THE ACTRESS and comedian Elaine C Smith has called for a change in male attitudes towards prostitution as women are increasingly trafficked into Scotland for sex.

Smith, a trustee of the anti-domestic violence charity Zero Tolerance, believes schemes should be set up to educate men against sexual exploitation.

The star also attacked the GMB union, accusing it of "legitimising" the lap-dancing industry after it set up a branch for table dancers to lobby clubs for better pay and conditions.

Smith's comments came at the launch last week of A Rose, By Any Other Name, a collection of poetry and short stories by women who had been driven into homelessness and prostitution.

More than 600 copies of the book, the first of its kind in Scotland, have been published through Glasgow's Routes Into Learning adult literacy project. Many of the women could barely write before attending the classes, yet have penned fascinating and moving tales of their harrowing experiences for the free book which will be distributed around the country.

Smith said: "The level of domestic violence, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, prostitution and sex trafficking going on within our country is still at levels that are completely unacceptable.

"I am still very concerned that women are perpetuated as the victim and very rarely, as far as I am concerned, is the behaviour of men within that situation actually challenged."

She also attacked union activity in the sex industry, adding: "We can talk about prostitution and sex trafficking and we now unfortunately have women coming out and saying, Oh no, I'm a lap-dancer through choice.' We actually have some of the trade unions now trying to organise women in lap-dancing, which I find a bit crazy.

"I am not saying the union is not supportive of Zero Tolerance or Women's Aid, but they are in a way legitimising lap-dancing and prostitution."

Smith won backing from the leading American feminist Janice Raymond, an executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, which works closely with the United Nations to tackle the problem.

She said the GMB should follow the example of Norway's trade unions, which stopped supporting lap-dancers because of their profession's links with sexual exploitation.

Raymond, who collected the Zero Tolerance woman of the year award at a ceremony in Glasgow last night, wants young men targeted in schools in an attempt to shape male attitudes towards prostitution, pornography and sexual exploitation from an early age.

She said: "Many young men are more aware of the kinds of issues, including prostitution, exploitation and poverty, and we really need them to engage with our work. Men are part of the problem, not prostitution on its own."

Catherine Watt, Routes into Learning development officer, said she hoped that men would read A Rose, By Any Other Name to learn more about the issues faced by vulnerable women, "particularly those which drive them into prostitution".

Anne-Marie, 47, who wrote five short stories and poems about her 20 years of domestic abuse, cried when she saw her work in print.

She said: "I didn't realise that was me. It's the silence that is the most shocking thing about abuse and hopefully this book will help the general public find out more about the lives being wasted."

Harry Donaldson, the GMB's Scottish regional secretary, said: "A lot of these women are being exploited and our job is not about challenging the moral issue.

"We are quite happy to speak to Elaine and see if we can work jointly to help the lap-dancing industry move away from her concerns that it is a back door to prostitution."