The French MPs against jailing clients of sex workers

In France, 343 men have joined a campaign to block French government plans to jail men who pay for sex.

The men have signed a petition opposing the move to punish the clients of sex workers and it has sparked outrage among French women's groups with its slogan: "Don't touch my whore".

Andrea Matolcsi, trafficking officer at Equality Now, told the Today programme's John Humphrys that she supported punishing men who use prostitutes.

Bénédicte Paviot, an Anglo-French correspondent based in London, explained that all men who have signed it have agreed they have either "used or reserve the right to use" the services of prostitutes.

"Prostitution is not the oldest profession for nothing," she added.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday 1 November 2013.