GLASGOW city leaders want Scotland to introduce some of the world's strictest prostitution laws.

GLASGOW city leaders want Scotland to introduce some of the world's strictest prostitution laws.

Council chiefs today launched a campaign urging the Scottish Government to turn the spotlight on punters by introducing legislation banning the "purchase of sex".

Street prostitution is already illegal and new laws introduced last year targeted men by making kerb crawling and loitering for prostitution a crime.

But Glasgow City Council says brothels are still not adequately covered by legislation as it's not illegal to visit a prostitute and pay for sex.

Deputy council leader Jim Coleman says the solution is to bring in an across-the-board ban on paying for sex.

A similar system has been in place in Sweden since 1999 and is said to have led to huge falls in prostitution. This approach has also now been adopted by neighbouring Norway.

A delegation of Swedish law enforcement officials was in Glasgow yesterday to explain how similar legislation might work here.

They met with Mr Coleman and officials and volunteers who work in support services for prostitution, trafficking and addiction.

Mr Coleman says the council will now try to pull in support from as many different bodies as possible and lobby the Scottish Government.

He said: "A new law would send a clear message to men that it is wrong to buy sex.

"It would also directly target brothels."

Mr Coleman said the laws which came into force last October and outlawed kerb crawlers, was a step in the right direction.

He said: "For the first time we have a law that targets the men who fuel the demand for prostitution.

"There can be no question that prostitution is exploitative and abusive of the women involved."

The Swedish move was based on the premise that prostitution should be regarded as an aspect of male violence against women.

Jonas Trolle, a detective inspector in Stockholm, one of the delegation in Glasgow, said: "There has been a big acceptance of the legislation ... as a society we do not accept the use of prostitutes.

"That's what legislation is for. It's not to get convictions, it is for people to understand what is acceptable."

Gunilla Ekberg, a former Swedish government advisor on prostitution, added: "The work already under way in Glasgow is very impressive.

"There is a lot of cohesion between the key agencies this is absolutely essential if you want to take this further."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Scottish law is quite clear that it is a criminal offence to exploit the prostitution of others.

"It is a criminal offence to own, manage or assist in the management of a brothel. Likewise, it is a criminal offence to live off the earnings of the prostitution of another.

"We are also closely monitoring the outcome of the UK Government's review of this area."