Reopening brothels in France: Does far right's latest provocative fad deserve all the hype?

©Pauline Makoveitchoux

Ever anti-feminist and conservative, the Rassemblement National has announced its latest idea: reopening brothels in the form of pseudo-modern ‘cooperatives’.

Institutionalising violence and male domination, now that's modern! In 2025, in the post-#MeToo era, the idea of organising places where men pay to have sex with women is simply absurd.

Reopening brothels would amount to regulating the sale of women, especially the most vulnerable among them, offering them violence and exploitation as their only means of survival. It would amount to decriminalising pimps, renamed ‘managers’, legitimising the ever-increasing number of violent sexual buyers, and delivering minors into the hands of paedocriminal.

The purchase of sexual services has been prohibited in France since the adoption of the 2016 law, and programmes to help people leave prostitution are available to those who wish to do so.

It should be noted that the European Court of Human Rights, in its ruling M.A. and others v. France, enshrines the abolitionist model as a protective, comprehensive and coherent approach in the fight against the system of prostitution. The alleged negative effects of this law are unfounded, but rather inherent in the prostitution system itself.

The recent survey by the Foundation Scelles and IPSOS confirms that 9 out of 10 French people support the abolitionist model and 3 out of 4 French people say that in order to combat the prostitution system, ‘clients’ should be penalised more severely.

We reaffirm that the far right is not an ally of women or feminism. Under the guise of openness and the defence of women's rights, it promotes the old patriarchal tradition of men's desire to control and access women's bodies. The far right openly despises women, especially the most vulnerable, who would be the first victims of a return to brothels.

Let us listen to the survivors instead! The abolition of prostitution is a feminist, anti-racist and social justice struggle. We will continue to fight for it, against all attacks from the far right and against any attempt to institutionalise this violence against women.

Press release from CAP International, Fondation Scelles, Mouvement du Nid, with the support of the Collectif Abolition.