In what could be a precedent-setting
verdict, a Rome court on Wednesday ruled that prostitutes have a
right to demand payment for their services, and that their
earnings cannot be considered illicit.
The ruling came in the case of Nigerian woman who pestered a
client with text messages demanding her agreed-upon 100 euro fee
which the john, an Italian, refused to pay after the deed was
done.
The court downgraded the woman's charges from extortion,
which is punishable with six-to-20 years in prison, to a lesser
one of coercion, sentencing her to four months.
There was no extortion because "the earnings were rightfully
hers", the court wrote.
"This extremely young woman who does not speak a word of
Italian, making her an inevitable victim of trafficking and
exploitation, cannot be considered on an equal basis with her
Italian client, an economically powerful professional, who
arrogantly abuses this position of power in order to avoid
paying for sexual services rendered", the court added.
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