France's parliament is to debate abolishing prostitution through a crackdown which would criminalise payment for sex.
The National Assembly will vote on a symbolic resolution drafted by a cross-party commission which, if successful, will be followed by a bill in January. The resolution urges abolition at a time when "prostitution seems to be becoming routine in Europe".
Around 20,000 people are believed to be working as prostitutes in France. France has been committed to abolishing the practice in principle since 1960 but the MPs behind the resolution want this stance to be "proclaimed loud and strong".
The criminalisation of clients is "the best way to see prostitution reduced in France, given that all the countries that have regulated this activity have seen an increase", the commission has argued.
In 1999, the Swedish government brought in similar legislation to criminalise the buying of sex, while decriminalising its sale.
According to Danielle Bousquet, the Socialist MP leading the drive for abolition, the new bill envisages six-month prison sentences and fines of 3,000 euros (£2,580; $4,000) for clients.
Contributing to the pressure for abolition, a French-led men's initiative known as ZeroMacho has published a manifesto against prostitution, gathering some 200 signatures across EU states. ZeroMacho member Jean-Sebastien Mallet told French women's website Terrafemina that it wanted to speak for "the vast majority of men - hitherto silent - who do not use prostitutes".
The idea of, like in Sweden, criminalizing the clients and legalizing the providers as "victims" is no doubt effective, but it will also deal a deadly blow in the long run to women's equality.
The underlying premise, that no woman could *possibly* freely choose to engage in sex for money, and that therefore such women are always "victims" paints women as though they are all psychological children when compared to men, and thus unable to make their own decisions or give informed consent.
The misguided "feminists" who are proponents of this mindset are setting back the cause of women to be regarded as equals by 100+ years. They need to be deposed from their unearned positions and replaced by women with brains.
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