Paris-Dauphine University and Bois de Boulogne: two face to face worlds

Paris-Dauphine is a prestigious university located right next to the Bois de Boulogne, a wood famous as being a major location for prostitution.

A hundred meters apart, only the West Ring (Périphérique ouest in French) separates these two spaces. Yet life differs completely depending on which side you are on. On the one hand, the academic world that trains the next financiers, sociologists, economists and start ups creators who will work in Paris, London or Shanghai. On the other side of the ring road, everyday life is more dangerous, animated by a network of pimps. Although the Bois de Boulogne ^[1]Litterally translated: the Boulogne Wood, from the name of the nearby town. This 846 hectares urban forest, despite its name, belongs to the city of Paris. Notes: BdF is also a place to relax with the Jardin d’Acclimatation, the Auteuil and Longchamp racetracks as well as the Pré-Catelan and the lakes, the fact remains that this place is home to around 400 prostitutes with a large majority coming from South America, often transsexual. The remaining are women, most of them from Eastern European countries.

From the top of the university library, on the 6th floor, students review the exams in front of this other universe without necessarily thinking of the various types of violence that can take place there. A world that lives more by day, another one that lives more by night. A world that promises parity and gender equality with more than 60% of student girls, another where women are exploited, precarious and attacked.

Cover photo: Paris-Dauphine University. Erwan Latrouite.

Translation and Editing : BdF.

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