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The impact of the abolitionist law in France: Report by FACT-S 2025
30 April 2025The Fédération des Acteurs de Terrains et des Survivantes (FACT-S), to which CAP International belongs alongside Amicale du Nid, the Fédération Nationale des CIDFF, the Fondation Scelles and Mouvement du Nid have published a report on the situation of prostitution in France and the results of the 2016 law aimed at stepping up the fight against the prostitutional system and supporting prostitutes, 9 years after its adoption.
Collectively, we are drawing up 55 recommendations for better implementation of the law so that it fully achieves its objectives of protecting and combating the prostitution system.
Where it is applied in full, the law against prostitution is proving its effectiveness
Since the 2016 law, 2,000 people, mostly women, have benefited from a pathway out of prostitution. Among those supported by FACT-S associations in the field:
- 91% have a job (60% permanent)
- 45% have a residence permit
- 49% are waiting for their residence permit
- 71% have a good command of French.
However, in some parts of France, the law continues to be only partially implemented: the criminalisation of 'clients' remains largely inadequate and too heterogeneous across the country, and pimping is spreading over the Internet.
Pathways out of prostitution are sometimes hampered locally by iniquitous migration policies and by administrative requirements that are outside the law, with some departmental commissions seeing pathways out of prostitution as a "ruse" to obtain papers, thus hindering victims' access to their rights:
“Our associations find themselves caught in a vice between, on the one hand, an ambitious national strategy to combat the prostitutional system, spearheaded by the Minister for Equality [...]; and, on the other hand, hardened migration policies that prevent women who are victims of violence from being housed, protected and supported because they are considered to be illegal migrants, when the only criterion that should prevail is that of people wishing to escape from prostitutional violence, with provisions specifically made for this in the 2016 law.”
– Claire Quidet, Director of the Mouvement du Nid
Prostitution takes place mostly online
The digitalisation of the prostitution system goes hand in hand with the increasing digitalisation of society. As a result, the victims of prostitution are increasingly invisible, as are the "clients" and the pimps. All stages of prostitution are now dematerialised: recruitment of victims on social networks, advertisements published on specialised platforms, appointments arranged by SMS and encrypted messages, etc. This new reality is forcing associations working in the field to adapt by developing digital outreach services. At the same time, while France ranks as the 2nd country in the world in terms of pornography consumption, FACT-S observes that pornography has become the most commonplace and violent form of online prostitution.
“Every day, more than 35,000 ads are published online on the main prostitution ad site in France. These ads represent the tip of the iceberg in the digital ocean of selling and buying women and girls. They meet male demand for the purchase of sexual acts, which is insufficiently discouraged."
- Héma Sibi, Director of CAP International
The legal definition of pimping needs to be rethought in order to take into account the new forms of cyber-pimping and online sexual exploitation (caming, live sex shows, etc.).
Prostitution of minors is on the increase
The digitisation of the prostitution system has also resulted in an explosion in the number of minors in prostitution (+285% since 2015 according to the investigation services).
For the FACT-S associations, there is a continuum in the prostitution system between minors and adults, with similar violence, causes and consequences, but which are exacerbated in a disproportionate way for minors because of their increased vulnerability and the serious repercussions that have a lasting impact on their lives.
Prevention, awareness-raising and training to change attitudes towards prostitution
Implementing concrete preventive measures is a major challenge in the fight against the prostitution system. This includes national campaigns to deconstruct the way prostitution is portrayed, targeted prevention campaigns aimed at minors, and education and training programmes for young people and childcare professionals.
"What we highlight in the report, and what we think is important to get across as a message today, is that prostitution is part of the continuum of SGBV. Prostitution is not an individual, isolated activity, but a form of violence that is part of a relationship of domination. As proof, 100% of the minors and young adults accompanied by Amicale du Nid in 2024 had been exposed to violence before being confronted with prostitution: 80% had suffered physical violence, 77% sexual violence, 58% intra-family violence and 46% cyber-violence. Prostitution embodies the accumulation of all forms of violence, sexual, physical, psychological and economic, which is why we are calling for violence to be included in all campaigns against sexist and sexual violence. "
- Célia Guedj, Technical Advisor, Fédération Nationale des CIDFF
Therefore, 55 recommendations in the report put forward by the FACT-S associations are aimed at
- Full and consistent implementation of the 2016 Olivier-Coutelle Act
- Adapting to dematerialised and hidden forms of prostitution
- Mobilising against the prostitution of minors
- Building a prostitution-free society through prevention, education and training
- Funding to meet the challenges
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