Family minister Morano says: “A working group on prostitution in the next three months” STRASS says “yes will you dare!”
Thursday, February 25 the National Assembly had discussed the amendments to the draft law strengthening the protection of victims and the prevention and punishment of violence against women. (1)
Among the amendments discussed, those from Mrs. Chantal Brunel (2) to repeal the crime of passive soliciting, induced by the 2003 Act, was withdrawn on the grounds that “we would take a real risk to repeal hastily a device that clearly has more merit than some are willing to say “ according to Mme Morano, Secretary of State for Family and Solidarity. (3)
This shows the contempt that this government has towards sex workers and all the associations, social workers, trade unions, magistrates, elected officials and even police who unanimously denounce the perverse and disastrous consequences of this Act for the last 7 years! (4) The LSI Act planed in effect to establish an annual record evaluation: we are still waiting for obvious reasons …
Worse yet, while welcoming the “undeniable progress” in the disappearance of “nuisance to local residents”, Morano, extolling the virtues of the crime of passive soliciting, invokes “the provisions of the Act of 2003 (…) of social measures, through mechanisms of protection and support “ which have almost never been used!
Finally, Ms. Morano proposes to “create, today, with yourself (Mme Brunel NDR), the Ministry of Interior, the Secretary of State that I lead and all the institutional partners involved, a working group together to reflect, within three months, the best way to improve the situation you describe. “
To this last proposal, wanting to believe in the sincerity of such an approach, we inform Ms. Morano that it intends to include STRASS. For too long policies concerning sex workers are conducted without any consultation of the first concerned and in disregard of our rights. Repression as the only answer always leads to more violence and opacity, it is time to end this messy political patronage and which, by making invisible precarious sex workers, engaged them in all hazards.
No politics in fight against sex trafficking and sexual exploitation can be effective if it refuses to consider sex workers as partners.
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Notes :
(1) Proposed Act strengthening the protection of victims and the prevention and punishment of violence against women
(2) PREVENTION AND REPRESSION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - (No. 2293) Amendment No. 76
(3) Minutes of the meeting of Thursday, February 25, 2009
(4) See the report of the League of Human Rights and the Union of Lawyers of France: “New areas of lawlessness, prostitutes against arbitrary police” et Critiques des mesures concernant le « racolage passif » sur Wikipédia ainsi que le dossier d’ActUp sur la LSI.