Vice law fails safety test

IT'S the type of business no-one wants in their neighbourhood. Women living near the city's "red light district" were fed up with being harassed by kerb crawlers after dark. Many were frightened of waiting at bus stops, as these were used by prostitutes looking for trade. Parents even found their children playing with used condoms and needles in local parks.

So residents were delighted when strict new laws on prostitution were brought in last year. They welcomed the Scottish Government's drive to get sex workers off the streets and criminalise their clients.

Kerb crawlers could expect a 1000 fine, a criminal record and to lose their driving licence. Women caught "loitering and soliciting" also faced fines up to 1000.

But six months later, many doubt whether these laws have had the desired effect. The Newhaven-based prostitutes' support group ScotPEP has released new figures showing that the number of attacks on prostitutes – called "ugly mug" incidents by the street workers – has doubled since 2006. They claim the laws have made life more dangerous for women, by forcing them to work alone and take more risks.

ScotPEP reported 126 attacks last year in Edinburgh, including 55 assaults and eight rapes. Although these figures cover all of 2007, it says the situation has got worse since October.

Ruth Morgan Thomas, the group's project manager, said more women were arranging meetings in discreet places over the phone rather than picking up clients on the streets. That has meant losing most of the precious few safety guards they enjoyed when they worked semi-publicly on the streets, close to other street workers who tended to keep an eye on them.

Police crackdowns on kerb crawling mean those who continue to work the streets tend to jump straight into cars with clients, without assessing them first.

Ms Morgan Thomas said: "The Scottish Parliament decided to go for criminalising both the buyer and the seller.

"One of the results was that women were driven into more isolated areas.

"Another impact is some men will be put off purchasing sex. But men who have raped and murdered sex workers will not be deterred by the prospect of a criminal record. Prostitutes are left with a smaller group of clients, but are more likely to be assaulted."

She said about 90 per cent of street workers were on drugs, compared to only ten per cent of prostitutes who work indoors. ScotPEP works with around 400 women a year, helping them access health services and report attacks to police.