With an influx of visitors heading to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, French police are cracking down on prostitution… and it turns out an anti-pimp squad is leading the charge.
The Prefecture of Police Press Office tells TMZ that … authorities are doing what they can to crack down on illegal sex work in the City of Lights. We’re told checkpoints and other roadside operations are being targeted in an attempt to crack down on pimping in the Bois de Vincennes, Bois de Boulogne and Belleville sectors.
A formal brigade — known as the BRP — has even been formed… and we’re told they’ll be making their presence known in the area. There’s also a group tasked with guarding nightlife establishments, such as cabarets… where anti-sex work laws will be enforced.
The Paris City Hall and the Public Prosecutor’s Office are also helping in the crackdown, collaborating to implement prevention and awareness measures.
While this increased police presence may come as a relief to locals and tourists, several nonprofits have spoken out on behalf of sex workers ahead of the Olympics… as they believe the “enforcement first” mentality is negatively impacting sex workers’ health and safety.
Per France 24Charity groups have pleaded with authorities to focus less on targeting sex workers and instead take down the “criminal organizations that rob, rape and assault them.”
The organizations also argued that sex workers are not migrating to Paris amid the Olympics because accommodation has become too expensive for them to live there.
This update comes a year after activists rejected anti-prostitution efforts in France, saying the new measures put sex workers in greater danger.
In case you missed it… France officially banned brothels in 1946, but made it illegal to pay someone for sex in 2016 — an attempt to punish the client rather than the worker.
However, more pressure means more hiding… which does nothing to help sex workers’ safety.
It seems that repression may be a bit counterproductive.