European rights court upholds French law against buying sex / Photo: Frederick FLORIN - AFP
-
Qatar media bodies discuss support for humanitarian initiatives
-
Vessel operator seeks witnesses after Vancouver grounding
-
Bezos grant helps Seattle nonprofit move thousands of families toward housing
-
Shrini Srivastava joins crew of Varanasi-Delhi Vande Bharat Sleeper service
-
US stocks fall before midterm Election Day as technology shares weaken
-
Nearly Half of Australian Workers Overqualified, Survey Finds
-
BLS Polymers makes strong market debut at ₹248 per share
-
RBI eases export-declaration compliance for individual service exporters
-
Petrol and diesel prices remain broadly steady across major Indian cities
-
Reliance shares remain in focus after near-12% surge
-
Derek Tierney Outlines Ten-Year Strategy for National Digital Health System
-
Coal India prepares possible $1 billion Mahanadi Coalfields listing
-
BLS Polymers shares open 65.3% above IPO price
-
Capital-markets shares rally as Motilal Oswal and Angel One lead gains
-
ITC shares rise as analysts anticipate gradual cigarette-business recovery
-
Reliance rally puts historical one-year return pattern in focus
-
The Digital Burden: Why Instant Messaging Feels Like a Full-Time Job
European rights court upholds French law against buying sex
A French law criminalising clients of sex workers does not infringe on the European Convention on Human Rights, the continent's top rights court ruled Thursday.
A group of 261 men and women sex workers had turned to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the 2016 law, which threatens buyers of sex with fines of up to 1,500 euros ($1,630), which can more than double for repeat offenders.
The rarely-enforced law was hailed as a major step forward by campaigners hoping to eliminate prostitution.
But the claimants backed by around 20 associations said it had pushed them into the shadows and increased their risk of harm, including assault and infection with sexually transmitted diseases.
After failing with their challenge in French courts, they turned to the Strasbourg-based ECHR in 2019.
They argued that the law endangers their physical and mental health, as well as harming their own and their clients' right to a private life and sexual freedom under the Convention's Article 8.
Judges said they were "fully aware of the undeniable difficulties and risks to which prostituted people are exposed while exercising their activity", including their health and safety.
But they added that these were "already present and observed before the adoption of the law" in 2016, being attributed at the time to the since-repealed law against soliciting.
The judges said "there is no consensus on the question of whether the negative effects described by the claimants are directly caused by the... criminalisation of buying sexual acts, or their sale."
They went to note there is no consensus whether the negative effects "are inherent or intrinsic to the phenomenon of prostitution... or a whole array of social and behavioural factors."
French authorities had "struck a fair balance between the competing interests at play," they added, finding no violation of Article 8.
Anna Blus, a women's rights researcher at Amnesty International, criticised the ruling, saying in a statement that "criminalising sex work increases discrimination and stigmatisation and jeopardises the safety of sex workers".
Laws against prostitution produce "obstacles for sex workers in accessing housing, healthcare and other critical services, and can lead to abuse, violence, harassment and extortion," she added.
Amnesty submitted its research into criminalisation of sex work in several countries to the court as it considered the French case, with judges referring to it in their published reasoning.
L.K.Baumgartner--CPN