France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Yeah, that place out 'there'. Anything not really Cambodia related should go here.
Rutiger
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France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Post by Rutiger »

So in France it's still perfectly legal to sell sex, but it's now illegal to purchase it. Only one party in a two party agreement/transaction is criminalized. Seems a bit convoluted.
France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

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Protesting sex workers in Paris, France - 6 April 2016Image copyrightAP

It is estimated there are between 30,000 and 40,000 sex workers in France
French MPs have passed a law that makes it illegal to pay for sex and imposes fines of up to €3,750 (£3,027, $4,274) for those buying sexual acts.
Those convicted would also have to attend classes to learn about the conditions faced by prostitutes.

It has taken more than two years to pass the controversial legislation because of differences between the two houses of parliament over the issue.
Some sex workers protested against the law during the final debate.

The demonstrators outside parliament in Paris, numbering about 60, carried banners and placards one of which read: "Don't liberate me, I'll take care of myself".
Members of the Strass sex workers' union say the law will affect the livelihoods of France's sex workers, estimated to number between 30,000 and 40,000.

Sweden was the first country to criminalise those who pay for sex rather than the prostitutes, introducing the law in 1999. Other countries have since adopted the so-called "Nordic model": Norway in 2008, Iceland in 2009, and Northern Ireland in 2014. Earlier this year, the European parliament approved a resolution calling for the law to be adopted throughout the continent.
But many advocacy groups warn the model makes sex work more dangerous.

Catherine Stephens, an activist with the UK-based International Union of Sex Workers, and a sex worker herself, says criminalisation makes those in the industry "much more likely to have to accept clients who are obscuring their identity, which benefits people who want to perpetrate violence".

Ms Stephens told the BBC that criminalising those who wish to purchase sex makes them less likely to report concerns about a sex worker's wellbeing.

"We have had cases where clients have helped people escape from situations of coercion ... Criminalising the client actively works against that, discouraging them from coming forward. We need to create a situation in which it is easy to report harm, violence and coercion. Blanket criminalisation of premises, brothels, or clients absolutely works against that."

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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35982929
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Post by PSD-Kiwi »

Is that not how the law works in a lot of countries, ie. It's either illegal to offer sexual services for money but not illegal to pay for sexual services, or vice versa, depending on the states/countries laws?

Fully legal in NZ for both parties, but from what I've heard its not cheap, especially since the sex workers and brothelz have to pay tax now.
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Post by Rutiger »

PSD-Kiwi wrote:Is that not how the law works in a lot of countries, ie. It's either illegal to offer sexual services for money but not illegal to pay for sexual services, or vice versa, depending on the states/countries laws?

Fully legal in NZ for both parties, but from what I've heard its not cheap, especially since the sex workers and brothelz have to pay tax now.
Fully illegal to buy and sell sex in MOST of the US, outside of a few restricted places in Nevada, which is the height of hypocrisy. In some countries its illegal to provide accommodation for or arrange for paid sex (ie no brothels and no pimping). This article shows the more recent Scandinavian model.

My view is that governments should stay out of the sex business completely, aside from underage prohibition and punishment, and instead concentrate on making the world's oldest profession legal and safer for all parties (health care availability, violence prevention and punishment, etc.). It's the creeping around dark corners at night to avoid arrest that make it so dangerous, especially for the women, as they often need pimps for physical protection from violent deviates, which creates other equally serious problems and dangers for them.

Making something illegal to buy but not illegal to sell seems unfair. I don't know of any country that has drug laws like that.
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ali baba
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Post by ali baba »

The goal of criminalising the purchase of sex is to reduce the number of women being prostituted by reducing the demand for commercial sex and easing the prosecution of pimps and traffickers whilst offering prostitutes legal amnesty in order to encourage them to approach the police and social services when needed.

I think it's a good policy for EU countries since the free movement of labour allows pimps to recruit poor women in poor countries and then take them to more profitable countries where they don't speak the language and don't have any support networks. There's also large volumes of sex tourism since neighbouring countries are a short train ride away.

Remote countries like New Zealand may be better off legalising commercial sex in an attempt to improve working conditions but I doubt that pimps and traffickers will suddenly eschew violence just because they started paying taxes.

We should review the policies every 5 years to see what the impact is.
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

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Australia has it right. Legal brothels. Its going to happen anyway, why shouldn't the government get their cut?
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

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2 words, Hong Kong
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ali baba
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

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2 letters, OK
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Post by juansweetpotato »

I'm sick of paying for it. I hope this means I won't have to any more. Will I still get sex I wonder? I picked up a rather bad dose of e coli while helping starving children in Africa, and I'm a bit of a mess. I'm also quite short. I'm sure there must be lots of girls out there who will love me for me, and are only too willing to make love with me.

Lets' face it, if your rich and /or beautiful/ handsome or perhaps still young, but definitely without a nasty disability (although the first two can cancel that out), then you deserve to have sex. Everyone else, well they just don't deserve to have sex in my book.

When the great goal of capitalism finally bears it's fruit in the next year or two, I'm sure all this nasty prostitution stuff will just fade away. Just don't go reading any Roman history is all.

Ali makes an interesting point, I expect it's just another social experiment that I can't really see working. It's something akin to trying to un-invent air.

As a feminist writer once said to me. "My book is about stopping women being viewed as sexual objects by men."

"Good luck with that then" I said.

If you want to stop pimps and traffickers and keep it clean and safe, I can't see any other way but making it legal. I believe I'm with the Dutch on this?
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Rutiger
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Post by Rutiger »

juansweetpotato wrote:I Will I still get sex I wonder? ?
Let's see what Magic 8 Ball has to say about that question:


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ali baba
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Re: France prostitution: MPs outlaw paying for sex

Post by ali baba »

Ali makes an interesting point, I expect it's just another social experiment that I can't really see working. It's something akin to trying to un-invent air.
It has already been proven to work since levels of street prostitution have fallen dramatically in Sweden whilst being 2 to 3 times higher in Germany where prostitution is legal. If you only consider a law to be a success if the act it prohibits is entirely eradicated then laws against murder, theft and slavery are failures.
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