SCOTLAND should criminalise paying for sex and adopt other ideas from Northern Ireland's human trafficking laws, according to the architect of that country's legislation on the issue.
Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley will meet MSPs and other elected officials today at the invitation of social policy charity Care for Scotland (Christian Action Research and Education).
From later this year, buying sex will become a criminal offence in Northern Ireland after the DUP Peer's anti-trafficking Bill was passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly in December.
Lord Morrow will urge MSPs to consider introducing a similar ban in Scotland as well as highlighting other key features of the Northern Ireland trafficking legislation currently absent from the Scottish Government's new anti-trafficking Bill.
The Faculty of Advocates have already warned the failure to include a statutory defence - included in the Northern Ireland Bill - could mean victims are not adequately protected from prosecution.
Meanwhile anti-trafficking coalition Abolition Scotland has also urged MSPs to criminalise the purchase of sexual services in Scotland.
Care for Scotland Parliamentary Officer Dr Gordon Macdonald said Lord Morrow had a wealth of experience.
"The Northern Ireland Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act is a template for Scotland to follow, not least because it criminalises the purchase of sex," he said.
"Care for Scotland have long maintained the only truly effective way to empower victims and address modern day slavery is by tackling the principal driver of trafficking - the demand for paid sex.
"The Scottish Government's new Bill is a step in the right direction but we can learn from the holistic approach taken in Northern Ireland and there is significant scope to strengthen the Bill."
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