Are Italian prostitutes forced to wear vests for their safety?

The Daily Mail recenty shared a story about an Italian town that plans on forcing local prostitutes to wear reflective construction vests to improve traffic safety.

“Prostitutes in Italy will be forced to ditch miniskirts and revealing tops for reflective jackets and trousers worn by road workers in a bid to improve highway safety,” The Daily Mail wrote. “The sex workers gathering on a main road into Milan in northern Italy face a 500 euro (£350) fine if they refuse to wear the unflattering high-visibility attire. Authorities in the town of Spino d’Adda say the prostitutes cause a road-safety problem on the route from Milan to Cremona, and should be treated as construction workers.”

Pretty outrageous right?

It was almost a bit too outrageous. So Metro investigated the story to see of the story held water. It turns out that yes, prostitutes in an Italian town will be forced to wear reflective construction vests, but not for traffic safety.

It’s simply to shame them and to drive them out of the town.

Italian news site Ill Fatto Quotidiano (The Daily Fact) first reported the story on August 19th with the headline “Prostitute, sindaco lombardo le obbliga a indossare giubbino catarifrangente.”

This roughly translates to Prostitutes, Mayor Lombardo orders them to wear reflective jackets”

The story goes on to explain that it’s not a matter of safety but a matter of eradicating prostitution from the town. Their hope, it would appear, is for prostitutes to be so turned off to the idea of wearing reflective vests that they would leave the town.

So did the Daily Mail get it right? Kinda. Sure prostitutes in a town near Milan may have to start wearing reflective clothing, but it certainly isn’t for their safety.

Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.