Paying For Sex Banned In France; Prostitutes Encouraged To Find New Jobs

A new law passed in France on Wednesday makes it illegal to pay for sex. Anyone caught in the crime would have to pay fines of up to $4,274 and attend classes so that they can be told about risks of the sex trade.

With the two houses of parliament being split on the point, it took two years of heavy debating before the law could be passed.

With 30,000 to 40,000 relying on the trade, the new law affects their livelihood. A number of critics are challenging it, especially the Strass sex workers' union, which argued that it severely affects thousands of sex workers.

However, the French government is firm that the law would help most of the sex workers to shift to less risky forms of work. By putting aside more than $5 million to get them new jobs and offer a temporary residency permit for foreign sex workers, who total up to 80 percent of all prostitutes in the country, the government hopes that it can provide a passage to the French prostitutes to move onto better jobs.

However, critics warn that illegalising the trade would make it more dangerous than it is. Catherine Stephens, an activist with the U.K.-based International Union of Sex Workers, and who also works as a sex worker, talked about the risks they face.

"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," she said.

"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."