TRADE union membership will be made available to Scottish sex workers for the first time.
According to a report on the BBC Scotland website, a new adult entertainment branch has been created by the GMB union and hope to have some influence on future legislation in the area.
The union believes that harmful laws on brothel-keeping isolate Scotland's sex workers, leaving them vulnerable.
Membership is open to anyone in the industry, including those in the pornography industry, strippers, burlesque and go-go dancers and video cam workers.
The new branch will also invite members from the transgender and BME communities.
"For many years, GMB has supported the decriminalisation of prostitution to better protect workers. Sex work is work and it should be safe," said Rhea Wolfson, the GMB organiser in Glasgow and a prominent figure in the set-up of the branch.
"We are hoping it will become a fully established branch run like any other with elected post holders running autonomous campaigns.
"People are waking up to the reality that if sex workers are treated differently then that is discrimination."
Last year a group of Scottish sex workers took part in a march for workers' rights in Glasgow for the first time.
Campaigners from the charity Scot-Pep and from the grassroots organisation the Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (Swarm) were joined by thousands of others in the May Day march.
The protest was part of efforts to decriminalise sex work and to win better protection against deportation for migrant sex workers.
The year before, the Scottish Government voted to adopt the Nordic model under which criminalises those who pay for sex but not those who sell it.
Selling sex in Scotland is not criminalised in Scotland, however there are penalties for those who solicit sex on the street and on brothel-keeping.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel