Police in Rome issued over 100 fines to both prostitutes and their clients during the first day of a new city council decree to clean up the streets and strike out at rackets that force women to sell sex.
Some 30 clients and 76 prostitutes, most of whom were of Romanian and South American origin, were slapped with 200-euro fines during a sweep of Rome's most notorious roads.
Right-wing Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno said Wednesday that the results from the first day of the decree were ''excellent'' and added that there was ''great support'' among Rome residents for the initiative.
''I encourage the police to continue enforcing the decree with great firmness so that the sex market is not the first image of Rome that visitors and tourists see on the streets that lead into the city,'' he said.
But a city police union said the decree was confusing.
''Any scantily dressed girl walking around Rome is at risk: who decides how short a skirt must be to prove that someone was soliciting?'', a union spokesman asked.
''Reading the text of the decree literally, a volunteer who offers a hot tea to a prostitute could be fined,'' he added.
A Rome mechanic identified as Franco was the first victim of the new decree on Tuesday after he was caught soliciting a Brazilian transsexual on the outskirts of Rome.
''I didn't know anything about the new fines. I'm not hurting anyone. I woke up this morning at six to go to work and as I was on my way home I passed the prostitutes: if they're here, you use them,'' he said, adding that he ''would not be voting for Alemanno again''.
A 22-year-old Romanian was the first prostitute to be slapped with a fine on Tuesday, which she said she could not afford to pay.
Alemanno has pledged to increase the 200 euro fines to 500 euros within a fortnight but says women who are forced onto the streets by threats or violence will be exempt from penalties.
Rome is the latest large Italian city to take advantage of a new law that gives greater powers to city mayors to deal with public safety issues as part of the government's emergency security decree.
Padua and Verona were the first large cities to set the maximum 500 euro fine in August.
Cities and towns across the country have been following suit, with Capua in Campagna launching 500-euros fines for prostitutes and clients on Wednesday.
At the moment only the exploitation of prostitution - pimping - is illegal in Italy, but city mayors combat the phenomenon through the use of fines, often via road traffic or public decency laws.
However, earlier this month the cabinet gave a first green light to a new bill that will make street prostitution illegal.
If passed, the bill will hit both sex workers and clients with fines ranging from 200 to 3,000 euros and jail terms of between five and 15 days.
It also foresees harsher penalties for clients who have sex with minors, and the repatriation of teenagers without family in Italy who are caught prostituting themselves.
Opposition politicians have criticised the bill, saying that clearing the streets will simply force the sex trade further underground.
But a survey by women's weekly Donna Moderna on Wednesday revealed that some 77% of Italians are in favour of the bill.
