The Firm is helping young girls in France to escape the world of child prostitution through our pro bono partnership with leading charity, Agir Contre La Prostitution Des Enfants (ACPE), and the Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights (AADH).

We’ve been working with ACPE for the past five years, with around 15 lawyers from our Paris office assisting the alliance, the girls themselves and their families in the legal fight against the perpetrators, helping with three or four cases a year.

Counsel Anastasia Pitchouguina, who has worked on several cases for ACPE, explains: “We help them in criminal procedures, so the victim’s word is taken into account during the trial, and so they can start a new life, knowing they no longer need to use their bodies to make money.”

The fight against child prostitution is a complex one, partly because some of the victims don’t always understand that they are being abused and that they are victims of their pimp. The use of drugs often makes them dependent on the people who exploit them, which means a criminal trial can be difficult.

“In some cases, the parents bring the case on behalf of their children and in others we represent the children themselves, but either way it is a heart-breaking situation,” says Anastasia. “We’re happy to be doing something to bring justice and to make a lasting difference in peoples’ lives.”

Our work with ACPE often includes cases linked to a prostitution network known as De Cités.

Anastasia explains: “The gang typically preys on girls by getting them addicted to hard drugs, pressuring them to turn to prostitution to pay for their addiction, and locking them in apartments that have been converted into brothels.

“In one case, the victim’s mother had discovered that her daughter was involved in prostitution when she saw her in online advertisements.

“In this case, we helped the parents bring a successful criminal case against the gang, which resulted in the girl breaking free of the world of child prostitution.”

The Paris office also provides legal support for several cases involving Nigerian prostitution networks.

“The victims can be as young as 11, having been sold by their families to go to work in Europe, often to pay off a debt,” says Anastasia. “They have their passports taken away and are kept captive by a handler, known as a Mama, who prevents them from escaping.”

Our pro bono work on these cases is contributing to the ongoing fight against child prostitution, because the damages obtained are being used by ACPE to set up prevention plans and educational booklets, raise awareness, and make legislative progress to protect victims.

Anastasia says: “We also work with the Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH), the Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights.

“As part of this work, we train lawyers to assist unaccompanied minors and victims of trafficking in France, helping them apply for a residence permit, get support from social services, have access to education, and move towards a safer lifestyle. We also help them to file complaints and prosecute those who have exploited them.”

The Paris office’s support of AADH and the ACPE involves a large commitment. Thanks to supervising partners Ludovic Malgrain and Bertrand Liard and associate involvement, we can keep working on such cases.

“Assisting on cases with the ACPE can be a lengthy process,” explains Anastasia. “From the office’s perspective, supporting ACPE is a big investment of time, because lawyers can be away from the office for a week or more during a trial.

“It’s also a big commitment for the lawyers themselves, because they often choose to work during holidays or weekends to work on these cases.

“But this is a priceless opportunity for us to learn new skills, be given responsibility and, most importantly, make a difference on a very important issue.

“Following a case, we often hear from the ACPE or the victim’s parents telling us how grateful they are, including from girls who have managed to start a new life. It is touching to see the human impact our work has.

“We are helping people who, without ACPE or access to free legal help, would never have sought help, so they can hardly believe that a big American law firm would support them.”