liam Kerr. To answer both points, yes, I can agree with that on the sex worker. I think that the member will forgive me if I have expanded the term. I do accept the point that we made. Do I accept that it is never a career choice? I think that I am insufficiently informed to say absolutely certainly. Is it never a career choice? I don't know enough. Possibly it could be, but I don't know enough to say absolutely one way or the other. That's my honest answer. In October, I had the opportunity to meet Sabrina Valleys, the first hand of the New Zealand experience. Having supported decriminalisation there, she is now campaigning in support of the Nordic approach of tackling demand for prostitution by criminalising the purchase of sex. I found her persuasive as I did an article in this spectator in August by Julie Bindell, which is well worth consideration in this debate going forward, I believe. I'm also concerned at evidence from organisations including Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and the World Health Organization that seems to suggest that criminalising prostitution, including through criminalising the purchase of sex, can increase violence against prostitutes and that criminalising it forces a more hurried transaction, driving it underground and making the process more clandestine. The Canadian Alliance for Sexwork Law Reform argued that targeting clients makes street prostitutes more likely to take risks to his new or unknown clients and displaces sex workers into darker and less populated areas where they are more vulnerable to violence. I genuinely welcome Rhoda Grant bringing in this debate. This is a highly nuanced issue and legislative proposals relating to the criminalisation of the purchase of sex should be scrutinised in detail to ensure that they do not have unintended consequences. I genuinely look forward to helping to develop Parliament's thinking in this area. Thank you very much. I call Ash Denham to be followed by Elaine Smith. Ash Denham, please. I would like to extend my thanks to Rhoda Grant for securing chamber time this evening to discuss this very important issue. The motion that we are debating this evening pushes for an eradicational violence against women and girls, recognising the sheer incompatibility between a woman's safety and equality on the one hand and a society that accepts prostitution on the other. The Scottish Government has made its ambition to stamp out gender-based violence from this country as any Government that prioritises equality and human rights should do. Those efforts have made and will continue to make great strides. Across Scotland, even at this very moment, there are thousands of women whose daily reality is not a feeling of equality or safety relative to men, but destructiveness mentally and physically at the hands of men. I will say some men, not all men, obviously. Thousands of women who are not empowered or valued or admired, but degraded, debased and abused by men, fuelled by a sense of entitlement, who believe that a woman's consent, a woman's body, is merely a commodity. That is prostitution. If Scotland is to truly be a place where women are equal and free from gender-based violence, we cannot accept a system that some survivors have described as pay-as-you-go rape. Gender-based violence is certainly not limited to commercial sexual exploitation like prostitution, but we focus on it today not only because it is a major cause of violence against women and girls, but because it is a representation of the continuing patriarchal obstruction of gender equality. One survivor of prostitution, Rebecca Mott, illustrated that by stating, how can you remain human when you are sexually tortured so many times it is your routine? How do you remain human when every woman hating word, concepts and ideals are placed under your skin until you lose what or who you are? The fact that Scotland has no criminal offence for men that would seize a woman's very humanity is, frankly, appalling. The time has come for those who purchase sexual services and thereby perpetuate gender-based violence to be held accountable for their actions. For the sake of women who are abused, for the sake of women who are made to feel worthless, women who are raped and murdered, the time for accepting prostitution as somehow normal must end. An industry that prays upon and exploits girls and women, girls and women that are in care, those that are homeless, in debt, addicted to drugs and all for profit is not normal. An industry where one has to cope with routine physical and emotional violence is not normal. An industry that grooms children for sexual servitude is not normal. Let us normalise it no longer. As we push forward and strive to make Scotland a country where gender-based violence ceases to exist, let us call out systems and attitudes that preserve that violence. As former UN Secretary General, Bankie Moon, said, There is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities. Violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable and never tolerable. Can I congratulate Rhoda Grant on bringing this debate forward? For all her hard work on what is often a difficult subject to approach, I also want to thank Christian Action on Research and Education for their work. I spent 12 years serving on the Equal Opportunities Committee of this Parliament, and as the gender reporter I specifically tried over that time to address the issues of prostitution and pornography, which are undoubtedly on the continuum of violence against women and children and have been accepted as such over the lifetime of this Parliament. I also believe that any debate on the subject must recognise that prostitution, pornography and other forms of commercial sex are all part of an industry that are making millions of pounds out of human misery. That industry is also likely to be part of a wider web of organised crime. It promotes alcohol and drug problems as some of the necessary tools of its trade, and it makes rich men out of a minority of predators, whilst it ruins the lives of thousands and