Italian prostitutes offer their services for free to clients who have received fines

Prostitutes in the Italian city of Padua in the Veneto region offered their services for free to clients fined by the police in protest against a city ordinance against prostitution instituted by the Mayor Flavio Zanonato.

This new ordinance is intended to crack down on clients of prostitutes with fines of up to 50 euros. Similar fines are also applied to any person whose dress offends “public decency”.

In repudiation of this measure, more than 80% of women working in the streets will offer services for free to clients who have been fined by the police. To identify themselves as participating in the campaign, they will wear a pink symbol related to love.

Original in Spanish at www.unominuto.com

Brazilian transsexual will lead prostitutes’ march in Padua

A serious and colorful protest: that is how the prostitutes of Padua are announcing their demonstration against the new by-law implemented by Mayor Flavio Zanonato that fines clients of street prostitution.

The leader of the action is Kristal, a Brazilian transsexual who has been living in Italy for 10 years and was elected spokeswoman of the prostitutes of Padua.

Prostitutes from all across Italy are expected to join the demonstration. The march is slated to take place on the 16th of May, starting in front of the train station, winding through the city and ending in front of City Hall.

“The march will be our first victory,” according to Kristal. “The police chief of Padua wanted to block our march from arriving at City Hall but after a meeting yesterday, he guaranteed that the streets will be free for the trajectory we asked for.”

“We will be wearing conservative clothing,” said Kristal. “We won’t wear our work clothes because we don’t want to provoke nor to be provoked. We are demonstrating for our citizenship rights against this law. Nothing more.”

However, the colorfulness of the march is guaranteed nonetheless according to the spokeswoman.

“There will be balloons and posters, in many languages representing all the nationalities of women who work in the street and who say no to this law.”

Some of the posters will showcase large-scale versions of the “pink stamp of love”, a symbol that the street prostitutes have adopted to announce to any client who receives a fine that he is entitled to a free session in protest against the law.

The march will include 100 prostitutes from Padua as well as prostitutes and supporters arriving from all other Italian cities such as Rome, Milan, Genoa and Venice.

Once they arrive at City Hall, the march will meet up with the anti-globalization movement of the Pedro Social Center. “We made an agreement”, according to leader Max Gallob, “to broadcast live important developments of the march to Sherwood independent radio. We will broadcast telephone solidarity messages from celebrities like rapper Caparezza and singers Gianna Nannini and Don Gallo.

The actions, says Gallob, will be done “to combat the absurd competition between Mayor Zanonato, Mayor Sergio Cofferati of Bolonia and Giancarlo Gentilini, vice-mayor of Treviso, to see who can be the most conservative mayor in all of Italy.”

Other local groups will support the demonstration, like Arcigay Padova, The Association for the Rights of Workers, Peace Vagabonds and Nomadic Labor.

As for the law, it has not been revoked. The police of Padua are undertaking a number of acts of repressions against the activities of prostitutes. These nights, three Romanian prostitutes with European citizenships had their visas notified by the Chief of Police. Four others who had refused to submit to the same procedure were denounced. (ANSA, 15/05/2007 10:57)