ROME, Dec 21 (AFP) - Italy's government says it will go ahead with plans to sweep prostitution off the streets with a bill likely to meet strong resistance from the opposition left and the Catholic Church.
The cabinet announced late Friday it would submit to parliament a draft bill which calls for fines of up to 1,000 euros (dollars) and jail sentences for prostitutes who solicit business in public places or open areas.
Their clients will also face fines.
"This bill will tackle the growth in prostitution we've seen in recent decades, its spread through the streets, the growing role of organised crime in pimping and its direct responsibility for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases," a cabinet statement said.
But where to put Italy's estimated 70,000 prostitutes -- around half of them illegal immigrants from poverty-stricken African countries -- is a question likely to spark controversy in the coming months when the bill goes before both houses of parliament.
Under the bill, prostitutes would be encouraged to form co-operatives and work in private apartments, provided they had the consent of other occupants in the building to ply their trade.
Those working in this way would be receive regular health checks for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Italy's left wing Il Manifesto daily said the move left the way open for the return of legalised brothels in Italy, which were outlawed in 1958.
The Vatican mouthpiece Osservatore Romano said the draft law "opens up a dangerous private front without tackling the substance of the phenomenon, which remains morally and socially unacceptable, offensive to the dignity of women."
The opposition centre left believe it is a mistake to target sex workers, who are more often than not exploited by organised crime gangs.
"I'm amazed," said an incredulous Livio Turco, a former left-wing minister. "They've really approved it? A law on prostitution on the eve of Christmas, without asking anyone?"
The debate was opened in January when Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi suggested that brothels, illegal in Italy since 1958, be allowed to reopen.
Berlusconi's government ally, Northern League leader Umberto Bossi wants to contain prostitution in special licenced "eros centres" in the larger Italian cities.
Prostitution is legal in Italy, but the exploitation of sex workers is a crime, which has become more widespread in recent years as organised crime gangs have smuggled in large numbers of illegal migrants to work on the streets.
Figures recently released by the government show that more than half of Italy's prostitutes are immigrants -- 60 percent of those from Nigeria and 25 percent from Albania.
About 65 percent of prostitutes work on the streets, 30 percent in hotels or nightclubs and about one percent out of their own homes.
Some 120,000 women and children are smuggled into Europe illegally each year, according to the equal opportunities ministry, which recently launched a campaign to socially reintegrate prostitutes and help them change career.
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