The UN says that Italy’s human trafficking problem is getting worse. Having researched this in the past, it does not surprise me to hear that.
There were concerns over Italy’s human trafficking problem, even way back in the 1990’s. Yet nothing has been aggressively done to finally put an end to it.
Italy has two main reasons why it’s a human trafficking favorite:
- It’s geography is ideal to enter the country and then there is access for all of Europe.
- There are already established crime networks throughout the country.
Think about the geography of Italy for a moment. Many come by way of boat—from Africa. The coastline is extremely difficult to closely monitor. Others are trafficked over land, from impoverished nearby countries such as Albania, Romania and Moldova.
When it comes to sex trafficking specifically, Italy’s legalized prostitution makes it ridiculously easy to conduct business. To make matters worse, Italy, a vacation destination, has become a popular place for sex tourists as well.
There are some voices in the crowd that question whether or not Italy even has a trafficking problem—who would want to admit to such a horror, right? Often times these critics point at the lack of statistical data, but it’s hard to measure something that’s hiding. I have been living in Italy for nearly four years now and I can personally confirm that human trafficking is indeed occurring in Italy. I have spoken with victims myself.
Of course, I can’t help but think that those who so adamantly deny the existence of a human trafficking problem in Italy are perhaps the very people profiting from this outrageous injustice. Even if we were to suppose, however, that Italy might not have a human trafficking problem, what harm could it possibly do to put the proper mechanisms in place to deal with it? You know, just in case.
How about we start by outlawing prostitution?