Prostitution debates in France

Prostitution has been high on the French political agenda since the late 1990s, but the way in which it has been framed as a policy issue has undergone a radical change since the elections of 2002. This article compares competing definitions of prostitution as a political issue under the Jospin (1997-2002) and Raffarin (2002-) governments. It examines the abolitionist lobby, which dominated the debates under Jospin, joining forces with women's policy agencies to place prostitution on the policy agenda as a form of violence towards women. It discusses the changes in prostitution policy since 2002, focusing on the criminalization of soliciting and the construction of prostitutes as part-victim, part-criminal. It argues that the reframing of prostitution as a law and order issue has harsh consequences for the women in prostitution, but particularly for migrant women, who can be deported for the new offence of passive soliciting