In an effort to curb his town's prostitution problem, the Mayor of Padua announced a new law that would see a 50 euro fine to any car spotted "stopping traffic" by accosting a lady of the night.
About one hundred protesting prostitutes marched on Padua in response. To add to the furore, the organised sex workers decided to offer free nookie to all those who had been fined. All the nicked cruisers have to do is show the receipt of their fine, and they get a pink sticker in exchange. Currently, about 90 per cent of the prostitutes in Padua are offering their services gratis to those exhibiting this sticker.
We sent one of our writers, Claudio Pelusio, to take some pictures and try to sneak into city hall The protest came to a head last Thursday when more than one hundred professional sex workers most of them transsexuals marched from the train station to the city hall.
About twenty of them were allowed to enter. They demanded to speak to the mayor and announced the free-love sticker system, but the mayor didn't show up. I managed to sneak in among the curious. Cristal, the prostitutes' spokeswoman, hung on to a microphone for the duration of the meeting and demanded that the sidewalks be left to the jurisdiction of it's experts. I was like all the other women. Like your mothers and your sisters and your girlfriends. There was a lot of laughing and sneering and heckling.
She argued that she had a right to sell her body if she wanted to. Rosy, a Senegalese transsexual, said she was very happy with how the day turned out.
