Country
Modern slavery in France
4 documented cases recorded in France, 2009–2022. Locations are deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
Paris, France
West African teenager promised education instead forced to cook and clean from 5am to midnight. No pay no schooling Accused: French-Ivorian family.
Meyzieu, France, France
French Couple (Male aged 66 as of December 2010) and their family (the victim’s domestic duties included care for the family’s grandmother). KNOWN DATES: * 1979 – victim first worked for her traffickers in Senegal * Unknown dates: victim worked for her traffickers in Spain * 1997 Victim transported by her traffickers into France by car (without being controlled by immigration) * 2009 Victim fled her trafficker’s property * Unknown date – arrest of traffickers * Trial – October 2010 * Sentencing - December 2010, Lyon: SENTENCING: one year suspended sentence and “nearly 42,000 euros to the complainant in respect of back pay, rights retirement and compensation.” THE PROSECUTION HAD REQUESTED: two years suspended sentence and two years of probation as well as 60,000 Euro for the victim. This was publicized as France’s first domestic slavery case under Article 224-4-1 of the Penal Code (November 2007). Notice that in this case the unpaid & underpaid labor began in Senegal (1979) & continued during approximately 30 years including some time in Spain before approximately 12 years in France.
Angers, France, France
"After a five-month trial, the jury sent three repeat offenders to prison for between 26 and 28 years. Other suspects were handed sentences ranging from six months suspended to 18 years in jail." A 28-year prison term was given to Philippe V, 59, who had already served a 13-year term for child abuse and was described by prosecutors as an "indifferent monster" who had, over the years, raped his daughter, son and four grandchildren. He told the court that he "couldn't give a toss" about his offspring. Eric J, an alleged ringleader, was convicted of raping 15 children and also given 28 years. The majority of the abuse sessions took place in the apartment of Franck and Patricia V, Philippe V's son and former daughter-in-law, with whom he was living. Franck V, 36, was sentenced to 18 years for the rape of 14 children, including his own two daughters and young son. Patricia, 32, his now ex-wife, was found guilty of raping one of her daughters and of prostituting her other two children, and was given 16 years
Paris, France, France
French Culture Minister Refuses to Resign Over Paid Sex Trysts Print By KATRIN BENNHOLD Published: October 8, 2009 PARIS — When he took the post of culture minister of France last June, Frédéric Mitterrand probably did not think that a four-year-old tell-all book could come back to haunt him. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Stephane De Sakutin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images An admission that he paid for sex with “young boys” in Thailand has led to a growing campaign to oust Frédéric Mitterrand from his position as French culture minister. Readers' Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (30) » But this week his admission in a 2005 autobiography that he paid for sex with “boys” in Thailand became the subject of a campaign to oust him from the cabinet of President Nicolas Sarkozy. The reason for the sudden interest in Mr. Mitterrand’s prose was his quick and energetic defense last month of the film director Roman Polanski, who is fighting extradition to the United States from Switzerland over a charge resulting from his having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. On Monday, Marine Le Pen, daughter of the founder of the far-right National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, produced Mr. Mitterrand’s autobiography, “The Bad Life,” during a late-night television show and began reading excerpts before calling for his resignation. Then, on Wednesday, the spokesman of the Socialist Party, Benoît Hamon, seized on the issue: “As a minister of culture he has drawn attention to himself by defending a filmmaker accused of raping a child, and he has written a book where he said he took advantage of sex tourism. At the very least I find this shocking.” By Thursday the pressure had become so intense that Mr. Mitterrand, 62, a nephew of former President François Mitterrand and a longtime television celebrity, scheduled an appearance on prime-time television to defend himself. “Yes, I had relations with boys,” a visibly shaken Mr. Mitterrand told the interviewer on the TF1 network when he was asked about the passage in his book that talks about seeking out male prostitutes in Southeast Asia. But he insisted that all his sexual partners had been consenting adults about his age at the time. Mr. Mitterrand had referred to the male prostitutes sometimes as “garçons,” or boys, and sometimes as “gosses,” or kids, injecting some ambiguity about age into the debate. Had he committed an error? “An error, yes. A crime, no,” the minister said Thursday, ruling out his resignation. Mr. Polanski’s case has a special resonance in France because the 76-year-old director was born in France. He fled the United States in 1978 and had been living in France before being arrested in Switzerland on Sept. 26.