The leader of France’s far-right National Association (RN) Jordan Bardella supported the proposal to restore brothels and condemned the “hypocrisy” of society in relation to sex work. TASR writes about it according to AFP.
- Jordan Bardella supports the restoration of public housing in France.
- The aim of the bill is to improve hygiene and work safety in this area.
- Prostitution is legal in the country, but clients are criminally liable.
The return of brides?
“Maisons closes” (bridesmaids) officially existed in France until 1946. The RN is preparing a bill that would allow them to function again as co-operatives/communities of sex workers.
“We can establish safe enclosures and prevent this activity, which exists no matter what we do, from taking place in extremely unsanitary and dangerous conditions,” Bardella said in a televised address on Saturday.
Bardella: Confined spaces are always better than the slums of the Bolognese Forest
“For me, it’s a security issue,” said the likely 2027 presidential candidate.
“I think enclosed spaces are always better than the slums of the Bois de Boulogne,” an urban park notorious for crime, he added.
Bardella is the first leader of the RN party from 2022 who is not from the Le Pen family and won the most deputies in the French parliament in the 2024 elections. The domestic political situation, public concerns about immigration and the rising cost of living may help him win the 2027 presidential election.
In France, clients are criminally responsible for sex for money
Prostitution is legal in France, although a 2016 law banned sex for money and shifted criminal liability to clients. If caught, they face a fine.
MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy, as the drafter of the new law, claims that it has only worsened the conditions of sex workers and forces them to work “even harder” and in appalling conditions. Bardella spoke similarly, condemning the “hypocrisy in this matter”.
The non-governmental association STRASS (Syndicat du Travail Sexuel), which defends the rights of sex workers, has refused to cooperate with the RN, although it campaigns for the establishment of such cooperatives.
