Italy

The governing statute is Legge 20 febbraio 1958, n. 75 (the "Legge Merlin"). Article 1 closed all brothels; Article 3 criminalizes anyone who owns, manages, rents premises for, recruits for, induces, aids ("favoreggiamento"), or exploits ("sfruttamento") the prostitution of others, punishable by 2–6 years and fines up to €10,329. Article 7 forbids any official registration of sex workers. In Sentenza n. 141/2019 the Corte Costituzionale upheld the criminalization of recruitment and aiding/abetting, rejecting a challenge brought via the Tarantini case. A June 2025 Senate bill (DDL 1523, Sen. Fazzone, Forza Italia) proposes reopening regulated brothels and banning street solicitation — it remains in committee and has not been enacted. No Nordic-model client-criminalization bill is currently advancing.

Independent indoor work in a private flat is the dominant and tolerated mode — but sharing a flat with another worker can trigger favoreggiamento charges, a long-standing complaint of the Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute. Since the 2017 Minniti decree and 2024–25 Piantedosi directives, mayors and prefects have issued "zone rosse" / Daspo urbano measures: Milan extended its red-zone ordinance through 31 March 2025; Rome, Bologna, Florence and Naples ran similar regimes, generating 14,000+ checks and a 37.5% YoY rise in removal orders by end-2024. The Constitutional Court has separately struck down overreaching mayoral security powers, so these ordinances must be time-limited.

GDPR applies fully, supervised by the Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali. Since November 2025, AGCOM's enforcement of the Caivano Decree requires adult content platforms operating in Italy to implement age assurance, with fines up to €250,000; this affects content monetization sites but not classic escort ad directories. Cassazione 37188/2010 held that camgirl platform operators based in Italy can be prosecuted under Art. 3 if they profit from organizing remote paid sexual interaction.

EU/EEA citizens have free movement and can work independently. Non-EU workers need a residence permit covering self-employment — a tourist Schengen visa does not authorize work. Since April 2025, ISTAT's ATECO code for "altri servizi alla persona n.c.a." has been used by independent workers to open a Partita IVA at the Agenzia delle Entrate (verify the current code with a commercialista before registering, as codes can be reassigned). Cassazione 20528/2010 already required IRPEF tax on habitual or occasional prostitution income. Main hubs: Milan, Rome, Bologna, Florence, Turin, Naples, Venice.

Italian-facing: EscortForumIT, Incontri-Escort.it (EscortGroup.eu), Bakeca Incontri. International platforms in use: Tryst.link, EuroGirlsEscort, Erobella. Hosting platforms remain lawful provided they do not bundle photo, marketing or coordination services.

• Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute (CDCP)
• Associazione Iroko Onlus — Rome
• Associazione Certi Diritti — civil rights advocacy