Murder in Paris Park Highlights Shortcomings of Prostitution Law
Back in the dog days of mid-August, 36-year-old Vanessa Campos was murdered in Paris’ Bois de Boulogne park. Her death came a year-and-a-half after the French parliament government passed a law designed to both stem prostitution and protect its practitioners - among whose ranks Campos counted herself. A transgender woman from Peru, she was shot by thieves taking advantage of her and her john’s vulnerability in an isolated corner of the park, widely known as one of Paris’ major bazaars of prostitution.
Many in France’s sex worker community blame the Francois Hollande-era legislation for her death, which comes amidst an increase of violence against prostitutes. The law seemed promising on paper, shifting, as it did, punishment from sex worker to john in the form of large fines. But from the prostitutes’ point of view...click here to read the full article at Musee Magazine.