Human Trafficking in [Italy Street Children in [Italy] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Italy] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Italian Republic (Italy) [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The Italian Republic [map], located in S Europe, is bordered by France (NW), by the
Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea (W), by the Ionian Sea (S), by the
Adriatic Sea (E), by Slovenia (NE), and by Austria and Switzerland (N). The country includes the islands of Italy is a destination and transit country for women,
children, and men trafficked transnationally for the purposes of commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked
mainly from Nigeria, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Albania, and Ukraine but
also from Russia, South America, North and East Africa, the Middle East,
China, and Uzbekistan. Chinese men and women are trafficked to Italy for the
purpose of forced labor. Roma children continue to be trafficked for the
purposes of sexual exploitation and forced begging. Reportedly, an increasing
number of victims are trafficked for labor, mostly in the agricultural
sector. According to one NGO, 90 percent of foreign seasonal workers are
unregistered and two-thirds are in Italy illegally, rendering them vulnerable
to trafficking. The top five source countries for agricultural workers are
Poland, Romania, Pakistan, Albania, and Cote d’Ivoire. Traffickers reportedly
are moving victims more frequently within Italy, often keeping victims in
major cities for only a few months at a time, in an attempt to evade police
detection.
- U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Italy Rushes in Law to Ban 'Spare Part' Baby Sales Italy's government has vowed to push through legislation to stop the sale of human organs after a female gang auctioned off a newborn child near the southern port of Bari, possibly so that its organs could be used for transplants. The three-strong gang of Ukrainians, including the baby's mother, sold the boy for 350,000 euros (£250,000) while he was still in the womb, not realising that the successful bidders were undercover carabinieri police officers. ***
ARCHIVES *** Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS –
Organized criminal groups were responsible for most trafficking in the
country; prostitution rings routinely moved trafficked persons from city to
city to avoid arrest. Victims of trafficking were
usually lured to The following reported 2004
trafficking investigations remained ongoing at year's end: a Romanian father
who was selling his 10‑year-old child for sex in the outskirts of Milan;
two Albanians, one Egyptian, one Pakistani, and one Italian involved in
trafficking women from Eastern European countries for prostitution; six
Bulgarian men who accompanied Bulgarian women into the country who gave birth
to children and then sold the babies to Italian families for $13,500 (10
thousand euros) each; 12 persons, including 2 police officers, who were
arrested in Sassari and charged with trafficking for prostitution and
falsification of documents; and four persons who were accused of organizing
tours to Brazil that included the sexual services of girls ages 12 to 17. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2003 [49] The Committee welcomes the adoption
of Act 269/98 against the exploitation of prostitution, pornography, and
sexual tourism targeting children and the establishment of an
Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Coordination of the Government Action
Against Child Abuse and Trafficking in Minors and Women for Sexual Purposes.
Nevertheless, the Committee remains concerned at the numbers of children who
are trafficked for sexual purposes in the State party. Combating
Trafficking for Forced Labor Purposes in the OSCE Region Last year, press reports indicated
that in Poland, announcements in local newspapers lured workers to Italy for
seasonal jobs picking fruit and vegetables. They were promised an hourly wage
of up to $7.50, only after paying a finder’s fee and travel costs. Once in
Italy the reality was much different. Nearly 100 Polish workers were forced
to live in barracks with no sanitation or running water, fed only bread and
water and were paid just $1.25 an hour. With these meager wages, they were
unable to pay the room and board and were pushed into debt. Attempts to
resist were met with severe beatings and torture. With scars
that will never heal, one woman fights human trafficking "You can't imagine before you
come that you're going to end up a slave," Aikpitanyi said in an
interview in the elegant main square of Aosta, where she now lives. "You
don't realize that the world has returned to an era of slavery." Her story mirrors that of tens of thousands
of women from Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe who have been lured to the West
by the prospect of well-paid work as salesclerks or in factories. Once there, however, many find
that the organizations they used to handle the travel arrangements had
criminal intentions in mind. Documents
are withheld. Women find themselves isolated and are frightened into thinking
that they will be deported if they turn to the authorities for help. Many are forced into prostitution,
especially - as Aikpitanyi discovered to her horror - if there is a
substantial travel debt to repay (€30,000, or $42,000, in her case) and a
large family back home to support. Falling Short
of the Mark: An International Study on the Treatment of Human Trafficking
Victims [PDF] ITALY - Italy is generally meeting international
standards under the Trafficking Protocol for the protection of victims of
human trafficking, and it is a signatory to the European Trafficking
Convention. It provides for temporary residence for victims and combines
government funded support with civil society initiatives to protect these
vulnerable persons. There are, however, some troubling cases involving rapid
deportations of victims originating from certain countries which warrant
further attention. RESIDENCE - Since 1998, Italian immigration
law has provided foreign victims of human trafficking with a special
residence permit for a 6-month period. New study shames human traffickers http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143968455 International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) says Kenyans were also trafficked to Germany, Italy and South Africa for domestic
labour and prostitution. Its report, ‘Trafficking in
Persons — The Eastern Africa Situation’, notes that women and children were
favourite targets for well-organised trafficking rings, which operate freely
for lack of solid laws against the vice. Italy Rushes
in Law to Ban 'Spare Part' Baby Sales Italy's government has vowed to
push through legislation to stop the sale of human organs after a female gang
auctioned off a newborn child near the southern port of Bari, possibly so
that its organs could be used for transplants. The three-strong gang of
Ukrainians, including the baby's mother, sold the boy for 350,000 euros
(£250,000) while he was still in the womb, not realising that the successful
bidders were undercover carabinieri police officers. Italian
police crack down on human trafficking 'The trafficking and forced
prostitution of women, and minors in particular, is one of the most ignoble
crimes committed in Italy,' Amato said.
