WUNRN
Those seeking to
buy sex in
France
People
attend a demonstration to abolish prostitution in
PARIS (Reuters) - The French lower house of
parliament passed a reform of prostitution law on Wednesday imposing fines on
clients, a shift to tougher rules which has split the country and angered some
sex workers.
Lawmakers voted 268 in favor and 138 against to give
Those seeking to buy sex in
Women's Rights Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who
has championed the reform, argued that prostitution in any form is unacceptable
and said the aim of President Francois Hollande's Socialist government was to suppress
the trade altogether.
Proponents of the reform point to rising human
trafficking as a reason for tightening rules. Some 90 percent of
That is a jump from just over a decade ago when only
one in five prostitutes were foreign and mafia rings were much less
omnipresent.
Yet the reform has exposed divisions in French society
just months after Hollande's government faced down a series of giant street
protests over legislation legalizing gay marriage.
Fellow ministers including Interior Minister Manuel
Valls have expressed reservations about being able to apply the law as it
stands. Hollande's Green coalition allies voted against, as did the opposition
centre-right UMP members.
Some prostitutes say the law, which must also pass
through the Senate upper house for a vote early next year, will rob them of
their livelihood.
"Already, in the past two weeks we have felt the
pinch," said a woman calling herself Sarah, who works in the Bois de
Boulogne, a centre for prostitution on the outskirts of
"The clients aren't coming... and the few clients
that do come all ask me the same questions: 'Is the law going through? What are
we going to do?'"
Legislation in
But as