Prostitution is not illegal in France, which has an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 prostitutes according to a 2012 report by the Scelles Foundation, but there are laws against pimping, human trafficking and soliciting sex in public.
Tolerance for prostitution in France lies in a middle ground between attitudes in the Netherlands and Germany, where registered sex workers pay taxes and receive health benefits, and Sweden, where tough laws target clients.
France’s minister for women’s rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, caused a stir last year by saying she would seek to make prostitution disappear by punishing those who pay for sex, rather than the prostitutes themselves.
Singer Alain Souchon, who also signed the petition, said the government should not intervene with those who have chosen to prostitute themselves for easy money.
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