Services4SexWorkers
Sex Work

In France, the overall prostitution scenario is structured, as follows: Seventy-one percent (71%) of the sex workers are women, 10% are men, and 19% are transgender. Sex workers are mostly migrants (about 60%, even though this percentage is deemed to be underestimated because more and more migrants are working in hidden places that associations are finding much harder to reach) who come from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

Furthermore, according to our knowledge, 35% of the persons work indoors (mostly in apartments). This estimate is based on actual knowledge of the indoor phenomenon in France. We assume that even this percentage is greatly under-represented.

Sex workers continue to work mostly outdoors, on the city streets (44%), but more and more of them work in parks (11%) or outside the city (6%) in order to hide from constant controls and the widespread repression of sex workers, which renders them more and more vulnerable.

 

Legislation relating to sex work

 

There is no law in the body of French legislation that relates directly to sex work. The regulations on health care, migration, or employment target mostly migrants (with regard to health, migration, and employment), and at times concern only French nationals (with regard to health), but not especially sex workers.

 

Regulation of sex work

 

In France, sex work is neither prohibited nor regulated. There is no legislation that clearly targets “sex work” in and of itself.

 

The Law for Internal Security, or the Law Sarkozy II, was adopted in March 2003. It creates a new offence: passive solicitation (Article L225-10-1 of the Penal Code).

Passive solicitation concerns any person who “has the intention to propose a remunerated sexual service”, which is forbidden in any public place, such as streets, bars, public gardens, roads, park places, woods, etc…”

Passive solicitation can be punished by a penalty of 2 months imprisonment and a fine of €3750. The police have only the right to question the person and to hold her in custody for up to 72 hours. After this, the prosecutor decides whether or not to start legal proceeding.

 

This legislation is national in scope, but its application is regional and is dependent on the action of individual prefectures. In 2007, municipal ordinances were strengthened in several cities. In Lyon and Bordeaux, municipal ordinances were enacted against sex workers, which forbids them from working in their habitual workplace. Police controls were strengthened, as well, in Cities like Toulouse, Paris, Nantes, and more recently Marseille.

Since April 2011, despite the high mobilization of sex workers and allies, the French government has increased its promotion of a bill on the criminalisation of clients.

Organising indoor sex work is forbidden. Sex work is prohibited in hotels, saunas, bars, clubs and other areas open to the public.

According to recent practices by police forces, sex workers advertising on the internet are checked and the evidence may be used by the tax administration for an audit.

 

Procuring (Pimping) is forbidden.

The law defines procuring as: helping, assisting or protecting prostitution, sharing or receiving the money coming from prostitution (Article 225-5 of the Penal Code), acting like an intermediary or living with a sex worker without having any proper resources or not enough to live (Article 225-6 of the Penal Code).

 

Procuring is quite widespread throughout France, and it is important to be aware that procuring is a criminal offence and that it is forbidden by law. When a migrant sex worker is managed or controlled by an intermediary in exchange for money or she just finds herself in a situation where she is teaching the behavioural codes and practices to a newcomer to prostitution, she is deemed a pimp and may be accused of procuring, which is considered a threat to public order, which may result in the prohibition of residency or outright deportation.