Prostitution and the Law in France

Remember Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Charged with rape in New York the former head of the International Monetary Fund was forced to remain in New York under house arrest until his eventual exoneration.

In the meantime French authorities were informed that the now-infamous DSK used to participate in what are being called sex parties or swinger sessions.

Now, prosecutors are investigating these sordid casual encounters. They do not care whether or not DSK or anyone else paid for sex. It is legal in France to pay for sex.

It is not, however, legal to procure prostitutes.

I will grant that French law has reached a level of sophistication unknown on our side of the Atlantic.

French lawyers, too, have surpassed their American counterparts in legal logic.

DSK’s lawyer, one Henri Leclerc, went above and beyond the call of reason when he tried to explain how his client could have participated in these sessions without knowing that the girls were being paid for their “services.”

Insisting that his client could have been "totally unaware" of the fact that the women were being paid, Leclerc explained: “At these parties, people were not necessarily dressed, and I defy you to tell the difference between a naked prostitute and any other naked woman."

What more can anyone say….