These are external links and will open in a new window. A new campaign is calling for buying sex to be made illegal in an attempt to stamp out prostitution in Scotland.
The End Prostitution Now campaign claims the move would decriminalise victims of sexual exploitation and protect vulnerable prostitutes. Northern Ireland recently became the first part of the UK to make buying sexual services a criminal offence. The End Prostitution Now campaign is hoping to put pressure on the Scottish government make the same legislative change. Opponents of the move said it would drive prostitution underground and make it harder for sex workers to operate safely.
However, activities such as public solicitation, running a brothel and kerb-crawling are criminal offences. Liz Curran, from the Women's Support Project, told BBC Scotland there had been "a shift across Europe" and many countries were moving to criminalising the demand for sex.
She said: "The crux of this campaign is about challenging the demand for prostitution which is inherently harmful to women. We have to tackle the root cause and from our campaign's point of view that is gender inequality and men's demand.
A small minority of women may make it a choice but the law does not represent the interest of minorities. Scotpep is the sex workers' rights organisation which works with prostitutes on the streets and in saunas. Molly not her real name from Scotpep told BBC Scotland the law criminalising buying sex had not worked in Sweden and Norway and there was no proof that there had been no reduction in the number of sex workers.
