OMEN
09-27-2007, 08:09 PM
Prostitutes' clients should be shamed with a fine and a written notification at their home address, Italy's interior minister said.
"I feel a pinch of malice towards the clients," Giuliano Amato told the upper house of parliament.
Prostitutes should also be barred from streets near churches and areas popular with minors, he said.
His proposal to send fines to home addresses was met with criticism on the left and right of the political spectrum.
"Amato seems to ignore the impact that such a measure would have on families," said Alessandra Mussolini, a right-wing parliamentarian and the granddaughter of wartime dictator Benito Mussolini.
Clients of prostitutes are not punished in many countries, including Italy, where the number of street walkers has increased dramatically in recent years.
Italian law effectively turns a blind eye to prostitution, punishing only "exploiters of prostitution", meaning pimps.
Amato's recommendations are part of a government campaign to force prostitutes off the streets. The minister said some rights groups were concerned such a measure could put the women in more danger by exposing them to abuse in brothels.
Reuters
"I feel a pinch of malice towards the clients," Giuliano Amato told the upper house of parliament.
Prostitutes should also be barred from streets near churches and areas popular with minors, he said.
His proposal to send fines to home addresses was met with criticism on the left and right of the political spectrum.
"Amato seems to ignore the impact that such a measure would have on families," said Alessandra Mussolini, a right-wing parliamentarian and the granddaughter of wartime dictator Benito Mussolini.
Clients of prostitutes are not punished in many countries, including Italy, where the number of street walkers has increased dramatically in recent years.
Italian law effectively turns a blind eye to prostitution, punishing only "exploiters of prostitution", meaning pimps.
Amato's recommendations are part of a government campaign to force prostitutes off the streets. The minister said some rights groups were concerned such a measure could put the women in more danger by exposing them to abuse in brothels.
Reuters