the essential
More than 10 years ago, Belfort was a stronghold of street prostitution in Toulouse. A municipal decree, renewed every year, now prohibits the practice. But not all residents and traders are satisfied with it.
“It didn’t cause any trouble,” remembers a trader. Place de Belfort in Toulouse, located near the train station, was a hotbed of prostitution. But over the past 10 years, and a municipal shutdown, this activity has greatly decreased. “It is prohibited for persons engaged in prostitution to park or engage in repeated comings and goings on the streets, quays, squares, sidewalks, parking spaces and private roads open to public traffic located in the following perimeters” , details the document from Toulouse town hall.
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“They were very nice”
“We still see them, but only in the adjacent streets, whereas before, they circulated directly on the square,” adds the merchant, who even remembers the first name of some of them. They were very nice.” He doesn’t see their departure in a good light. “In a way, they held the neighborhood. Security has taken a big hit since they’re gone.” According to him, deal points exist.
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Same observation for a passer-by, who works in the neighborhood: “They always said ‘hello’, we talked. But today, it’s not as calm.” A resident, encountered a little further away, also regrets their presence. “They didn’t cause me any harm,” he says. “If they’re no longer there, it’s because they’ve been pushed aside, and maybe they’re more in danger elsewhere,” he says. he asks.
A transformed place
“It’s much better now, we’re less invaded,” adds a local restaurateur. The latter has been present in the neighborhood since 2005. And he has observed “a radical change” since “the square was redone” and “the Covid period”. He explains that at the time, prostitution caused “a lot of nuisance, especially for neighboring residents, I pitied them”. “There was also sometimes a little violence.”
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Today, he has decided to adapt his activity to the popularity of the place: “I only serve food during meal times, but I do not make drinks during the afternoon for example, so that my customers do not be bothered on the terrace, by the different passages.”
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