The French lower house of parliament has passed a prostitution law that imposes fines on clients.
Politicians voted 268 in favour and 138 against to give France some of the most restrictive legislation on prostitution in Europe - a radical switch away from the nation's traditionally tolerant attitude, the Guardian reported.
Those people who seek to buy sex would now be facing a 1,240-pound-fine, while the act of soliciting itself would no longer be punished.
Women's rights minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who championed the reform, said that prostitution in any form is unacceptable and President Francois Hollande's Socialist government's aim was to suppress the trade altogether.