thousands of women and children. The so-called sex industry, whether it is pornography, prostitution, lap dancing, etc., is predicated on women's subordination and objectification. The industry causes harm to those within it, and it seriously undermines the quest for gender justice, for human equality and indeed for happy, fulfilling sexual relationships. The idea that the sex industry in some way creates positive career choices and opportunities for women and men has to be challenged head on, and anyone who suggests that this is an industry in which good terms and conditions of employment can be negotiated, with employers willing to sit round a table considering all aspects of the fair work agenda, is actually silencing the voices of the many, many vulnerable and abused women. It is clear that women enter prostitution for socioeconomic reasons, not for aspirational ones, and indeed much evidence over the years has shown that women do not consider entering prostitution as a choice. The vast majority desperately want to get out. It is not a simple business transaction, but it is violence, exploitation and abuse. Let's face it, it is hardly a popular career choice for young people, whereas we appreciate we must sell our labour nobody expects to have to sell their bodies just to survive. This is not the vision for Scotland that we were discussing only this afternoon in this chamber when we considered what lies ahead for the year of young people in 2018. Of course, there have been legislative changes and policy advances over the lifetime of this Parliament, but, like Rhoda Grant, I think that the time is right for further legislative steps to tackle demand with regard to prostitution. No other form of violence against women is tolerated, so why is buying sex acceptable? That means looking to our neighbours in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in France who have been mentioned, who have made buying sex a criminal offence. Our attention must turn to those who invest in a global sex trade, making money out of women's bodies and to those who have no regard for gender equality. The Scottish Government's equally safe strategy has been mentioned to tackle violence against women and girls, working across all government departments in the wide range of agencies and stakeholders, and it recognises that commercial sexual exploitation is a form of abuse. I would now like to draw attention to the work of trade unions in this field. Trade unions in the Republic of Ireland played a key role in the turn off the red light campaign, which led to new laws to criminalise the purchase of sex and decriminalise the selling of it. The STUC Congress in 2011 took the unequivocal view that prostitution is a form of violence against women. Trade unions have also consistently argued for further investment in services, which support women seeking to leave prostitution. I think that the commitment by the Scottish Government and the Equally Safe Strategy delivery plan to increase resources is welcome. A commitment for everyone to have access to good quality healthcare, housing, education and an income must mean for everyone. Women currently involved in prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation have as much right to expect access to the services that they need as anyone else. To conclude, commercial sexual exploitation is clearly a form of violence against women so long as it is tolerated, violence will continue to be perpetrated against some of the most vulnerable women in our society. So long as it is considered acceptable for the bodies of women in prostitution to be treated as objects for sexual gratification, the gender equality will remain out of reach. Progress on this issue is long overdue in Scotland, and I look forward to working together to take that forward. Before I call the next speaker, I have a number of speakers who wish to take part in the debate and I am minded to accept a motion without notice to extend the debate under rule 8.14.3 by up to 30 minutes and invite Rhoda Grant to move that motion. Do members agree to the motion? We are agreed. I therefore call Ruth Maguire to be followed by Alison Harris. The 25th of November each year marks the international day for the elimination of violence against women. Just two weeks ago, all the parties took part in a Government debate on the progress made, work on going and things still to be done. I am very grateful to Rhoda Grant for bringing this quite specific topic of tackling commercial sexual exploitation to the chamber. I am very clear that commercial sexual exploitation is a form of men's violence against women. It is a cause and a consequence of gender inequality and it makes the world less safe for women and girls. I am equally clear that if we are to create a world that is equally safe for women and girls, then we must put an end to commercial sexual exploitation, not mitigate it, not tolerate it, end it. In welcoming the equally safe strategy, I was glad to highlight that as part of the delivery plan, the women's support project will deliver its challenging demand programme to raise awareness of commercial sexual exploitation and to build capacity in organisations to address the issue. I also highlighted the Scottish Government's commitment in the plan to consider how it could enhance support for service providers that are supporting harm reduction and exit for those engaged in prostitution. Reducing immediate harm is important. I want all women to be safe, but reducing harm alone simply isn't good enough. Surely we have to act to dismantle the structures and conditions that create that harm in the first place. I do hear the vocal minority of women who say that they find selling sexual access to their bodies personally and economically empowering, but their individual comfort in their own situation does not negate the wider harm caused by accepting a society where sexual access to women and girls can be bought and sold, where women and girls can be treated like commodities. If we are truly to put an end to the harm caused by commercial sexual exploitation