A FORMER sex worker has claimed a bill that could see men jailed for buying sex will not make women less safe.
Alba Party MSP Ash Regan has introduced a member’s bill at Holyrood which, if passed, would criminalise those buying sex, while decriminalising those selling it.
The bill has attracted opposition from groups representing sex workers, who say the law will put them in more danger by pushing the industry underground, increasing stigma and exposing people to more violence and poverty.
But Fiona Broadfoot, who was forced into prostitution at the age of 15, spoke out in favour of the bill.
Some sex workers have been arguing the law would make it harder to “screen” potential clients. This can involve asking to see photo ID before meeting a client, asking for a link to their social media or even requesting references from other sex workers.
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If buying sex is criminalised, some have expressed fears that so-called "good clients" would disappear.
But Broadfoot said she didn’t understand how the bill would make the practice of prostitution more dangerous, as she insisted it is already “the most dangerous life you could lead”.
“They don’t have on their heads tattooed that they’re going to rape you,” she said.
“These are ordinary men that live amongst us and prostitution is the most dangerous life to live. Every single man you meet could murder and rape you.
“Laws don’t make that more dangerous. Men make that dangerous.
“Men’s entitlement to do what they want to another human being for sexual gratification.
“I don’t understand how it can be more dangerous. You meet a man, you meet him on a street corner, he comes in a brothel, why is a law saying to men that that isn’t acceptable going to make it any more dangerous?
“It’s the most dangerous life you could ever lead. Women are killed, women are raped, women go missing in the sex trade relentlessly and it is because of men, nothing to do with laws.”
However, when Broadfoot’s arguments were put to National Ugly Mugs, a charity working with sex workers, campaigners maintained Regan's (below) bill would only increase harm and push sex work further underground.
“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.
“It’s therefore no surprise that opinion polling shows Scots overwhelmingly oppose Ash Regan’s plans for the Nordic Model, alongside international organisations such as Amnesty, UN Aids and the World Health Organisation.”
The proposals in Regan's bill follow the "Nordic Model" approach, which seeks to decriminalise selling sex but criminalise those who purchase it. The approach has now been adopted in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Canada, France, Ireland, and most recently, Israel.
Under the proposals, those convicted of buying sex could be fined up to £10,000 if the case was prosecuted in the sheriff courts – with these courts also able to impose jail sentences of up to six months.
The bill would also quash historic convictions for prostitution and create a statutory right to support for leaving the trade.
Currently, acts associated with prostitution, such as “kerb crawling”, public solicitation, and brothel keeping, are outlawed in Scotland.
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However, the sale and purchase of sex is legal, as is running online pimping websites.
Broadfoot told reporters how she spent 11 years “entrenched” in the sex trade, initially being “trafficked” to London but also working in a brothel in Edinburgh.
“Every day I thought I would be murdered, every day I experienced rape, by ordinary men, ordinary men whose lives were not impacted for one second like the women and girls who were being used,” she said.
“I was criminalised, my perpetrators weren’t, none of the men who bought me, none of them who trafficked me about and profited from me.”
She added many of the men she dealt with had a “lot of sexual deviant behaviour and fetishes”, saying a “big request was for me to put on a schoolgirl uniform”.
Speaking about the men she encountered, she said: “None of them were dirty old men in rain coats, not one of them. They were teachers, they were doctors, they were lawyers, no doubt MPs, no doubt police officers.
“They knew they could do exactly what they wanted with no accountability, and we were the ones left feeling like pieces of meat the end of the day.”
Regan said she plans to try and get the bill passed before the end of this parliamentary session and before the 2026 election.
“I don’t want to live in a country where you can order women like a pizza, with no consequences for the people that do it,” she said.
