Berliner Tageblatt - France's Bardella slams 'hypocrisy' over return of brothels

Brothels, or "maisons closes", existed in their hundreds in France before they were outlawed in 1946.

A member of Bardella's far-right National Rally party plans to submit a bill that would allow brothels to re-open and be run as cooperatives by sex workers themselves.

"We can set up secure enclosed spaces to prevent this activity, which exists regardless of what we do, from taking place in extremely unsanitary and unsafe conditions," Bardella said in televised remarks Saturday.

"For me, this is a safety issue," said the 30-year-old politician and contender for president in France's 2027 elections.

"I think that closed premises are always better than slums in the Bois de Boulogne," a Paris district known as a crime hotspot, he added.

National Rally emerged as the single largest party in French parliament after the 2024 legislative elections, and its leaders believe they have the momentum to come to power in the 2027 presidential election on the back of public concern over immigration and the cost of living.

Prostitution is legal in France, although a law introduced in 2016 made it illegal to pay for sex, shifting the criminal responsibility to clients, who can be fined if caught.

National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy, who has been working on the legislation to bring back brothels, argues the 2016 law has only worsened the daily lives of sex workers, forcing them to work "even harder" in appalling conditions.

Bardella struck a similar note.

"We cannot say that the results have been extremely positive," he said, denouncing what he said was "hypocrisy on the subject".

Tanguy's bombshell initiative has raised eyebrows and reignited debate about prostitution and sex workers' rights.

The STRASS association, which defends sex workers' rights and has campaigned for the establishment of cooperatives, has said it does not want to work with National Rally.

F.Müller--BTB