Mafia enforcement is selective and excludes protection of begging or prostitution.

Evidence

There is no evidence, for instance, that the mafia has ever intervened directly to protect begging or prostitution. The oath taken in the initiation ritual, according to Calderone, forbids the exploitation of prostitutes (see Appendix B). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 999

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Gambetta’s core claim that mafia protection is selective — only protects sectors where demand exists; also complicates the pure ‘protection racket everywhere’ model from Chapter 1.
• QUESTION: Why would the mafia formally forbid exploiting prostitutes while commodifying everything else? Is this a functional boundary (protecting prostitutes isn’t viable) or a reputational gambit?