Sex workers' march. Photo provided by author. All rights reserved.
Since the 1960 ratification of the ‘UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others’, the French state officially positions itself as ‘abolitionist’, a position reaffirmed by the National Assembly in 2011. While this position considers prostitutes as victims, mostly victims of trafficking, the laws on prostitution in France actually position sex workers first and foremost as offenders. While sex work in itself is not criminalised – that is, the act of selling sexual services in exchange for money – many practices inherently bounded to the practice of sex work are considered as criminal offences.
