SCOT-PEP (Scottish Prostitutes Education Project)

Contact email

SCOT-PEP The Matrix, 62 Newhaven Road Edinburgh EH6 5QB Tel: 0131 622 7550

Who do you work with?

SCOT-PEP works with all sex workers in Scotland, including female and transgender sex workers. We have been involved in the campaign for sex workers' rights for over 20 years.

How are sex workers involved in your organisation?

Sex workers must form the majority of our board of Directors, our decision-making body, our Campaign Group which drives the advocacy and campaigning agenda for the organisation and our Company membership.

Which of NSWP priority areas does your organisation work on?
Oppose the criminalisation and other legal oppression of sex work and support its recognition as work
Critique the trafficking paradigm that conflates representations of sex work, migration, and mobility
Advocate for universal access to health services, including primary health care, HIV and sexual and reproductive health services
Speak out about violence against sex workers, including violence from police, institutions, clients, and intimate partners, while challenging the myth that sex work is inherently gender-based violence
Oppose human rights abuses, including coercive programming, mandatory testing, raids and forced rehabilitation
Challenge stigma and discrimination against sex workers, their families and partners, and others involved in sex work
Advocate for the economic empowerment and social inclusion of sex workers as sex workers
What are the two main challenges that the sex workers you work with face

Sex workers face challenges from the Scottish Government, in a climate that has seen increasing attempts to criminalise both the purchase and the sale of sex. Scottish government policy also defines sex work as violence against women and commercial sexual exploitation. There are also legal sanctions against activities associated with sex work which leave sex workers at increased risk of violence and abuse and facing stigma and discrimination.

Describe other areas of your work

Engaging with politicians at local and national level, challenging poor policy on sex work, and providing information on issues of significance for sex workers in Scotland. Campaigning for the full decriminalisation of sex work, sex workers, clients and other related to sex workers, within a human rights-based framework.

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