Introduction

Prostitution has been high on the public and political agenda in France since the late 1990s. This is due to a number of factors, including: the impact of UN debates and initiatives on related issues, especially child prostitution and pornography, and trafficking in human beings; the growing acceptance in international fora of a distinction between ‘free’ and ‘forced’ prostitution, which the dominant abolitionist position in France rejects; and changing patterns of migration, which have led to an increase in the number of migrant women and girls on the streets of French cities. Internally, there has been a rise in security discourse, which has changed the framework in which prostitution debates are situated. The plural left coalition government under the premiership of Lionel Jospin (1997-2002) was succeeded in 2002 by Jean-Pierre Raffarin's rightwing government, brought to power amidst widespread public concern with ‘security’. This has affected policy debates around prostitution and public perceptions of the issues that surround it.

The national context

France is an advanced industrialised country, ranked 22nd in the world in terms of GDP (World Bank, 2004), 16th in the UNDP's 2004 Human Development Index and 15th in the Gender-Related Development Index (UNDP, 2004). The principle of equality between men and women was stated in the preamble to the Constitution of 1946 and again in the current Constitution of 1958. French women gained the right to vote and to stand for election in 1944, and saw the recognition of a series of civil rights throughout the 1960s and 1970s. They won the right to contraception in 1967 and to abortion in 1974. Rape was defined in criminal law in 1980, marital rape in 1990 and sexual harassment in 1992. The principle of equal pay for equal work was recognised in 1972, equality at work laws were passed in 1983 and 2001, and a high-profile campaign for equal political representation resulted in the parity laws of 1999 and 2000.

France has a well-established system of women's policy agencies dating from 1974 and attracted widespread interest in 1981, when it established a full Ministry for Women's Rights. Equality legislation is in place, ranging from equality at work (1983 and 2001) to parity in politics (1999 and 2000). However, in many respects, there is a clear gap between rhetoric and reality.