This past summer in Perugia I decided to do my own private investigation into the current state of prostitution in Italy. What I found out was very interesting to say the least. Interesting and sad. Being able to speak Spanish was a big help. Met women working as prostitutes from Colombia, Argentina and other Spanish speaking countries including Brazil. I also speak Portuguese.

A proposito, it might surprise some people including many Americans to know that some of this same stuff is going on right here in the U.S.

I might add that the majority of prostitutes that I encountered were not street prostitutes. Some had their own apartments and some were in rooms owned by someone that would be termed as a pimp or sex slave driver.

Trafficking women and girls into prostitute slaves in Italy

More than 8,000 Albanian girls are prostituted in Italy, and more than 30% of them are under 18 years, stressed participants of a seminar in Tirana, Albania on the international traffic of women and children. The main reason for this trafficking is the economic inequality between richer countries and the poverty in Albania. The speakers asked governments and politicians to take measures to ensure that human rights are respected. (G.J. Koja, "8000 Albanian Girls Work as Prostitutes in Italy," HURINet – The Human Rights Information Network, 25 July 1998)

In Milan, Italy, 80% of street prostitutes are foreigners (Brussa, 1995, p.49) ("Trafficking of Women to the European Union: Characteristic, Trends and Policy Issues," European Conference on Trafficking in Women, June 1996, IOM, 7 May 1996)

There are 19,000-25,000 foreign prostitutes in Italy. Approximately 2,000 have been trafficked. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

The victims of trafficking are between age 17-20, with some as young as 14. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

Education levels of women trafficked into Italy vary. Some, particularly from Nigeria, have never attended schools; others, especially the older women, have university degrees. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

The majority of the women and girls trafficked into Italy reported that they had not engaged in prostitution in their home country. Entry into Italy was usually legal on a tourist or entertainment visa. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

In 1994 three legal complaints of forcing someone into slavery were filed. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

In Milan, women abducted from the countries of the former Soviet Union were auctioned on blocks, and sold at an average price of just under US$1,000. (Michael Specter, "Traffickers’ New Cargo: Naive Slavic Women," New York Times, 11 January 1998)

Foreign women in "call girl" prostitution in Italy are from Poland, Russia, Colombia and Argentina and to a lesser extent from Brazil, Hungary, Romania and the Philippines. Frequently they have been in prostitution in their home country. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

75-80% of the women trafficked for prostitution in Italy are in street prostitution. Those to whom they are indentured often use violence against women. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

In Italy, trafficked and/or prostituted Polish women arrived around 1989, followed, in 1992, by Nigerians and some Peruvians and Colombians. Between 1993 and 1994 Albanians came and, by 1995, it was Albanians and Nigerians. (European Race Audit Bulletin No. 25, The Institute of Race Relations, London UK, 25 November 1997)

Rome is the concentrated region of trafficked Albanian and Nigerian women brought for the purpose of prostitution. (European Race Audit Bulletin No. 25, The Institute of Race Relations, London UK, 25 November 1997)

Girls and women trafficked to Italy are typically single, aged 14-18, and less frequently aged 19-24 (Caritas, European Race Audit Bulletin No. 25, The Institute of Race Relations, London UK, 25 November 1997)

Italy was a holding area for Asian children being trafficked by Chinese and Japanese criminal gangs ("Pedophilia ring uncovered in Italy," USA Today, Nov. 1997)

Foreigners Charged for Encouraging, Exploiting and Aiding and
Abetting Prostitution. Sex and Countries of Origin, Year 1994

Countries of origin No. of persons charged # of women
Europe 168 19
Austria 4 1
Belgium 1 0
Denmark 1 0
France 3 0
Germany 2 0
Greece 2 1
Luxembourg 1 1
Albania 70 2
Czech Republic 3 0
Ex-Yugoslavia 65 11
Poland 4 1
Romania 3 0
Turkey 1 0
Hungary 3 1
Ex-URSS 5 1
Africa 57 17
Algeria 1 0
Cameroon 1 1
Egypt 2 0
Ghana 2 1
Ethiopia 8 2
Morocco 3 0
Nigeria 18 9
Senegal 5 1
Tunisia 12 1
Others 5 2
Asia 4 1
Syria 1 0
Thailand 1 1
Others 2 0
South America 29 18
Argentina 2 2
Brazil 7 3
Colombia 7 3
Peru 6 5
Uruguay 7 5
Total 258 55

Source: ISTAT, Yearbook 1994

Methods and Techniques of Traffickers

Albanian women and girls trafficked into Italy were usually recruited informally by friends or relatives. There is usually a relationship between the trafficked woman and her traffickers. Traffickers are often young criminals, attracted by the possibility of earning easy money. This traffic in Albanian women tends to be organized by independent groups operating on a small scale. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

Trafficking from Nigeria is especially well organized, and centers around a female figure called "Mama" who plays a key role in persuading young women to leave their homes for Italy. Women are recruited by means of deception, physical threats or payments made to the women’s families. The women are particularly easily controlled because they and their families are forced to pay back huge debts to the trafficking organization for the cost of their trip and related expenses. It can take several years to pay off these debts. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

Prostitution is hidden by women claiming they are in socially accepted jobs, such as hostesses and dancers, beauticians, masseuses, strippers, pornographic video actresses, entertainers. Women in these positions are frequently trafficked. Many women were in similar circumstances in their home country and got work permits in Italy as "artists." Some women are aware of what they are going to do in Italy; some are intentionally deceived with prospects of an artistic career as dancers or actresses. This type of prostitution generally involves women from Central and Eastern Europe, Brazil, Colombia and, less frequently, the Philippines. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

Traffickers use the same migration routes and methods that are generally used for illegal migration from Albania. They use fishing boats to the limit of territorial waters and small boats to the Italian coast (especially on the Otranto Channel, between Pulgia’s southern coast and Albania, or along the Calabrian coast southwards, or the coast of Abruzzo northwards), or the coast route along the eastern Adriatic coast northwards. The total cost of the journey is around US$ 2,800 to 5,000 depending on the route and the expected difficulties. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)

Nigerian girls are contracted in the suburbs of cities, such as Lagos or Benin City, and in the countryside in the south and east. Madams act as "go-betweens" for girls and women and the traffickers. Money is sent to the madam to pay the debt to the traffickers and to the girls’ families. (Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy," IOM, June 1996)