and prostitution, it will require bolder and braver steps than simply improving the lives of individual women, operating or indeed simply surviving in a place where exploitation, violence and degradation is considered the norm. Yes, we have to mitigate harm and make sure that women are safe as possible with access to good-quality health services, but we will all be failing in our promise to eliminate violence against women and girls if we do not address head-on the single root cause of that particular form of violence against women, which is male demand to purchase sexual access to women and girls. We can only address that by criminalising the purchase of sexual access to women's bodies whilst decriminalising prostituted women and providing properly resourced specialist services to help women leave. Currently, we are only really focused partly on the last part on supporting women to leave. For me, Presiding Officer, it's time to stop women from even being exploited and degraded in this way in the first place. It's time to be bold and to brave and to legislate to make a difference. It's time to tackle male demand. Thank you. I call Alison Harris to be followed by Kate Forbes. Ms Harris, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I believe that it is very appropriate that this Parliament marks the international day for the elimination of violence against women. I also would like to thank Rhoda Grant for bringing it forward this evening. The day itself and the 16 days of action following it are both now passed for this year, but the very fact that the day continues to be needed highlights that violence against women is still very much an issue. Established to mark the day that three brave women were murdered by a brutal dictatorship simply for speaking out for their rights, the day remains as a reminder that violence against women and girls remains as one of the most widespread breaches of human rights in the world today. No society is free of physical and sexual violence. Dealing with domestic abuse remains an on-going issue in virtually every community represented in this Parliament, and it is still far too often unreported. My colleague Liam Kerr has reiterated my party's commitment to tackling violence against women and has spoken at length on the issue of prostitution here in Scotland. In other parts of the world, the prevalence of violence against women is often highest in countries where the gender inequality gap is at its widest. Many countries lack both the legal framework that helps to protect women and or the political will to counter patriarchal and traditional norms. Countries where law enforcement agencies may be short of resources and too often for short in their willingness to take action against male perpetrators of violence against women. In some countries such as India it has taken mass demonstrations of both women and men before authorities act to bring justice to those accused of horrific acts against women. Also, we must never forget that we still live in a world where despite some progress towards its elimination female genital mutilation is widely carried out in 30 countries. The UN campaign, Leave No One Behind, highlights many other vulnerable groups where rates of sexual and physical violence are particularly high, such as those women who are amongst the world's most marginalised, those of minorities most recently the Rohingya peoples and women in areas affected by others areas of conflict and natural disaster. At a time when they are most in need of help figures show that acts of violence against women soar. Other areas where abuse has been highlighted in official reports include women with disabilities, elderly women and we remember the victims of abuse in care homes here in the UK and young girls, especially those prized as trophies of war such as the Yazidi people. Sorry, women actually. From trafficking to forced prostitution the vulnerability of many women remains a real concern across far too much of the globe. Deputy Presiding Officer, the day that we are marking tonight started over half a century ago and hopefully I have shown that sadly it is still very much needed. I also find it quite incredible that over half a century has passed and we are still debating the same issues. This is not a criticism or an indication of failure, however. In many areas and in many countries there have been improvements and women have made progress. In 2006 the inter-parliamentary union reaffirmed the 1979 convention on the elimination of all forms of violence against women and subsequently well-intentioned declarations. It emphasised that no state or government is justified in invoking any custom tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations to eliminate violence against women. It stressed the key role of parliaments and parliamentarians in preventing and eliminating violence against women and the need to work with all organisations working to eliminate sexual and physical violence. Further, it calls upon all Governments and parliaments to raise awareness about issues of violence against women and to promote public awareness of the problem. I believe that tonight this debate is playing its part in that and again I thank the member for bringing this forward. Thank you. I call Kate Forbes. We follow by Maurice Corry. Ms Forbes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As a woman there are few issues that I feel angrier about than the exploitation, abuse and rape of women every day in this city and across this country. Maybe it's because I'm a woman too or maybe it's just because as Kofi Annan said in 1999 to commemorate the campaign against violence against women, he said that violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth and as long as it continues we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. For as long as there is demand for commercial sex which traffickers, pimps and brothel owners can exploit and profit from, we will never, ever live in a country free of violence against women. No doubt the vast majority of self-respecting people in