France Gare du Nord in Paris: high place of child prostitution

Comment: The French radio “France Info” recently dedicated a documentary on Romanian children between 12 and 18 prostituting themselves in one train station in Paris (Gare du Nord).

The documentary provides the views of different stakeholders from the head of the police for minors in Paris to representatives from NGOs and head of social assistance of the municipality of Paris. The radio also gives the voice to Romanian children themselves to explain the challenges that Romanian minors face in Paris and the reasons behind their prostitution.

Quoting the deputy director of the French NGO Hors la Rue, the documentary insists that not only Roma are involved in the sex business and points out that they did not all fall into trafficking schemes. Their situation is essentially the result of the lack of opportunities for their integration into the labour market, partly due to the specific status of Romanians and Bulgarians in the EU. Their opportunities being limited, prostitution for some youngsters is seen as less degrading than other activities such as begging.

As advocated for a long time by different child protection NGOs, the solution lies more in an individual approach starting with health services and then accompanying them on educational opportunities or vocational training. The difficulty remains to convince the authorities (police and social services) to have a multidisciplinary approach adapted to their specific situation and needs according to Hors la Rue representative.

The role of the police, as explained by Mr. Boulouque, head of the department for protection of minors, is to protect children from different threats; however the main difficulty remains to catch clients ’red handed, as the act of solicitation is hard to confirm. The use of communication technologies is also increasing in the market with clients having direct access to minors through mobile phones and exchange of numbers, rendering the operations more difficult.

This argument is challenged by the head of the social services of the municipality of Paris that considers police operations as still insufficient. She regrettably considers that the solution lies mainly in paedophiles being caught, arrested and put in jail. This repressive and short sighted solution overlooks the complexity of the phenomenon that certainly requires more than simple police operations but an approach adapted to the diversity of causes and consequences of the situation of Romanian minors.

The head of police for minors also believes that the scope of the phenomenon is still very limited, implying that large scale operations are not needed. This argument remains weak as action should be taken when offences are criminalized such as the use of the services of a minor for sexual purposes and that more than 20 minors are working by the train station everyday.

All in all, the author of the radio documentary also creates confusion when it comes to the origin of the minors. While the deputy director of Hors la Rue considered that not only Roma minors are involved in prostitution in this area, the documentary that was presented at the radio clearly states that they all come from Roma shacks in the suburbs of Paris and that some of them are victims of Kamata (debt bondage in Roma communities), stating expressly that the “young Roma” are therefore obliged to find ways to survive.

To listen to the documentary, click here.

Comments: Pierre Cazenave, Regional Child Rights Officer, Tdh Regional Office, Budapest, Hungary.