Esohe Aghatise
Violence Against Women, Vol. 10, No. 10, 1126-1155 (2004)
This article gives an overview of the problem of trafficking for prostitution in Italy and notes different trafficking dynamics according to countries of origin of the victims. It examines changes in trafficking patterns, various activities carried out by the Italian government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to assist victims, the Italian legal framework used to combat trafficking, and the recent government proposal to legalize brothels. In conclusion, the article suggests strategies to combat prostitution and trafficking. The main emphasis is on the trafficking of Nigerian women and girls to Italy.
The international trafficking of persons, especially of women and children for prostitution and other purposes, is a global scourge and a worldwide problem of monumental scope. Trafficking and prostitution are literally embodied in the use of women and young girls for commercial sexual exploitation. The commercialization of women’s bodies is tolerated and indeed encouraged to satisfy male sexual needs and desires and defended as a resolution to problems of male sexuality and sexual identity and the relational problems of men. Prostitution, mistakenly defined as the so-called “oldest profession,” is and continues to be accepted as an integral part of the social exchange between men and women, while the inherent violence contained in such an exchange is often denied and left to perpetuate itself.
Legal trends, particularly in some European countries, actually or potentially legalize or decriminalize the system of prostitution and sanction it as a normal part of the social order.1 In several countries, this means regulating prostitution and thus ensuring its survival and the continued abuse of women and children who are its greatest victims. In other countries, prostitution has been and is being increasingly proposed as an alternative employment outlet for women. State regulation of prostitution, or outright legalization, is often supported by progressive political parties and advocates who claim that some form of legalization/decriminalization/regulation of prostitution will provide social and economic benefits to women in prostitution industries.2
This article examines the insidious nature of prostitution and argues that it is impossible to combat trafficking where prostitution is legally sanctioned. Those who call for an end to the trafficking of women and children and yet support the legalization and thus the expansion of systems of prostitution send contradictory messages. This article illustrates that we cannot end trafficking unless we first put a stop to the commercialization of women’s bodies in prostitution. As long as prostitution is tolerated, and governments permit it to be practiced as a legal and valid employment alternative, trafficking in and violence against women will continue.
Trafficking of persons in Italy involves adults and minors trafficked for sex—mostly young women and girls—and adults and children trafficked for labor. Minors are exploited in various illegal activities, which include begging, stealing, illegal international adoptions, pornographic activities, and a possible trading in children for organs. Without any hope of regularizing their legal status, workers are exploited in jobs where they are compelled to labor in subhuman conditions and often employed in criminal activities. Most women and young girls are exploited in prostitution.
The phenomenon of foreign women and girls who line the roadsides of Italy, having been sold into prostitution, has become a notorious fact of Italian life. Most of the women and girls come from Africa and from Eastern Europe where they have been lured into prostitution with the promise of higher earnings. Others may think they are coming to work in nightclubs as dancers or entertainers.
Nigeria is the main country of origin for women and girls who are sold into prostitution in Italy. The highest numbers of trafficked women and girls into Italy come from Nigeria and continue to grow (Turin Municipal Council, 2002). A smaller number of women and girls originate from Kenya, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast. Outside Africa, other countries of origin from which the highest numbers of women are trafficked are Romania, Albania, Moldavia, Russia, and Bulgaria (Turin Municipal Council, 2002). There are various differences in the modalities of trafficking between those women and girls trafficked from Africa and those trafficked from Eastern Europe.
As president of the IROKO Association (Associazione IROKO O.N.L.U.S.), a multicultural nonprofit organization founded in Italy in 1998, I have provided direct assistance to many victims of trafficking and prostitution. IROKO’s services include protected accommodation facilities and temporary economic assistance; cultural mediation and accompaniment of immigrants to various social, health, and assistance services; free legal counseling; translation of personal documents and interpretation; defense and promotion of immigrants’ rights; and preventive intervention. IROKO collaborates with local and international groups and associations to further assist victims of trafficking and prostitution in searching for jobs and housing, learning the basic concepts of the Italian language for easier communication, providing psychological sustenance, which makes use of cultural aspects in assisting victims of trafficking, and preventing trafficking through the use and diffusion of informative materials on the real situation of girls and women who accept fantastic unspecified socalled jobs abroad.
IROKO also carries out primary research on trafficking and violence against women and children. Much of the information in this article about the situation of Nigerian victims of trafficking comes from case studies gathered from direct service work with victims of trafficking in a network of social services in Italy; and from IROKO’s research on trafficking from Nigeria titled “Research and Case Studies on the International Trafficking of NigerianWomen and Girls for Prostitution in Italy” (E. Aghatise, 2001). This research includes information on the political, social, and cultural motivations behind the sex trafficking of young girls andwomenfromNigeria and Eastern European countries to Italy, obtained from interviews with families, young people, and government officials.
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