24 February 2003

French Prostitution

In a recent French newspaper, LA PARISIAN, there was news that the French government has passed a new law that will make it illegal to be a prostitute.  A month ago prostitutes could stand out on the road or park in a vehicle to solicit clients.  This month they will face a 3,750 Euro ($4,012.50) fine and up to six months in prison if they are caught charging for sex.

Every time I drive to Chantilly or Campeigne or on the main road to Paris I see women sitting in the driver’s seat in white step vans along the highway.  They are wearing little t-tops, even when it is freezing cold. 

Sometimes there are young women standing out on the highway in really short skirts.  Jay thought they were high school students waiting for the bus.  I told him they were waiting on something but I was pretty sure it wasn’t the bus.

The women are all waiting on the same thing…men who will pay for sex.  A few times I have actually seen four or five cars lined up waiting for a customer to leave so they could be the next one in the step van.  All of this is in broad daylight and out in the open.

Prostitution has been a part of French culture for a very long time.  When I started seeing the movement to make it illegal I was confused. 

Please don’t misunderstand me.  I was raised in a white middle class Baptist family and my only experience with these issues comes from my work with battered women in prison, and some translating on health and safety for prostitutes that I did for the French group SOS FEMMES Web site (www.sosfemmes.com).

I am not for prostitution, or necessarily against it.  I do recognize that for some people this is the only way they can figure out how to earn money, particularly if they are from the Balkan region of Europe and barely speak French.  I also know that sometimes young people can get caught in some ugly traps in life.

Of course, I have to admit that when I meet women who are prostitutes, or I read about the issues they face in their work, I feel sad.  When I was doing the translations for SOS FEMMES with my French-speaking friend Natalie we spent quite a few afternoons feeling sick at our stomachs at the things prostitutes face.  We also cracked jokes and laughed a lot just to push the painful parts away.

Even with my limited knowledge about prostitution I am feeling really confused by the turn around of the French government.  First the French embrace prostitution by making it legal and charging taxes on the fees charged by prostitutes.  Now they have decided to make selling sex illegal, which puts prostitutes in an even worse position to be exploited, plus flooding the criminal justice system with victimless cases.

I keep wondering if the people creating the laws have looked around at countries like the U.S. where prostitution is illegal.  The oldest profession in the world exists in every size town, including Zanesville. 

Originally the French had intended to arrest the customers of the prostitutes, but they felt that wouldn’t work (probably because some of the customers are some of the folks making the laws).  Arresting customers didn’t work in the U.S. either.

One 60 year old woman interviewed in LA PARISIEN said, “I am absolutely against it.  It is a restriction of individual liberty.  I do not cast stones against those who are with sin.  It is not always their choice and what will they become?  If you arrest the prostitute it doesn’t go away.  If you remove the prostitute it only marginalizes them more.  Things will get worse.”

I have no idea what the solution is except that if there are no customers, then there is no prostitution.  It will be interesting to see if the French will actually enforce the law, or, as they normally do with other problems, ignore the rules.  The next time I drive to Chantilly I guess I will know the answer.