Scotland agree that no women should be subjected to violence, domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault or exploitation but we have still not successfully curbed the demand for commercial sex that fuels sex trafficking and allows violence to thrive because prostitution is a form of violence against women and it is a barrier to gender equality. Earlier this year there was mass outrage about the shameful news of landlords asking for sex for rent. This was legitimately and rightly condemned across the board but sex for rent is part of a wider trend towards increasing levels of commercial sexual exploitation in Scotland which prey on vulnerable individuals in need of cash to purchase essentials such as accommodation or food or to fund addictions and at the end of the day this is about power until we rebalance that power we will never live in a world free of violence against women. I want to quote at length an article in the new statesman in April of this year which I thought captured the hypocrisy of many of us who were shocked about sex for rent but still are content with allowing access to women's bodies for basic living needs and I quote if anything is for sale for the body part any experience any relationship then the poorest will be stripped bare if you accept the principle that there is nothing wrong with buying sex how do you ensure supply can meet demand only by making sure there are always enough women with no other options there is no other way there are not enough female bodies without any form of coercion that is why patriarchy with all its complex systems of reward and punishment exists in the first place if sex work is work poverty is necessary but commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking does not just exist because of the victims and I say victims in inverted commas because these women are strong courageous brave women it exists also because there is demand and there are profits to be made it is in an industry that ultimately operates on the basic principles of supply and demand and that is why I fully support decriminalising the supply and criminalising the demand there is ample evidence that greater criminal penalties negative publicity would deter the purchaser from buying sex thereby reducing demand and as I close gender inequality, sexual exploitation and sex trafficking will never cease as long as it is acceptable to purchase access to another person's body to purchase access to a person who is often more vulnerable and disadvantaged Thank you Thank you Deputy Presiding Officer for giving me the opportunity to speak on this important debate today Let me begin by thanking Rhoda Grant for bringing forward today's debate on the annual international day of the emanation of violence against women This is a topic that is important to me as both a husband and a father of three girls and it is also a subject that deserves far more attention than it gets It is why I am happy to accept the position of women's champion for the Scottish branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which now has to be a male and I am indeed very honoured to be its champion It is important that we remember violence against women not only in this country but across the Commonwealth and it is not and the world as whole and it is not just an issue that should concern women it should concern us all and it does require everyone in society to end this blight The issue of violence and the threat of violence affects women right across Scotland and indeed the Commonwealth whatever their wealth, their race or culture the impact it has on women affected is devastating and the shock waves can be felt through the entirety of our society and it also endangers our community safety Now turning to the issue of prostitution which Rhoda Grant raises quite rightly in her motion I want to take a moment to highlight a particular issue on this subject which is the violent acts that are taking place against sex workers and how we as a country deal with them. A report produced in 1996 by Neil McEagney and Marina Bernard described a range of violent behaviours towards women involved in prostitution in Glasgow This range from a name calling to physical assault rape and even murder but it found it wasn't just from what they termed clients but it was also from others such as their pimps drug dealers and others involved in prostitution What worries me is that they are unlikely to report these crimes to the police The work has been done on this subject in separate papers by Dr Emma Smith and Jane Pitcher What they were found was that there were many reasons that exist such as the fear of not being taken seriously by the police also concern about possible criminalisation should they get in contact with the police and be concerned about a potential increase stigmatisation In conclusion, we have to do something about this Sex workers should know that the police are there to help them, not jail them We need to get to the stage where the option of going to the police and reporting of violence and seeking help is a possibility for every woman in our society no matter their situation Therefore, I would be very interested to hear from the minister tonight, summing up this evening about what work is going on in this country today from the issues raised this evening Thank you Iphone McKee, the last speaker in the open debate, Mr McKee, please Thank you, Presiding Officer I'll help Thank you, Presiding Officer I'd like to thank Rhoda Grant for bringing this important subject to the Parliament for debate this afternoon I welcome the opportunity to support the motion and support the calls for the introduction of the Nordic model I would like, during my short time in this debate, to highlight some of the inconsistencies as I see them of non-display around debates on this subject from those who would seek to oppose the criminalisation of the purchase of sex The purchase of sex is either an acceptable behaviour a business transaction like any other or as the equally safe strategy makes clear is a form of violence against women