Standing Together: Sex workers push back on Regan’s Bill

Late last year, a collection of sex workers, allies and members of Scotland for Decrim congregated outside the Scottish Parliament building. The chant “these are our streets” floated through the icy ancient city, and a somber sadness was uplifted by collective comradery and hope. Tight smiles between the crowd indicated the razor edge the community is currently teetering on; friendly but fearful.

The protest, held on 18 November, was opposing MSP Ash Regan’s proposed Prostitution Bill or, as Regan refers to it, the ‘Unbuyable Bill’ which was introduced in May 2025. Also known as the Nordic Model, this Bill aims to criminalise sex work clients, meaning that paying for sexual acts would be a crime.

The Nordic Model aims to diminish the industry and allegedly ‘save’ sex workers from oppression, with the ultimate goal of eradicating commercial sex. Currently, Scotland has a partly decriminalised industry, which Scotland for Decrim – a grassroots campaign fighting for the full decriminalisation of sex work in Scotland – say is already fraught with unnecessary dangers for workers, especially due to laws preventing sex workers working in unison. Scotland for Decrim’s opposition to the Bill cites safety concerns, a fear the industry will be forced underground, and clear demands to the government asking for total decriminalisation in Scotland. 

The creator of the Bill, Ash Regan, is currently an Independent MSP for the Edinburgh Eastern, however up until October 2025, was part of the Alba Party, which she left to focus on the Unbuyable Bill. Since going independent, Regan continues to double down amid criticism of the Bill, referring to buyers of sex as “exploiters” in a Criminal Justice Committee meeting on November 26, 2025. 

Although the Bill is rooted in alleged safety concerns for women, Laura Baillie, Scotland for Decrim Publicity Officer, says the cure for helping those in the industry, who are participating out of need rather than want, is not the Nordic Model. “Obviously if anybody doesn't want to sell sex, we don't want them to do so, but the only way to get people out of sex work who don't want to do it is to make sure that we have really strong anti-poverty measures,” Baillie says. For instance, a universal basic income, access to good and stable housing, flexible and free childcare, and adequate mental health support, could reduce people joining the industry out of need instead of want, Baillie explains. “The fundamental reasons why people enter sex work, such as poverty or disability, are not changed by the Nordic Model.”

Indeed, Porcelain Victoria, a Scotland-based dominatrix and full service sex worker, says the Bill would present difficulties for her career. “It would make every part of the job more dangerous than it already is, and the moment you criminalise clients, you push the entire industry underground,” Victoria says. “It means less time for screening and that some clients won't even want to be screened... It creates more pressure to take risks just to survive.”

Photo: Mina Karenina

Like others, Victoria says she would also be less likely to report an assault to the police if the Bill passes. “If I was assaulted by a client, I wouldn't tell the police because then they could just follow me around and arrest all my clients, and then I wouldn't make any money,” she says. It is critical that sex workers feel they can report assault to police and be taken seriously, not face stigma, ridicule, or be in danger of arrest themselves; an industry that is forced to become self-regulated is one of danger. 

For Amelia Lavery, a Scotland-based dominatrix, the Bill brings concerns about potential ramifications on much-needed support services. “I'm really worried about the services that are going to be available to sex workers because if they're not anti-sex work or trying to push me out of sex work, are they going to lose funding from the government?” As well as physical health services and emotional support and safety tools, platforms such as National Ugly Mugs’ (NUM) signature ‘ugly mug’ list –  an ever-evolving list that workers can contribute to and reference, collating bad clients – are crucial. 

“We've seen it happen in Ireland, in Northern Ireland,” Lavery continues. Lavery here refers to Northern Ireland’s criminalisation of the buying of sex in 2015, which was followed by a 225% increase in sexual assaults in 2016-2018, as reported by Uglymugs.  “Sex workers are losing the resources that they desperately, desperately need.” 

Unfortunately, Baillie says that efforts to work with Regan have not been successful. “She considers us to all be pimps or exploited women in need of saving, and neither of those have any sort of agency in the matter,” says Baillie.

Lavery echoes Baillie’s sentiment, noting that politicians need to actively involve sex workers in policymaking. “I want a politician to go into Parliament and speak on behalf of sex workers because they've already spoken to us, and have drafted a bill while sitting with a sex worker,” she says. Scotland for Decrim has found positive support from a handful of MSPs, but is actively seeking more support and collaboration. 

As for the future of Regan’s Bill, the Criminal Justice Committee will write and publish a report, and then release the parliamentary agenda for when debating of the Bill begins. The sex work community will keep fighting for full decriminalisation and opposing the Bill, turning looming fear into fierce group action.

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For more information go to scotlandfordecrim.org