Ash Regan's bid to outlaw the buying of sex in Scotland has been defeated following a highly-charged debate and vote in Holyrood.
MSPs voted tonight not to allow the legislation to pass to its next parliamentary stage meaning it has been effectively killed off.
A total of 54 MSPs backed the bill with 64 voting against.
Eleven MSPs, including Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie, and Labour MSPs Pam Duncan-Glancy, Paul Sweeney and Mercedes Villalba did not vote.
The Scottish Government said on Monday it would not support the bill reducing its chances of passing. Six SNP MSPs rebelled to back Ms Regan's bill.
The SNP rebels were Michelle Thomson, Ruth Maguire, Elena Whitham, Stephanie Callaghan, Annabelle Ewing and Kenneth Gibson.
Labour and the Conservatives backed the legislation while the Scottish Greens and Scottish Lib Dems joined most of the SNP group in opposing the bill.
Ms Regan introduced the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill last year, proposing to introduce what is known as the Nordic Model, making it illegal for a person to buy sex in all circumstances, while also repealing solicitation offences for those selling sex.
Under her proposals anyone convicted of the new offence could face a prison sentence of up to 12 months or a fine.
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In her opening statement this afternoon, Ms Regan, a former SNP and Alba MSP, who now sits as an independent, raised the scandal around the late US paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein which has been dominating headlines across the world.
"The world is watching," she told the chamber.
"As the Epstein scandal finally unravels, it exposes something survivors and whistleblowers have been telling us for decades, that sexual exploitation does not persist because no one knows about it.
"It persists because those with power choose not to act. So we must ask ourselves, honestly, today, what can Scotland truly say that we have done? Have we listened to survivors, many of whom are in the gallery with us today? And across this chamber, I'm sad to say that shamefully, very few have listened to those survivors."
She added: "Too often, survivor voices have been drowned out by those with loud platforms, enviable access to power and the presumption to speak over those who have the lived reality. And politicians may write bold strategies on prostitution, yet they repeatedly fail to confront the root cause of sexual exploitation, which, of course, is the demand to buy sex. In the gallery today, and watching from home, are survivors who have tried time and time again to be heard.
"They have submitted evidence. They have spoken to committees. They have attended parliamentary events, reliving that trauma, not for themselves, but to protect the next wee girls from what happened to them."
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Minister for victims and community safety Siobhian Brown told the chamber that the government "regrettably" could not support the bill and that while it shared Ms Regan's view that prostitution is a form of violence against women there were "significant issues" with the bill which there was insufficient time to rectify.
She made three pledges, one to instruct officials to immediately begin work on a commission for the first day of the next parliament; second if the government is returned the commission will be time limited so legislation can be brought forward as soon as possible and third to offer an additional £400,000 to support work challenging prostitution.
In her closing speech Ms Brown said the government could not ignore the views of women involved in prostitution who were "terrified" of the proposals, noting an open letter to MSPs by 120 sex workers, as revealed by The Herald last month.
But the debate also saw some SNP MSPs speak in favour of Ms Regan's bill.
The SNP MSP Michelle Thomson said the committee report provided no "credible" evidence the bill will cause harm to women and took opinions that it would only from "narrow, self-interested" parties.
She said the committee's report and the government's response showed "clear evidence of bias" and that it would have been more honest and democratic to allow a free vote.
Fellow SNP MSP Ruth Maguire agreed. She said the bill would pass or fall based on her party colleagues.
She added that the principles of the bill are SNP policy, reminding them "it's the public, not the government or whips who elect you to this place".
During the debate former Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he suspected he "could not get his head round" why the Scottish Government was not supporting the bill.
He said he suspected the government was not backing the bill because it "held a grudge" against Ms Regan because she rebelled in 2022 while a SNP MSP over the gender recognition reform (GRR) bill stepping down as a minister to do so.
The GRR bill made it easier for trans people to change their legal gender. It was passed by Holyrood but then blocked by the former Conservative government.
In her concluding speech, Ms Regan said parliament had to decide if it "stands with the exploited or the exploiter".
She said the parties should have allowed a conscience vote, and challenged the SNP to "have the courage" to back her.
Rejecting arguments by opponents that women involved in prostitution would be more vulnerable to violence under her proposals, she said "the only thing that is going to be harmed by my bill is the sex trade".
Challenging MSPs to back her bill, she concluded: "Now it's over to you. Those who vote against this bill today, this will go on to be a stain on your voting record."
