Diderich on France prostitution debates
Joelle Diderich surveys the debate over prostitution policy in France and the various proposals put forth by politicians recently.
Centre-right parliamentarian Francoise de Panafieu started a political debate on prostitution when she suggested France follow in the footsteps of Germany and the Netherlands and reopen its famed brothels after more than 50 years. [...]
Hardline Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy outlined proposals to deport the scores of illegal immigrants, many in the grip of organised crime, who ply their trade on the busy boulevards that ring the French capital. [...]
Socialist leaders at Paris City Hall hope to eradicate prostitution completely with plans for heavy fines and prison sentences for clients similar to those introduced in Sweden.
In cities including Lyon, Orleans, Strasbourg and Metz, mayors have issued local decrees banning prostitution on the grounds that it blocks traffic and disturbs residents.
Diderich devotes much of the article to responses from prostitute support workers. "Gabrielle Partenza, a former prostitute who works with the Bus des Femmes (Women's Bus), a mobile centre which scours the streets of Paris dispensing free condoms and health advice . . . said the problem with all the proposals voiced so far is that they make no distinction between self-employed prostitutes and women from Albania or Sierra Leone, for example, who are effectively sex slaves controlled by criminal gangs."
