THE Scottish Government is to invest an extra £90,000 to support sex workers after the pandemic “exacerbated” the harms they face.

The new funding comes as part of a package totalling £170,000 spent over the course of the Covid crisis, and will help pay for vital services run by Victim Support Scotland, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre and the Encompass Network.

It was announced as the findings of Scotland’s first ever consultation on prostitution were published after 4000 people responded.

The Equally Safe consultation found the pandemic had exacerbated the harms experienced by women involved in prostitution and underlined the importance of a wide range of support to address their multiple, underlying needs.

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Ash Denham, SNP Minister for Community Safety, said: “As this consultation shows, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a profoundly negative impact on women involved in prostitution. There was clear evidence that in many situations women were already experiencing poverty or additional challenges, such as immigration status.

“The pandemic put women into further precarious positions with some reporting that they had no choice but to continue to sell sex. The stigma and the hidden nature of prostitution has created a further barrier to getting help through mainstream services.”

Denham added that the additional funding was for specialist services designed specifically for female sex workers. 

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She continued: “The Scottish Government will build on the findings of the consultation and develop a model for Scotland to challenge men’s demand for prostitution, learning from other jurisdictions and international approaches.

“We will also bring forward a programme of work to engage with those with lived experience to help shape and strengthen services.”

The cash will go to three projects who support sex workers. None of these services are conditional on exiting prostitution.

Victim Support Scotland’s Victim’s Fund will get £30,000 to ensure availability for crisis funding for female sex workers in 2021-22. 

Encompass Network will be given £3000 to allow them to continue a crisis counselling pilot which offers women access to free counselling for up to ten sessions. 

And, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre will be given £57,172 to deliver legal advice surgeries and upskill their team so they can deliver tailored information to women involved in sex work. 

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Katy Mathieson, co-ordinator at the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre, said: “Women who sell or exchange sex often face immeasurable barriers, stigma and discrimination when it comes to seeking justice after an experience of abuse or violence.

“With this funding we will develop a pilot project which will enable us to identify the specific legal and advocacy needs of women involved in selling or exchanging sex and support them to exercise their rights.”

Kate Wallace, Chief Executive Officer of Victim Support Scotland, said:“Victim Support Scotland has built strong relationships with partner organisations to ensure financial support reaches all those who need it, including those supporting women who sell or exchange sex.

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“With today’s announcement, we are looking forward to building on these partnerships to ensure women who sell or exchange sex can continue to access this vital support.”

Heather Williams, National Coordinator of the Women’s Support Project, said: “Women involved in the selling or exchanging sex or images have told us for some time that the lack of access to appropriate mental health support has been a problem.

“As such the Encompass Network welcomes the funding for the pilot project which will help identify the specific needs of women and will provide evidence of what is needed to fill the gaps within current provision.”

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The Equally Safe consultation was launched last year, and focused on challenging men's demand for prostitution, working to reduce the harm it causes and helping women to leave prostitution.

Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls adopts the position that commercial sexual exploitation, which includes prostitution, is a form of gendered violence, but also recognises that all women engaged in prostitution deserve the support of services without fear of judgement and discrimination.