Those who argue that there is nothing exploitative about the sale of women's bodies for cash whether that cash is required to buy food fund addictions or pay rent cannot then argue that there is something exploitative about the sale of sex for rent The degree of coercion in both cases is the same In both cases that coercion is primarily of an economic nature why should one medium of payment be considered abhorrent and the other acceptable If we choose because we believe it to be the lesser of two evils to avoid some perceived unintended consequences to turn the blind eye to the purchase of sex then we are complicit in normalising this behaviour In the normalisation of this behaviour the protection of the rights of buyers the treatment of prostitution as work like any other leads to the explosion of demand that we see in countries where the purchase of sex is legalised The opening of multi-storey brothels the trips to discount whore houses as a normal part of high school graduation celebrations for teenage boys the acceptance of the abuse of power relationships is not behaviour that we should normalise and it is not the kind of society that I want my sons or daughters to grow up in That normalisation changes behaviours it changes society's norms it drives up demand All good for the businessman that controls the supply of the industry but in no way good for those who are exploited by the business At a time when we worry about the explosion in mental health problems among those from traumatic and exploitative backgrounds we cannot condone this most intimate form of exploitation and the consequent risks to mental health At a time when we are taking great steps to consider the future outcomes of care experience young people we cannot fail to recognise the strong links between exploitation in the care sector and subsequent exploitation in the sex industry I find it most peculiar that those who never miss an opportunity to rail against the inequities of the free market come rushing to defend the rights of those in a position of economic power in relation to the purchase of sex In no sense can this not be considered an abuse of power in an equal power relationship yet those who rightly would condemn sexual advances that took place in the workplace based on an equal power relationship find nothing wrong in the abuse of power that occurs in the purchase of sex I also find it peculiar that those who would in respect of any other industry treat with great scepticism any claims coming from those who control the supply side of the business in this case find full alignment with industry trade bodies concerned as they are with removing barriers to trade in a quest to support the extraction of maximum profit from the business by driving up demand Presiding Officer, this issue at its heart is a simple one it's about the kind of society we want to be whether we believe that this abuse of power relationship should be normalised or whether we should take steps to oppose it Thank you Thank you Annabelle Ewing Minister up to seven minutes please Thank you I congratulate Rhoda Grant for securing her members' debate on the important issue of the international day for the elimination of violence against women and tackling commercial sexual exploitation I thank all members for their thoughtful contributions this evening I would like to reaffirm at the outset that tackling and eradicating violence against women is a key priority for this Government that has been referred to already on 24 November 2017 we published the equally safe delivery plan to deliver practical steps that will take us towards ending this horrific form of violence for good and indeed the drive to make Scotland equally safe was as has been noted debated in parliamentary terms a week or so ago on 28 November Our plan Presiding Officer is ambitious it sets out 118 actions which we intend to take forward in 2021 to help ensure that we can make progress towards Scotland where women and children live free from violence and abuse and the attitudes and equalities inequalities that perpetuate it The 16 days of action is a great opportunity to champion the efforts of so many people in Scotland including those within this chamber who strive endlessly to bring real positive change As the chamber will be aware earlier in the year we published independent research which was commissioned to investigate the reliability of evidence available on the criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services and how it applies to Scotland The research provides a useful collation of international evidence and an overview of the existing evidence within the Scottish context Crucially, however, it also identified a number of gaps in knowledge particularly in relation to the scale and nature of off-street prostitution Existing evidence also highlights poverty constrained economic choices structural gender inequality as drivers into prostitution commonly combined with a range of underlying vulnerabilities In addition, a range of risks and adverse impacts were associated with prostitution in the short and longer term in relation to general and mental health safety and wellbeing and sexual health However, it has to be pointed out that the limitations of the evidence base are considerable hence there is uncertainty about the potential impacts of the introduction of the criminalisation of the purchase of sex to this vulnerable group Indeed, the research did not provide any conclusive evidence that harm would be reduced through such changes to the criminal law Helpfully, however, the research highlighted the potential scope for improving policy and available support in this area in terms of prevention harm reduction, support to exit and challenging demand Rhoda Grant Would the minister not acknowledge that harm has been reduced in countries that have implemented this act and not only harm to those in prostitution which is inherently dangerous but also harm to women with the reducing of sexual violence against women Minister The point that I was trying to make was that in fact the international research