French lawmakers on Wednesday passed a controversial law that makes it illegal to pay for sex and imposes fines of up to 3,750 euros (US$4,270) on prostitutes’ clients.
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France’s lower house of parliament holds a final vote on a bill against prostitution and sex trafficking that would punish the customer with a fine and classes.
The newly-passed bill cancels out a previous law that allocated punitive measures on sex workers rather than clients.
On Tuesday, 13 associations that support prostitutes joined forces to condemn the law which they said threatened the livelihoods of sex workers and was “essentially repressive”.
The convicted client will be obliged to attend classes highlighting the dangers associated with prostitution.
Supporters of the bill argue that it will help fight trafficking networks.
While many are up in arms over the new legislation, members of the French government have spoken in favor of it, lauding the regulations embedded within the new law as a way to combat human trafficking.
Some prostitution supporter groups said the new legislation would provide sex workers with greater powers, and help to encourage the reporting of crimes against them.
“Prostitutes will no longer be seen as criminals”, Ms Quidet said.
There are an estimated 40,000 sex workers in France, some 80 to 90 percent of whom are believed to be foreign, with many being victims of trafficking.
The French parliament started debating the bill in 2013, but the final vote was delayed after several hearings owing to sharp divisions between the lower parliamentary chamber and the senate.
They say it will push prostitution further underground and make them more vulnerable.
The new legislation, inspired by a similar 1999 law in Sweden, means France now has one of the toughest laws against sex buyers in Europe, along with Norway and Iceland.
About 60 demonstrators, including sex workers, protested the new law outside the parliament, some carrying a sign that read, “Don’t liberate me, I’ll take care of myself!”
The move makes France one of only a handful of European countries to follow the nordic model of criminalising consumers rather than sex workers.
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Other countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, where brothels are legal, are closely watching the changes in France.
