Some MPs wish to end escort advertising on the web.
2025-03-12
elrond
The proposal to ban online prostitution advertising, as suggested during the Crime and Policing Bill's second reading, is fundamentally flawed. While MPs like Rebecca Paul decry these sites as "the Etsy of sexual exploitation," banning them is impractical. These websites, if banned domestically, would simply relocate to international servers, rendering any national ban ineffective. .....
Grooming gang sentencing for human trafficking and rape delayed
2025-02-19
elrond
The sentencing of a Romanian grooming gang convicted of trafficking and raping ten vulnerable women in Dundee has been delayed until May 13th. Marian Cumpanasoiu, Remus Stan, Catalan Dobre, Cristian Urlateanu, and Alexandra Bugonea were found guilty last month. Judge Lord Scott postponed sentencing to allow for full risk assessments on Cumpanasoiu and Urlateanu, potentially leading to Orders for .....
Two men stand trial in Glasgow sex trafficking case
2025-02-19
elrond
George Coman, 34, and Marusia Mocanu, 32, will stand trial in Scotland for alleged human trafficking. They are accused of controlling a Romanian woman, bringing her to Glasgow Airport in early 2024, and forcing her into prostitution. The charges include harboring her in a Govan flat, compelling her to engage in sex work, and transporting her to other locations for the same purpose. The indictment .....
Religious charity says sex workers are “possessed by demons"
2024-10-30
elrond
The Scottish Government’s recent push to partner with Azalea, a controversial English charity, as a key advisor on sex work policy has rightly sparked widespread criticism. This decision, pressuring councils to collaborate with a group whose leadership believes in demon possession and exorcisms for sex workers, demonstrates a shocking disconnect from reality and a dangerous disregard for se .....
Scots oppose Scottish Government.
2024-06-05
elrond
Ministers are being urged to abandon their "extremist" proposals to overhaul prostitution laws after a new poll revealed that the majority of Scots oppose the SNP Government’s stance on decriminalising the selling of sex.
The Government's plan, which would criminalise the buying of sex, follows the Nordic model. This model is already implemented in countries like Sweden, .....
Scottish Government delayed prostitution law change to avoid row with Greens,
2024-03-11
elrond
In the ongoing discourse surrounding sex work legislation, the Green Party stands out for its commitment to progressive policies aimed at safeguarding the rights and well-being of sex workers. Maggie Chapman, the Scottish Greens spokesperson for justice, equality, and human rights, has been a vocal advocate for this cause, shedding light on the dangers inherent in approaches like that advocated b .....
Violence against sex workers ‘a daily reality’, 20 years after Emma Caldwell murder
2024-03-04
elrond
Of the 585 reports of violence received by the charity (National Ugly Mugs) in 2023, only 11% felt safe enough with support to make a full report to police and only 45% consented to provide anonymous intelligence.
“We all know that predators target sex workers because they can do so with impunity,” says Bowen. “Sex workers are rarely believed.”
She adds: &l .....
Emma Caldwell let down by policing, force admits after killer finally convicted
2024-03-01
elrond
Police Scotland apologized for failures in handling the case of murdered sex worker Emma Caldwell and other victims of her killer, Iain Packer, in 2005. Packer, aged 51, was found guilty of Caldwell's murder and 11 charges of rape against nine women, among other offenses. The police acknowledged shortcomings in their investigation. Caldwell, 27, disappeared in Glasgow in April 2005, and her b .....
Caldwell murder accused told police he lied about knowing her
2024-02-04
elrond
Accused of murdering a sex worker, Iain Packer confessed to police that he had taken her to the area where she was found dead multiple times. Packer, 50, provided a witness statement at Cathcart Police Station in 2007, after previously doing so in 2006. Detective David Barr, now retired, testified at the High Court in Glasgow, where Packer faces 46 charges related to the murder of Emma Caldwell i .....
Emma Caldwell murder accused 'attacked' her
2024-01-25
elrond
In a harrowing testimony, a woman has recalled a traumatic ordeal, alleging she was attacked in a van by the suspect linked to the Emma Caldwell murder case, describing the experience as a desperate flight for survival.
Appearing before the High Court in Glasgow, the woman, now in her 40s and a former sex worker, detailed an incident dating back to the early 2000s. She claimed to have been p .....