Yes, but in a way that surprises a lot of visitors: in France, it's buying sex that's illegal, not selling it. French law flipped the usual logic in 2016, targeting the client rather than the person selling sex. Here's what that means in practice.
Selling sex itself isn't a crime
An adult who sells sex cannot be prosecuted for that alone: no French law bans or punishes it. That surprises many visitors used to laws that criminalize the seller.
Buying sex has been punished since 2016
The law of 13 April 2016 flipped the penalty onto the client: buying sex carries a fine of €1,500, rising to €3,750 for a repeat offense. If the person is a minor or otherwise vulnerable, penalties climb to 3 years in prison and a €45,000 fine.
Soliciting is no longer a crime
Before 2016, approaching a client on the street could get the person selling sex prosecuted. That offense, active or passive soliciting, was scrapped by the same 2016 law.
Pimping remains heavily punished
Organizing, facilitating, or profiting from someone else's prostitution, including knowingly renting out a room for it, is a crime punishable by 7 years in prison and a €150,000 fine, with much harsher penalties for organized networks or minor victims.
Brothels have been banned since 1946
The "Marthe Richard" law shut down France's brothels, and nothing has reversed that since: running a venue where someone else's prostitution takes place still counts as a form of pimping, whatever it's called.
The topic is still being debated in Parliament
Several bills on the rights of people who sell sex, and on online pimping, were still under discussion in the National Assembly and the Senate in 2026, with none passed yet: the law could still shift on these specific points.
Tips
This legal framework applies across all of France, not just Paris — there's no different local rule depending on the neighborhood. If any part of the law changes, articles 225-12-1 and following of the French penal code are the ones to check for the current version.
