French lawmakers debate crackdown on prostitution
Source: France 24
Frances Senate opened a new debate Monday on the best approach to legislating on prostitution, posing the question of who should bear the brunt of the law - prostitutes or their clients.
French senators will on Monday debate whether the law should punish prostitutes or their clients, as France resumes a divisive discussion on how to crackdown on the world's oldest profession.
The draft legislation passed by the lower house, the National Assembly, two years ago made clients of prostitutes liable for a fine of 1,500 euros ($1,620) for a first offence and more than double that for subsequent breaches.
Both versions of the legislation have drawn fierce opposition from sex workers who say it would simply push prostitution further underground and make the women who earn their living from it more vulnerable to abuse.
Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20150330-french-lawmakers-debate-crackdown-prostitution/
This proposed legislation has the 'ladies of the night' (or any time of the day here in Paris) really up in arms.They've taken to the streets and are protesting
in all of the 'sex trade' neighborhoods of the city.
Prostitution as such is not illegal in France, but soliciting, pimping (which includes running brothels) and the sale of sex by minors are prohibited.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)France is the only country in the world where you can complain to your wife that your mistress doesn't understand you.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)things sexual.
The problem is, open sollicitation on the streets has become so rife that it interferes with normal pedestrians and businesses.
In some 'hot' areas, you can barely push your way through the ladies walking the pavement. It's like the metro at rush hour.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)That's the rub!
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)apparently they are attempting to make all of it illegal, not just pimps and child abusers.
Open the whorehouses and tax them like any other retail establishment.
They seem to be, however, catching the Dutch disease-- fear and trembling at the pointy fingers of the new European morals police decrying sexual freedom. (Other freedoms are in danger, too.)
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)flagrant street walking in certain districts.
I swear, you can't even pass on the sidewalk. And, it makes walking there very unpleasant for other females who aren't plying a trade.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Just like pay-day lenders.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)I suppose it's misguided feminists teaming up with the far-right to pass a Nordic-model-like law, as they are trying to do in Canada.
http://theconversation.com/the-nordic-model-of-prostitution-law-is-a-myth-21351
Do what you need to do to stop pimps, trafficking, rape, and child exploitation. You have my full support on that. But honestly, I don't give a royal fuck what CONSENTING ADULTS are doing in their bedrooms. And furthermore, anti-prostitution laws like this also only attack the poor. If a politician or wealthy businessman is buying sex, you know damn well they won't be caught or prosecuted.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)flagrant street sollicitation in some Paris neighbohoods has got completely out of hand.
You can hardly push your way through them on the sidewalk, which make it very uncomfortable for other people (especially women) to continue on their way.