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Posted by ++ on June 15, 2007, 1:49 pm
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AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin 102
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Sexual Slavery Haunts Nigerian Women in Italy
June 15, 2007, Turin, Italy: When Angel, 21, decided to leave her home in
Nigeria for Italy, she expected to work in a factory. Instead, on arrival, she
found herself forced into degrading sexual acts with multiple customers.
Angel (not her real name) is just one of thousands of young Nigerian women who
have been trafficked into sexual slavery, and she recounted her story to
counselors at the offices of the Transnational AIDS Prevention Among Migrant
Prostitutes in Europe Project (TAMPEP), in Turin last week.
Among those in attendance was Leslie Ibeanusi, one of two AP Peace Fellows who
are volunteering with TAMPEP this summer. Ms Ibeanusi describes how Angel
realized she had been enslaved in a recent two-part blog ("Angel's Story"):
"She (Angel) was alone in a new country and confused and scared. She shakingly
followed the orders of her madam (also a Nigerian woman) and was placed on a
street where she was to sell her body. Her first job was 'sex by mouth' for 20
euros.
"The room grew quiet, as if we all needed to process this information," writes
Ms Ibeanusi. "In halting speech, she described how she finally escaped from her
madam's house and refused to continue the work she was doing. "I want to stop
it. It is bad work. I want to go back to my parents in Nigeria.' As I listened
to her experience, I wept inside."
Ms Ibeanusi's blog was published on the same day as the latest annual
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report from the US State Department, which rated
the anti-trafficking efforts of 164 governments.
The report placed Italy on the "Tier 1" category and commended the government
for tough measures, including an operation ("Spartacus") earlier this year,
which led to the arrest of 784 suspected traffickers. The approval is
noteworthy because Italian law allows prostitution, a policy which the Bush
Administration strongly opposes.
The TIP Report typically provokes strong reaction outside the United States.
Many governments resent the fact that the US itself is excluded from review,
even though up to 20,000 people are thought to be trafficked into the US each
year.
Although civil society advocates use the report to put pressure on their own
governments, they often find the rating arbitrary and confusing. Contacted by
The Advocacy Project (AP), Rosanna Paradiso, the Director of TAMPEP in Turin,
suggested that the authorities in Turin could do much more to deter and arrest
the "madams" and pimps who prey on girls like Angel.
"The police don't have enough manpower to continuously arrest madams and
traffickers," said Ms Paradiso. "These people end up in the streets again,
still doing the same thing."
TAMPEP is considered a pioneer in the international fight against trafficking.
As well as using "cultural mediators" to help survivors like Angel in Turin,
TAMPEP recently opened an office in Benin City, Nigeria, to spread the word
about the dangers of trafficking and provide support for victims who are
forcibly returned from Europe.
The Advocacy Project has made a major commitment to supporting anti-trafficking
civil society initiatives this summer. Two Peace Fellows - Ms Ibeanusi from
George Washington University and Michelle Lanspa (Georgetown University) - are
volunteering with TAMPEP in Italy, while Jennifer Hollinger (Georgetown
University) is working in Albania with a local partner of the network Churches
Alert to Sex Trafficking Across Europe (CHASTE).
All three fellows are blogging about their experiences, and their early blogs
have shown how good writing can help to spread the message of their hosts.
Commenting on Ms Ibeanusi's story of Angel, one commentator writes: "Thank God
for TAMPEP and keep doing the good work, girl. Take care of yourself."
"Leslie, I've read this blog many times. Tears fall each time. You write
beautifully," writes another.
* For more on TAMPEP, visit http://advocacynet.org/page/tampep
* For Leslie's blog, visit http://advocacynet.org/blogs/index.php?blog=98
* For Michelle's blog, visit http://advocacynet.org/blogs/index.php?blog=72
* For Jennifer's blog, visit http://advocacynet.org/blogs/index.php?blog=90
* For the TIP Report, visit
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/index.htm
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