Focus on France Ian Sparks reports from Paris

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON... France

Ian Sparks reports from Paris on opposing views on the future of the sex industry.

Anationwide debate has erupted in France over the future of the nation’s huge black market sex industry, which is thought to ‘employ’ more than 20,000 people.

Politicians on one side of the argument are pushing for a change in the law to legalise brothels and generate much needed revenue by making prostitutes pay tax and become a ‘legitimate part of the French economy’.

At the same time, another group of hardline MPs are calling for a tough new law aimed at abolishing prostitution and jailing men who pay for sex.

The row began earlier this year when rightwing MP Chantal Brunel tabled a motion in parliament to legalise brothels and make it legal for women to sell sex on licensed premises. She said the move would ‘generate millions in taxes’ for the government and protect girls from exploitation.

She told the French media: “Women selling sex should be allowed to do so legally on special licensed premises. This would free thousands of women from the abuse they suffer at the hands of pimps and criminal gangs and offer them much more security they currently have on the streets.”

Ms Brunel is currently pushing for a formal debate on the issue in her bid to get her proposals enshrined in law.

Meanwhile a rival group of MPs is demanding a crackdown on the sex industry with legislation which aims to impose steep fines and prison sentences on men who use prostitutes. A draft law drawn up by the antivice campaigners states that France should seek ‘a society without prostitution’ and that sex work ‘should not be designated as a professional activity’.

A non-binding resolution on their plans was approved by lawmakers in December, paving the way for MPs to hold a formal vote on the new rules next year.

Under current French laws, it is legal to ‘seek or offer money for sexual services’ as long as it is done without advertising. Only soliciting and pimping – living off the earnings of a prostitute – are criminal offences.

In Britain, prostitution and paying for sex are legal if the girl is over 18 and not acting under duress. But related activities including public soliciting, kerb crawling, keeping a brothel and pimping are all outlawed.In Europe, only Sweden and Norway have made it illegal to pay for sex.

French socialist MP Roselyne Bachelot, who has led the drive for tougher laws, described men who hired prostitutes as ‘promoting a slave trade in human beings’. She said: “France should follow the example of Sweden, where it is the clients of prostitutes, and not the women, who are punished. Prostitutes rarely do their job voluntarily. Most belong to networks from eastern Europe and Africa that are operated by pimps. It is they who are the victims and they need the protection of the law.”

She said it was no longer acceptable to tolerate prostitution simply because it is described as ‘the oldest profession in the world’.

And socialist MP PS Danielle Bousquet added: “This new law would be the most effective way of reducing the number of prostitutes in France.”

But sex workers’ union Strass said the law ‘denies the freedom of certain women under the guise of equality’. Spokesman Cloe Navarro added: “Penalising clients will not end prostitution, but it will contribute to isolating girls even more and pushing them into the hands of pimps.

“A more realistic solution would be to legalise brothels, which would protect girls and create income from taxes. There are at least 20,000 sex workers in France, making us a very significant part of the French economy.”

A recent survey found six out of ten French men AND women wanted brothels to be legalised. France had 1400 legal brothels before they were all shut down under a new law banning prostitution in 1946. Brothels are still legal in Germany, Holland and Switzerland, and tolerated in Spain.

Produce in France

Meanwhile, French president Nicolas Sarkozy – who has not aired his views in the debate on prostitution – has pledged his backing to France’s more ‘traditional’ industries in a bid to woo voters ahead of next year’s leadership election.

Mr Sarkozy made an impassioned plea to businesses to resist the temptation to shift their workers overseas, even if it is cheaper to produce elsewhere than in France.

He launched his defence of French industry during a visit to ski manufacturer Rossignol, which he hailed as an example of economic patriotism after the firm brought back some of its production to France from Taiwan.

Mr Sarkozy said: “Our policy is to encourage companies, whether they are French or foreign, to produce in France. The strategic question, the essential question, is about keeping France a country where things are produced.”

Both of Mr Sarkozy’s two main presidential rivals have also launched bids to promote the production of home-made French goods in France.

Part of the president’s teasers to lure business back to France are an easing of the hefty social welfare contributions companies must pay and a further relaxing of rules on France’s 35-hour working week.

Mr Sarkozy’s socialist rival Francois Hollande meanwhile blamed the president for the loss of 400,000 jobs in the industrial sector during his five-year term and vowed to ‘turn the tide’ if he is elected as leader next May.

But Mr Hollande gave no details of how he aimed to achieve this, adding only: “During the next five years we are going to reindustrialise France, increasing our production capacity and making the country a better place to work for both bosses and their employees.” n