Prostitutes and sex workers in masks protested outside the French parliament on Friday, while legislators debated a bill against prostitution and sex trafficking inside.<br /><br />The bill is aimed at decriminalising the estimated 40,000 prostitutes in France, however it would introduce a 1,500 euro fine for sex customers.<br /><br />Nicole Améline is Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She told euronews:“If we want to act, what do we do? Or course we need to fight against the [trafficking] networks because it is the most important thing but we need to make people responsible, and this bill is making people responsible. Is it normal to buy a woman’s body?”<br /><br />Dalila, an Argentinean sex worker who has been offering her services in Paris for the last eight years, works without a pimp. She says her living conditions have deteriorated in the last few years and that her clients will likely disappear for fear of being handed a stiff fine. She says the only option for her would be to leave France to find work elsewhere.<br /><br />“I will be forced to migrate to another country, simple as that. The only solution for me is to go abroad. And that is what everyone will do,” she said.<br /><br />While buying and selling sex for money is not banned in France, the act of soliciting is illegal, as is pimping. <br /><br />Thierry, a former client of prostitution who joined sex workers to demonstrate against the bill, said such a law would mean the end of prostitution, a critical mistake according to him.<br /><br />“It’s a stupid law, only the socialists can have that idea, to ban prostitution. I think it’s really stupid. It’s a necessary evil. Prostitution is a safety valve. It can prevent rape, murders, sexual assaults, and, why not, divorce. There is also a whole part of the population which has no sex life and what would they do without prostitutes?” he asked.<br /><br />Supporters of the draft law argue that it could reduce sex trafficking and empower prostitutes.<br /><br />But opponents say it would put sex workers in danger, as clients would go to greater lengths to avoid being arrested. <br /><br />Legislation in France currently lies somewhere between laws in the Netherlands and Germany, where registered sex workers pay taxes and receive health benefits, and Sweden, where clients are already targeted.<br /><br />President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government backs the bill. The Socialist-led Assembly is set to vote on it around December 4.
