Italy Escort Services Italy

Before 1959, prostitution in Italy was fully legal into so-called case chiuse (closed houses), private houses where prostitution could be legally carried on. In 1959, the legge Merlin (Merlin Law, named after its main author, socialist MP Lina Merlin) was approved: this law, still in force today, revoked the regulation of prostitution in the country, closed the case chiuse and established a new offence called sfruttamento della prostituzione (exploitation, solicitation of prostitution) with the aim to punish pimping. The law, despite its good intentions to give more rights to dependent prostitutes, caused a notable increase of street prostitution.

Street prostitution became much more visible in the early 1990s with the migratory wave from Eastern European countries after the fall of the Soviet regime.  Until 2008, there were no laws against street prostitution (although other laws concerning public order and decency could be used, and some places had local ordinances against street prostitution). At the end of 2008, a new measure outlawing street prostitution was approved by the Italian Cabinet.