Rightist politician Daniela Santanche' has decided to promote a popular referendum to abrogate the law which 50 years ago outlawed brothels in Italy, the so-called Merlin Law.
''Overturning the Merlin Law and reopening brothels are the only way to combat this new slavery of child prostitutes, eliminate the horrid role of the pimp, isolate the criminal element, discourage drug use and make our streets safe,'' she said in an interview to be published in the upcoming edition of the magazine 'Chi' (Who).
Santanche', who unsuccessfully ran for premier as the candidate for The Right party and failed to win a seat in parliament, said she had already registered her proposal and would soon begin collecting the 500,000 signatures needed.
She added that she was convinced her initiative would have bipartisan support among women.
''Protected and controlled locations are needed (to practice prostitution), also in regard to health and hygiene,'' Santanche' said.
Santanche' and The Right, a party made up of defectors from the right-wing National Alliance and members of small neofascist parties, won just 2.4% of the popular vote in the mid-April elections.
A self-proclaimed fascist known for her outspoken views on Islam, prostitution and fellow MPs, Santanche' is also identified in Italian public opinion for a striking 'look', which she does not deny was in part created by a plastic surgeon.
According to a report earlier this year from the National Sexologists Association, prostitution in Italy has undergone a transformation in terms of both those who practise the profession and where and when it is practised.
The study said prostitutes today are no longer the old-style, uneducated working class girls who walk the streets.
On the contrary, modern prostitutes were technology-savvy women who often held degrees, preferred political talk shows over 'reality' programs and were content with their line of employment, the study observed.
The single largest category of prostitutes today is made up of students (27%), followed by housewives (18%) and women who held regular part-time jobs and, from time to time, receive clients at their own home for a little extra cash to help make ends meet.
In the majority of the cases women engage in this profession by choice and 43% consider it a temporary situation, the report said.
The work hours have also changed and today 26% of prostitutes prefer to exercise their profession in the early afternoon, from 1pm to 3pm, while only 16% still opt for the night.
In regards to where the profession is practised, today's prostitutes prefer their own home to the traditional sidewalk, considering it more safe and comfortable.
These findings were in contrast to a report this week from the Gruppo Abele, headed by the priest Don Ciotti, which dealt mostly with foreign prostitutes in Italy.
According to this study there are some 70,000 working prostitutes in Italy, many of them from 60 different countries who are controlled by foreign mafia gangs.
''Times have changed but the story remains the same. Today these unfortunate women are in many cases in the hands of foreign organized crime gangs who have occupied a market left open by our own mafia groups who have turned to more profitable activities like drug trafficking,'' Don Ciotti observed.
The study also calculated that prostitutes in Italy charge an average of 30 euros per customer and generate a turnover in the neighborhood of some 90 million euros a month.
The Gruppo Abele report was drawn up to coincide with the anniversary of the Merlin Laws.
