Prostitution in Italy

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 8

Prostitution in Italy

(By l

PAUL HOFMANN,

'• of the New York Times News Service, through N.Z.P.A.)

ROME. A million prostitutes in Italy? This figure was suggested at a conference in Rome of the Committee for the Moral and Social Defence of Woman, and caused a nation-wide controversy. It means that one Italian woman in 10 in the 15-to-40 age-group is a prostitute. The committee, a conservative group, runs rehabilitation centres for socially handicapped women in various parts of the country. In 13 years, it says, it has assisted 25,000 women. Any tourist can see the swarms of streetwalkers in Rome, Milan, Turin, Naples and other cities. Call-girl rackets, often exploiting teen-agers, are exposed almost every week. ODD ADVERTISEMENTS The most respected newspapers—among them “Corriere Della Sera,” of Milan, and “Il Messaggero,” of Rome — print classified advertisements with the telephone numbers and often the addresses of massage parlours that are generally known to be houses of prostitution. The daily press also carries bizarre and suggestive publicity. As for advertising, two items under the heading “social relations” in “Il Tempo,” of Rome, recently i read: i “Stress, stress, stress. Very young girls receive by appointment. Phone 68.40.87 (down town).”

"Splendid, very young female, Viking and blond, French starlet, offer authorative, imaginative, particular conversations only with very

distinguished men. No. 6 Via Rasella (also at client’s home), 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.” The second advertisement, and many similar ones seem to indicate that the "social relations” field is attracting practitioners from abroad. Many advertisers identify themselves as “Vikings,” meaning Scandinavians, or newcomers from exotic places. 1958 CLAMP DOWN Police-supervised bordellos, evoked with some nostalgia in the film “Fellini’s Roma,” were closed throughout Italy in 1958. The law that banned brothels provided for punishment of pimps and other exploiters of prostitution but contained no sanction against the prostitutes. Since the licensed brothels went out of business, prostitution has spilled into the streets and has built a network of clandestine houses of assignation. The disturbances and crime in the wake of prostitution have brought about movements to repeal or amend the 1958 bill. However, the chances are slim for a new legal remedy in the near future. The estimate that a million Italian women are prostitutes was first attributed to Mrs Pia Colini Lombardi, a 69-year-old former member of the Chahiber of Deputies and a Roman Catholic sociologist, but was disavowed by her. She is president of the committee that held the conference. The presiding judge of the Florence Juvenile Court, Mr Gianpaolo Meucci, told the symposium that the loosening of family bonds was causing thousands of teenage girls to run away from home and swell the ranks of prostitutes. MANY UNDER 14 According to data presented at the conference,

half .the Italian prostitutes are under. 21 and many are under 14.

“La Stampa,” of Turin, while saying that the figure of a million was “untrustworthy,” said that the number in Turin had certainly multiplied recently. It recalled that at least seven women had been murdered in Turin in recent years in crimes related to prostitution. An official in Rome, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the estimate of a million prostitutes was wildly exaggerated but that there were “many, many thousands” in Rome and in all other big Italian cities. Burridge top apprentice “The Press" Special Service HASTINGS. The Hastings rider, M. Burridge, was awarded the Campbell Cup on Monday for the leading apprentice at the Hawke’s Bay District Apprentice School. Rehandicaps (N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND. Young Ida has been rehandicapped 31b to 8-5 and Papahu 41b to 7-12 for the Auckland Cup after their wins at Wanganui yesterday. Wanganui betting

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON. Investments with the Totalisator Agency Board on the Wanganui Jockey Club’s meeting yesterday amounted to $448,426 (win and place $250,955, and doubles $197,471). This was up $37,342.50 on last year’s figure. The total on-course investments were $121,493.