was inconclusive and that is what we are presented with and in terms of where we are at the moment we have worked to obtain feedback on that research and we are currently reflecting on that I also have met a number of people who have been involved in prostitution or are still involved in prostitution as I promised to the member in response to general question to do and again we are reflecting on the information that we gathered during those meetings I would afraid I must make some progress Our approach is therefore based on what the existing evidence can tell us and therefore we are focused at this time on prevention and reduction of harm model namely preventing vulnerable individuals entering prostitution in the first place reducing the harm associated with the selling of sexual services for those who continue to engage in prostitution and crucially supporting those who wish to exit and the equally safe I'm afraid I've got to make progress and the equally safe delivery plan committed this government to do exactly that the equally safe strategy makes it clear that violence against women includes commercial sexual exploitation the definition is prostitution lap dancing, stripping, pornography and trafficking many of these already mentioned tonight this was included in the initial strategy published in 2014 and also in the refreshed version in 2016 specific actions to strengthen our efforts to tackle commercial sexual exploitation continue to be included in the latest delivery plan and indeed I note that a member mentioned a while back that they weren't that impressed the plan had not been very ambitious I think it was Rosa Grant herself I'm reading a page where there's about 7, 8, 9, 10 actions which I could read out but I think that that would take as well over the time that we have available tonight we want to help I'm afraid I really hate doing points of order in the middle of speeches but we did extend the debate and I think it is such an important matter I'm afraid that's not a point of order it's up to the member whether or not I'm just trying to make some progress to respond to the points raised in the debate and I have been happy to take the member's intervention already and to try to respond to that in a reasonable fashion we want to help to ensure that those engaged in prostitution can leave and that is why this Government supports services like Sacros another way which works in Edinburgh to tackle these issues other partners are taking forward important work to tackle commercial sexual exploitation across Scotland but of course there is always more to do I may interest members to note although they will have differing views on the particular venues in question but that the Scottish Government has launched a consultation on draft guidance on the licensing of sexual entertainment venues by local authorities that this will close on the 7th of February next year and I would encourage members to make their views known in the context of that for those members who were elected prior to 2016 they will be aware that this licensing regime is provided for within the Air Weapons and Licensing Scotland Act 2015 and will come into effect in due course when brought in the regime will allow for local licensing authorities to decide what is appropriate in their areas and indeed they will be able to set an appropriate number of venues for their area or for that number for example to be zero we believe that notwithstanding what people's personal views may be of the venues themselves nonetheless effective licensing of those venues remain compatible with the laws of the land that effective licensing is in place to protect those people who work in those places and to reduce criminality in addition to this within the I'm afraid I've got to make some progress in addition to this within the equally safe delivery plan alongside the specific commitments relating to prostitution we have committed to the establishment of a multi agency group to develop steps designed to reduce the harms associated with all aspects of commercial sexual exploitation supporting the reduction of harm will be a main focus of this group's remit I expect the multi agency group once it is established to be considering the full holistic approach to tackling these issues which as members know are rooted in gender inequalities we will also continue to support the challenge demand project which raises the awareness of commercial sexual exploitation and continue to work with the women's support project to deliver this across organisations we've also committed to commissioning a mapping of existing specialist support for those experiencing commercial sexual exploitation to better understand current coverage and good practice we want to create pathways for people who are engaged in prostitution to safely exit through access to mentoring programmes to ensure that they have as has been properly referred to tonight the key support they need to access health access health and welfare services and of course to be encouraged in pursuing economic opportunities outwith prostitution of course as new areas of concern emerge so our response must continue to evolve I hope that we can all work together in the spirit of tonight's debate to ensure that all issues relating to gender based violence including commercial sexual exploitation are discussed fully with all the varying points of view expressed because I can say having already been involved in this issue quite some months now there are differing points of view about how you best reduce harm and that I think unites us all because that is what we all want to do is to reduce harm and to ensure that for those who are engaged in prostitution there is a way out that is what the government is committed to do we will continue to reflect on the evidence that we have sought to amass we will continue to do everything that we can to reduce harm I am just finishing and to ensure that for those who seek a way out we are there to support their exit Thank you, Presiding Officer Thank you that concludes the debate and I close this meeting