The mafia at times polices its territory as if it were responsible for public safety. Young thugs are recruited just to keep them off the street (see Chapter 3), and Latin lovers who harass women are not permitted an easy or indeed a long life. The presence of mafiosi and their enforcement of moral values may be responsible for the popular impression that Sicilian women are less frequently the target of macho attentions than women in other parts of Italy, presumably because one never knows to whom the potential victim may be related.

QUESTION: Curious whether Sicilian women actually do face less harassment, or whether this is folk impression. Also worth asking: does mafia 'moral enforcement' have other documented social effects?

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 423