1,500 Chinese sex workers shut up in houses in Rome

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 21 - Some 1,500 Chinese sex workers are currently shut up in houses in Rome, according to a study by a Rome university sociologist published in Rome daily La Repubblica as the capital is still reeling from the murder of two Chinese prostitutes and a Colombian transsexual sex worker last week.
    The working girls are forced by human traffickers to hand over their documents to madames who run the houses, said Francesco Carchedi's survey.
    The documents are then hidden to avaoid identification "in the event of problems," the study said.
    Martha Castano, a 65-year-old Colombian prostitute, has been named as victims of the former driver of a Neapolitan Camorra mafia boss, but the two Chinese women have remained anonymous.
    The survey, titled 'Imprisoned At Home', said that the madames run around 80 massage parlours, 600 'houses of appointment' and 10 private clubs where clients are prevalently Chinese and Italians are only let in by special invitation. (ANSA).