The Underestimated Danger of Street Prostitution in Italy
“Are you ever afraid?” we asked the young woman from Eastern Europe during our visits. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “We’re always afraid, every day. You never know who you’re getting into a car with. Some men are crazy…”
Street prostitution has been a visible part of the landscape in many Italian cities and streets for decades. Far less visible, however, are the serious dangers to which many sex workers are exposed every day. Scientific studies and police reports show that women who work on the street and get into clients’ cars, in particular, face a very high risk of violence, abuse, and even murder.
An Italian study on femicides linked to prostitution documented approximately 500 street sex workers killed between 1988 and 2018. According to the researchers, the most dangerous settings are “outdoor” ones—that is, encounters in cars, on isolated roads, or in industrial areas. In these places, there is often a complete lack of social oversight, and in an emergency, it is difficult to get help.
Many assaults occur during or after car rides with unknown clients. The Italian media have repeatedly reported cases of rape, robbery, and physical violence against sex workers who have gotten into cars with clients. The most vulnerable are often migrant women from Eastern Europe or Africa, who work in precarious conditions and are frequently under the control of criminal networks.
Researchers also point out that policies aimed at cracking down on and driving away street prostitution often exacerbate the problem. When sex workers are pushed away from busy areas, they end up working in more isolated locations, where the risk of violence increases significantly.
Studies conducted in Italy and other European countries thus reach a similar conclusion: isolation is one of the main risk factors in street prostitution. Encounters in cars, unknown clients, and isolated locations create situations in which women become particularly vulnerable.
Despite these risks, the phenomenon often remains invisible. Many assaults go unreported due to fear of social stigma, deportation, or retaliation by exploiters and criminal groups. For this reason, the actual number of violent incidents could be much higher than that reported by official statistics.