Pimping is Still Highly Prevalent in France

The French police simply can’t stop illegal brothels from blooming. There is always another South American pimp to deal with, and the fight never seems to come to an end.

Despite the fact that prostitution is illegal in France, it is in high demand and there are lots of brothels to find.

Last November, the police initiated a huge raid in Paris. It started at six o’clock in the morning in two suburbs: two apartment buildings in Saint-Ouen and a pavilion in Drancy. The cold morning hours did not stop them from storming numerous apartment buildings.

The raid wasn’t without any success. They have arrested a bunch of pimps, eliminating two prostitution rings from the scene. This also resulted in the closure of two illegal brothels. After that, the police documented that a total of 21 prostitutes were found in the pavilion.

In the suburban residential buildings in Saint-Ouen, on the other hand, they have found more than 40 sex workers. All of them welcomed their clients in their own rooms on a daily basis. Commissioner Jean-Paul Mégret, head of Paris vices spoke up on the situation.

He said that the police has arrested a total of eleven prostitution rings so far only in 2022, counting this case. This is how bad the situation is in Paris.

Illegal brothels in France are formed by South American prostitution rings more often than not. The number of police raids initiated by the city has been tripled in the past two years. Meanwhile, prostitution has been banned in France since the end of the Second World War.

Then, recently back in 2016, it was also criminalized. Mégret also added that illegal brothels seem to multiply lilke mushrooms lately. In most cases, there is a mafia-like South American pimp organization behind these brothels.

They rent out the place they want and then they resort to human trafficking to get the women from Peru, Colombian, Paraguay, or Brazil. It is really just quick money for these sex workers, which is also obvious from the fact that they usually don’t stay longer than three months.

There is no doubt that the pimps are the main beneficiaries here. About 50 to 60 percent of the money earned by prostitutes lands in their pocket. There is big money in this type of trade in France, as some of these brothels can make two million Euros per month.

Mégret stated that the anti-prostitution law only facilitates the development of illegal prostitution. The South American pimp organizations have already conquered the Spanish and North American markets. Now they want to make a fortune in the French market as well.

France’s attempt to bring the oldest trade in the World to a halt was rather unsuccessful. They wanted to follow the steps of Sweden, the Scandinavian country that criminalized prostitution in 1999. However, their approach is not exactly the same, as their law does not prohibit prostitution.

In Sweden, sex workers are subject to income tax and the use of commercial love services is also criminalized. Customers risk a fine of 1,500 Euros, while repeating customers have to pay 3,750 Euros. As a result, prostitutes cannot offer their services openly anymore.

Instead of walking the streets, they need to advertise themselves on the Internet and keep their activities at their own residence. Only a small number of them decided to switch to other professions. Once prostitution can’t take place in the front of the public, it escapes the eyes of the law as well. 

Meanwhile, pimping is a problem in many other countries, including Tyrol. The police has managed to track down a Romanian guy who forced women into prostitution. Read more about this pimping case in Tyrol on Sex-Vienna!

Did you know that there is a serious investigation going on with Andrew Tate right now? The police in Romania have arrested him for being involved in a serious pimping case. Read more about how Andrew Tate has been charged with human trafficking on Sex Club Wien.

There was some harsh pimping going on the Spanish island of Mallorca as well. The police managed to arrest three pimps last November who forced many ladies into prostitution. Read more about how these women were being forced to work 21 hours per day on Sex Work Vienna.