Paris's sex trade is threatened by a new conservatism and a wave of East European prostitutes. Hannah Godfrey talks to the streetwalkers fighting to save their livelihoods
Casual visitors to the Bois de Boulogne at night find they have wandered into a surreal enchanted wood. Among the trees gleam exposed flesh, bottoms and breasts are displayed in bizarre leather arrangements, thighs spring from high boots — here almost all the prostitutes are men. Some have been operated on but most are pumped full of hormones and silicone.
Behind this carnivalesque scene is a rigid organisation. Each section of each alley relates to a geographical area — Colombian, Brazilian, Peruvian, North African, Spanish, and so on.
On a secluded street in another part of town are transvestites, mainly from Algiers. Prostitution in Paris is a complex industry, with tight internal regulation.
http://www.walnet.org/csis/news/world_2003/observer-030119.html
