Can a country eradicate prostitution by punishing not the people who sell their bodies for sex, but the people who buy them? asks the BBC.
That is the ambitious premise behind new legislation to be debated soon in the French National Assembly.
The bill tabled by the ruling Socialist Party (PS) contains more than 20 articles. Most of them are aimed at disrupting foreign pimping networks, or helping sex workers who want to stop.
Another abolishes an existing law against touting.
But the bit which has got France talking is Article 16.
For the first time in France, this would make it an offence for a person to "have recourse to prostitution", in other words to pay for sex.
Those found guilty would be liable for fines of 1,500 euros (£1,250; $2006) - double that if it was a repeat offence.
In addition, the man who paid for sex would be made to undergo an "awareness" course on prostitution, similar to ones on the dangers of drink-driving given to traffic offenders.
The bill has a good chance of passing into law.
A similar resolution was voted through the assembly at the end of 2011, with the support of both left and right. It only failed to proceed because of lack of parliamentary time.
But shifting the criminal burden away from prostitutes, and onto those who use them, is a major ethical and social change. And ahead of the parliamentary debate - scheduled for 27 November - the national debate is starting to catch fire.
Read more of this report from the BBC.