The national and moral borders of the 2016 French law on sex work: An analysis of the ‘prostitution exit programme’

Abstract

The 2016 law on prostitution in France introduced the so-called Swedish model approach to sex work, which, at the national level, criminalises those who purchase sex rather than the sex workers themselves. Alongside the repressive character of the law, lawmakers introduced a number of social policy measures through the implementation of a ‘prostitution exit programme’. Whilst some pioneering research has sought to evaluate the impact of penalising the clients of sex workers, no survey has yet focused on the outcomes of prostitution exit programmes. Based on qualitative data, including interviews with sex workers and grassroots organisations, this article aims to analyse how the programme was implemented and its overall outcomes. The interviews we conducted shed particular light on the fact that the implementation of the programme is impacted on by the application of restrictive migration policies.