Violence against sex workers in France increased in 2024, with reported assaults up 6 percent compared to the previous year. Many victims, particularly undocumented migrants, remain silent due to fear of deportation.
According to the NGO Médecins du Monde, there have been 3,110 reports of violence against sex workers this year, including 203 rapes or attempted rapes and 82 armed assaults.
Among the victims, most are migrant women, many of whom do not come forward due to their undocumented status and the fear of deportation.
In 2024, seven sex workers, all female migrants, were murdered.
Dozens of people gathered near the National Assembly in Paris last week to call for improved protection for sex workers who are victims of violence.
'I don't dare scream'
Mei, a Chinese migrant and sex worker who was protesting, told RFI: "I have clients who don’t pay. I have clients who assault me. I suffer sexual violence.
"On top of that, I don’t dare scream because I’m afraid of losing my apartment if my neighbours find out what I do. There’s anxiety, sadness and anger. Everything mixes together. But I bear it alone."
Migrant women in France face ‘double violence’ when reporting sexual abuse
Ting Chen, from the organisation Les Roses d’Acier, which supports migrant sex workers, has set up an emergency hotline.
He underscores the isolation these women face. "When a non French-speaking migrant calls 15 or 17 [France's emergency services], no one answers. They’re told: ‘Madam, sorry, you don’t speak French’, even in the most serious cases."
For Paola Gioia Macioti, coordinator of the Jasmine platform at Médecins du Monde: "This rise in violence is directly linked to repressive laws that have increased the precariousness of sex workers, without changing the material conditions that drive people to do this work to meet their needs."
She says the root cause lies in a 2016 law that penalises clients of sex workers and third parties who assist them.
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