Prostitutes and their supporters today took to the streets to protest a bill imposing fines on sex patrons in France. Those seeking to buy sex will now face a 1,500 euro ($2,000) fine, while the act of soliciting itself will no longer be punished.
Meanwhile lawmakers voted 268 in favor and 138 against to give France some of the most restrictive legislation on prostitution in the country.
Women’s Rights Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who is at the vanguard of championing 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.
Some prostitutes have however been lamenting over 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 center for prostitution on the outskirts of Paris.
“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?”’
