European Court of Human Rights upholds criminalisation of clients who resort to prostitution in France

“The ECHR’s decision validates France’s abolitionist position,” rejoiced the resigning Minister for Equality between Women and Men, Aurore Bergé.

A state can criminalize the purchase of sexual relations, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Thursday, July 25, validating the 2016 French law on prostitution. “The ECHR decision validates France’s abolitionist position. Women’s bodies are not for sale. Desire cannot be bought.”welcomed the resigning Minister for Equality between Women and Men, Aurore Bergé.

For her part, Sarah-Marie Mafessoli, “sex work” representative at Médecins du Monde France, expressed her bitterness. “We are disappointed because the Court recognizes that the criminalization of clients has a negative impact on their sex workers (…) but refuses to condemn France”she reacted to AFP. “This decision goes against the recommendations of major UN agencies,” a dozen associations protest in a press release.

The ECHR was seized by 261 male and female prostitutes of different nationalities exercising a legal prostitution activity in France, who denounced the impact of the law of 13 April 2016 on their living and working conditions. This law repealed the offence of soliciting and replaced it with the penalization of clients, who are now liable to a fine of 1,500 euros (3,750 euros in the event of a repeat offence), even if they are rarely prosecuted in practice.

This law has been hailed as a major step forward by abolitionist associations. But for their part, the applicants, supported by around twenty associations, stress that it has pushed prostitutes underground, exposing them more to attacks, as well as to the risks of contamination with sexually transmitted infections. They also consider that the law radically infringes on the right to respect for their private life and that of their clients.

In its judgment, the ECHR emphasizes that it is “fully aware of the difficulties and risks – undeniable – to which prostitutes are exposed in the exercise of their activity”including risks to their health and safety. However, she says that these “phenomena were already present and observed before the adoption of the law” from 2016, “the same negative effects having in the past been attributed to the introduction of the offence of solicitation into French law”.

Considering that “the French authorities have struck a fair balance between the competing interests at stake” and have “not overstepped [leur] margin of appreciation”the ECHR found that there had been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to personal autonomy and sexual freedom. However, it calls on national authorities to “keep under constant scrutiny” their approach to the matter “so as to be able to nuance it” depending on social developments.