Police said Wednesday's arrests capped a four-month-long investigation
that allowed them to uncover how human traffickers operate in Italy. Some girls were 'bought' by
traffickers for 200 euros (260 dollars) in their home country and were then
brought to Italy, where they were forced to prostitute themselves. The money
they earned, which averaged 5,000 euros per month, was kept by their captors.
Women who dared rebel were often beaten and abused. Police said one 16-year-old girl was forced
to have unprotected sex and was sent back on the streets until she was
six-months pregnant. Suspected
human trafficking gang leader nabbed in Poland In July, a joint operation saw
Italian and Polish police free more than a hundred Polish citizens that were
being held in Nazi-style labour camps in Italy's Apulia region, close to the
cities of Bari and Foggi. Polish
prosecutors investigating the Italian slave labour camps using Polish
nationals began questioning victims in the case in mid- October. Polish justice officials believe that up to
1,000 Poles may have been used as slaves in Nazi-style agricultural labour
camps in the Apulia region that forms the heel of Italy's boot. Italy Acts To
Combat Trafficking Italy has been viewed as being
strong in the area of anti-traffickign legislation. 10,000 victims have
benefited from their laws between March 2000 and April 2005. They have
given victims training, education and work. However, Catholic Charity
Caritas feels that the initiatives are not fully meeting their goals.
Women are not given enough residency permits to stay in the country.
Also, they are not given legal protection so they are not secure from
deportation. Human
Trafficking Ring Raided in Italy "Gangsters working in Poland
recruited people looking for seasonal jobs picking fruit and vegetables in
Italy through announcements in local newspapers," Bienkowski told a news
conference. He said workers had to pay
travel costs and a one-time work-finders fee of up to $280. But once in
Italy, their situation quickly deteriorated. The workers were promised
$6.30-$7.50 per hour before leaving, but received only $1.25 an hour after
arriving, Bienkowski said. They were
quartered in barracks with horrible sanitary conditions and had to pay for
food and board, which pushed most of them into debt. A
Human Trafficking Victim Speaks With RFE/RL Martina was locked in a Rome
apartment for two months. Instead of working in a restaurant, she was beaten
and raped daily until she was “broken” and had become a sexual slave. Then,
she says, the man who bought her took her out to the street. New
arrests on charges of human trafficking in Bulgaria The actions of Bulgarian police
were co-ordinated with Italy’s top anti-mafia prosecutor Piero Grasso, who is
head of Italy’s anti-mafia operations. This co-ordination was a result of
Velchev’s and Petkov’s recent visit to Rome where Grasso asked for their
assistance in the fight against people trafficking. Europe-Wide
Human-Trafficking Ring Cracked Authorities across Europe say they
have arrested 41 Bulgarians in recent days after Italian police uncovered a
trafficking network that exploited hundreds of children. The arrests were in northern Italy,
Bulgaria, Germany, and Austria. Italian police say another 75 people have
been placed under investigation. Charges against the suspects include
enslavement, human trafficking, and drug smuggling. Trafficking
in Women from Nigeria to Europe DESTINATION Mafia
arms, drugs, prostitution ring smashed The network allegedly forced
eastern European women into prostitution in Italian
Group Uses 'Street Units' to Protect Victims of Sex Trafficking TAMPEP's approach is to send out
unita di strada (street units) that include 'cultural mediators' from the
same background as the trafficked women and girls. The units seek out likely
victims of trafficking, like Jessica, and offer them health education and
testing. Once inside the privacy of a health clinic, social workers set out
the woman's rights and options. Sex
Traffickers Prey On Eastern Europeans Maria says her nightmare began
after she and the other women arrived in Trafficked
Women in Italy Retain Faith Despite Exploitation Women smuggled into Italy and
forced to work as prostitutes experience a "nightmare" of exploitation
and abuse that leave them intensely traumatized, said an Italian nun who
heads an anti-trafficking initiative.
