ROME, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Legislation to outlaw prostitution in public places in Italy, including its streets and highways, will be put before Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's cabinet Thursday.

Titled 'Measures against Prostitution,' the draft law suggests prison terms of five to 15 days and fines of up to 13,000 euros (18,000 dollars) for 'all persons involved in prostitution or benefiting from it in public places'.

That would include clients as well as prostitutes themselves, according to the legislation that will be introduced by Equal Opportunity Minister Mara Carfagna.

Pimps responsible for under-aged prostitutes would face six to 12 years in prison and fines between 15,000 and 150,000 euros, according to excerpts of the legislation that appeared in Italian news media Tuesday.

Sex workers under the age of 18 without Italian citizenship would meanwhile be sent back to their families or to the authorities in their countries of origin.

An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 people, a third of them foreigners, are engaged in prostitution in Italy. Sixty-five percent are sex workers on public thoroughfares, and 20 percent are thought to be minors.