"All European countries penalise pimping, but France will become only the fifth to punish the clients of prostitutes, along with Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Britain. Sweden in 1999 became the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay for sex, in a bid to lower demand.
In France, predominantly right-wing senators have opposed the ban on paying for sex, which will be punishable by a 1,500-euro fine for first offenders, increasing to 3,750 euros for repeat offenders.But after previous debates in both chambers of parliament ended in deadlock, the lower house, dominated by the left, had the final say.
The proposal introduced in October 2013 has divided public opinion in France, prompting a group of 343 public figures to issue what they called a "scumbags' manifesto" asserting the right to use prostitutes.
The signatories, who included journalists, writers and actors, said they resented being depicted as "perverts or psychopaths" and refused to allow "deputies (to) legislate norms on our desires and our pleasures".
Socialist lawmaker Maud Olivier, the architect of the bill, has argued repeatedly that prostitutes should be seen as "victims and no longer as delinquents".
"Critics also point to the difficulty of proving payment for sex, since the money usually changes hands in private.
And those who buy sex over the Internet are unlikely to be caught by the new law, experts say."Dating websites are one of the main ways to connect prostitutes and clients," said sociologist Laurent Melito. "Then people call each other. How are you going to control that?" The kinds of algorithms used to block child pornography and jihadist recruitment cannot be used to combat prostitution because the "risk of error" is too great, communications researcher Olivier Ertzscheid told AFP."
but why will I find it difficult ?