Almost 90 percent of the African women forced into prostitution in 6,000
children smuggled to the west each year for sex Researchers have identified
north-eastern Italy as a key sorting centre for girls from eastern Europe who
are either sold by their parents, kidnapped by organised crime gangs, or
lured abroad by the mirage of a better life. There is a particularly high
concentration of juvenile sex slaves in the area between Padua and Venice,
with 20% of prostitutes under the age of 18, compared to 5% in other Italian
cities, the charity said. Last year
250 girls managed to escape from their exploiters and seek assistance from
the Italian state. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - This project was carried out in
Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands concerning trafficking for the purposes of
sexual and/or labour exploitation in countries other than the origin as well
as victims of smuggling. The outset of the project was: to identify the
practices and mechanisms of transnational crime related to trafficking, to
contribute towards recommendations policy and to defines durable solutions
for preventing and combating THB. General recommendations are
provided in 14 clusters. However, in each country report, the researchers
offer an assessment of national laws and policies on THB as well as their
assistance programs. Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Italy,
Nigeria Take Action against Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation The main objective of the
programme is to contribute to the formulation and implementation of effective
policies in the field of criminal justice and social prevention to curb human
trafficking practices. The project focuses particularly on improving judicial
cooperation between the Nigerian and the Italian Government, on strengthening
Nigerian law enforcement, prosecution and criminal justice agencies involved
in counter trafficking, and also on awareness raising activities, both in
Nigeria and Italy, in order to protect the victims of such crimes. Albania
Mourns Smuggling Victims Albania mourns 21 human
trafficking victims that died last Saturday in the speedboat that was
transporting them to Italy. Fear remains that there have been more victims
that swill have to be found in the waters of the Ionian sea. Reining
in Child Trafficking in the New EU In this underworld of human trade,
children are trafficked for prostitution, domestic services, and begging, as
well as for work at construction sites, markets, small shops, and factories.
Hidden from sight and beyond the reach of the law, these children are
sexually abused, exposed to hazardous working conditions, confined to their
workplace, and denied education, basic health care, adequate nutrition, and
the safety and security of their families and communities. Treated like
slaves, countless numbers are exposed to health risks, such as HIV/AIDS and
other sexually transmitted diseases. The particular physical, psychological,
and psychosocial harm suffered by trafficked children in these situations, as
well as their special vulnerability to exploitation, require that they be
dealt with separately from adult trafficked persons in terms of laws,
policies, programs, and interventions. New danger for
Italy's foreign prostitutes THREATS - "On 4 October 2002 a man
brought me from Romania to Italy," says Helena, a slight 17-year-old,
with an empty expression and bruises on her arms and chest which she tries to
cover as she talks to me. "He
told me I had a job as a cleaner but he shut me in a house and took my
passport. "Then he and others
beat me and raped me until I agreed to work on the streets. They said if I
didn't do it they would kill my family." Mercy escaped her slavers last
year. Like many Nigerian women smuggled or lured into Italy with the promise
of jobs, Mercy was forced into prostitution to earn her freedom. But escape
did not end her nightmare. Three weeks after speaking publicly to human
rights groups about her experience, her sister was reported dead in Florence,
true to the threats made by her former captors. Some pay to be smuggled into
Europe, but end up as victims. In one smuggling run to Italy via Morocco,
seventeen Nigerian girls died when their boat capsized on the Mediterranean
Sea. Forty died after reaching their destination in Italy: brothels where
women and girls are forced to pay off a $50,000 debt by servicing a dozen men
per night. Trafficking
in Women to Italy for Sexual Exploitation EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The study describes how women
are trafficked to Italy for sexual exploitation. The ways in which these
women were recruited and transported to Italy, and the methods which are used
to control and exploit them are discussed. The role played by traffickers is
examined. Slavery &
Slave Trade In The African Union TRAFFICKING NIGHTMARE FOR NIGERIAN
CHILDREN - The
children's ordeal begins in Benin City in Nigeria is a dusty, sweaty,
frenetic and noisy place. Girls and boys are lured into sexual slavery with
tales of riches in far-off lands.
Osamede Iguobaro was just 14 when she was approached at a local
market. She was told she would earn big money pleating hair in Italy. She was smuggled across a number of West
African countries to the Ivory Coast where she was sold to a Nigerian woman -
a "Madame" based in Italy.
Like so many other teenage girls, she was forced to become a
prostitute. The case is now before a
Nigerian court but, even if convicted, the woman who sold her is likely to
escape with a fine. Grace Osakue, the
founder of Girls Power Initiative, says the real tragedy of Osamede's story
is just how routine it is. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Italy Street Children in [Italy] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Italy] [other countries]