Welcome back! This is the second installment in our series recapping presentations from “Combatting Commercial Sexual Exploitation through Equality Model Policies and Laws,” held on October 13, 2023, at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. During the symposium, our Institute’s Director and Co-Founder, Shea Rhodes, discussed France’s abolitionist model with Jonathan Machler, the Executive Director of the Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution, CAP International.
For background, in 2016 France passed a law based on the abolitionist model. Jonathan introduced the five pillars of the model: (1) full decriminalization of all prostituted persons; (2) provision of comprehensive exit pathways for prostituted persons; (3) fight against the demand for the purchase of sexual acts through the criminalization of the purchase of sex buying; (4) fight against pimping and trafficking through the criminalization of any form of profit from the prostitution of another human being; and (5) implementation of sensitization campaigns toward men and boys in particular, and training for frontline services. We invite you to watch Shea and Jonathan’s “Fireside Chat” and hear more about France’s abolitionist model- how it started, how it’s going, and what we can learn from it.
Before diving in, Jonathan oriented us to different comparative legislative models across Europe. While the laws and implementation vary from country to country, there are two main models: the regulatory or “sex work” model and the abolitionist or equality model. Comparing data from countries implementing both models, Jonathan noted the “disastrous effects” of legalizing, normalizing, and legitimating the sale of sex under the regulatory model. He noted that “by giving a transactional value to sex, the approach has normalized the purchase of sexual acts and the objectification of women, leading to an increase in male demand for sexual acts as well as sex tourism. This demand fosters the system of trafficking and the criminal networks that drive the demand for the commercial sex industry.”
Jonathan emphasized the importance of recognizing prostitution as a form of violence based on multiple forms of inequalities: men’s domination over women, rich over poor, majority groups over minorities. He explained “there will be no equality between women and men as long as men think that they can buy access to women’s bodies. Prostitution is part of a long patriarchal tradition of making women’s bodies available for men’s benefit.”
Turning to how it started, Jonathan explained that France garnered the political will to adopt the abolitionist model primarily as a result of feminist advocacy. He discussed a coalition made up of feminist organizations, frontline actors, and survivors that was created years before the law’s adoption. The coalition’s sole focus was to address the system of prostitution, and it advocated to both politicians and civil society. Additionally, there was a conscious mobilization of groups in civil society calling for the abolition of prostitution. There was a call from teachers, labor unions, psychologists, feminists, etc. By mobilizing diverse groups, abolitionists demonstrated that the system of prostitution is not just a “women’s issue” nor is it an issue that is left to be addressed by advocates alone. Rather, abolishing prostitution is an issue that affects all of society and must be addressed by all of society.
Jonathan also noted the importance of the ProstCost study in passing the 2016 law. This independent study showed that it was much more expensive to maintain the system of prostitution rather than mobilize resources to end it. He commented that making an economic argument in favor of abolition helped garner political will for the law with those unconvinced by the human rights and feminist point of view.
Shea and Jonathan then turned to how things are going now seven years after the law’s adoption. Jonathan commented that the position of abolitionists in France today requires them to divide their resources and energy between defending and protecting the abolitionist laws from pushback on the one hand, and on the other, criticizing the government for its lack of resources and implementation. Jonathan noted that there is still a lot of work to do- the laws are not implemented uniformly across the country, exit programs need increased funding, and the pro-prostitution lobby continues to launch attacks- but overall, France’s model embodies a victory in the fight against the system of prostitution.
On a final note, Jonathan emphasized the importance of language in building political will. He noted that today we talk a lot about sexual freedom, equality between men and women, and social justice, yet trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation are often separated from prostitution in discussion. He said that by separating them, we deny that prostitution is itself a form of violence like the others. If society cannot recognize prostitution as a form of violence, then we cannot support women in prostitution because we are denying the existence of the socio-economic and non-physical coercion that pushes the most marginalized groups into the system of prostitution. Jonathan left us with this question: Do we want to accept coerced sex in our society? Can we recognize that socio-economic coercion resulting from sexist, racist, class-based patterns of oppression is legitimate coercion? If we do not, then we accept the normalization of the purchase of sexual acts. We must ask ourselves what kind of society we want to live in.
Thank you again to Jonathan Machler for his participation in this impactful discussion. Watch the full Fireside Chat and experience the impact of Jonathan’s statements for yourself here.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.