Vatican City - The Vatican has for the first time backed the jailing of prostitutes' clients as a way of ending what it calls "a form of modern slavery".
A document issued by the Vatican department that deals with migration said clients "must receive something more than a social condemnation and be confronted with the full rigour of the law". It cited with approval legislation introduced in Sweden in 1999 which provided for sentences of up to six months in jail.
The statement, issued after a two-day conference on prostitution and human trafficking hosted by Vatican in June, said the number of women around the world taking to the streets had "grown dramatically". It said "a growing number of men search out prostitutes more to dominate them than for sexual satisfaction", adding that the clients needed help as well as punishment because of their "deep-rooted problems".
At the heart of the Vatican's document was the argument that "selling your body on the street is not something you would voluntarily choose to do". Prostitution was thus "an offence to the dignity [of women] and a serious violation of human rights".
Missionaries, monks, nuns, priests, bishops and psychologists from numerous countries took part in last month's conference, organised by the Japanese cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao. Its conclusions were welcomed by the Italian church's leading expert on prostitution, Father Oreste Benzi, a Rimini parish priest who said a policy of inflicting very high fines on kerb crawlers had virtually ended streetwalking in what was once one of Italy's most vice-ridden towns.
The Italian parliament is considering a bill to change the law on prostitution. But several MPs, on the left and the right, expressed reservations about the Vatican's new stance.
Franco Grillini, a member of the main opposition party, the Left Democrats, and a leader of Italy's main gay rights group, Arcigay, said: "Prostitution, if it is between two consenting adults, ought not to be considered an offence." Gaetano Pecorella, of the governing Forza Italia party, said: "Fines are fine. In fact, they are in our bill. But I would not want to go further than that."
Three years ago, the International Organisation for Migration estimated that criminals were trafficking four million people every year into prostitution and exploitative work, in a trade that yielded $7bn (£3.9bn) annual profits.