Sex Trafficking and Sexual Harassment in Italy Are Significant Problems
- jrn101
- Dec 5, 2017
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 13, 2017
By Mason Eagle
In Italy, the recent refugee crisis has caused an increase in sex trafficking numbers.
The number of trafficking victims in Italy in 2016 rose due to the influx of migrants and asylum seekers arriving from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the U.S. State Department's human trafficking office. Its report on these issues states that “one international organization estimated more than 2,800 likely trafficking victims arrived in 2015 from Nigeria alone.”
From 2013-2014, the number of people prosecuted in Italy for sex trafficking decreased from 1,024 defendants to 828. However, the number of convictions rose during the same period -- from 74 convicted and 108 convictions upheld to 169 traffickers convicted and 184 convictions upheld.
Many refugees are sent over by smugglers and are forced into exploitation because of their need to fulfill their debts to the smugglers. Italy received over 154,000 irregular arrivals by sea in 2015.
Another issue within Italy is the sexual harassment of women, according to Statista’s website. Over half of all respondents to a recent survey stated that sexual harassment against women was common in the country.
Globally, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.5 million people trapped in forced sexual exploitation. According to the UNODC 2016 global report on trafficking in persons, “in 2015, the United Nations estimated that there were some 244 million international migrants across the world; an increase of more than 40 per cent since the year 2000 (173 million)”.
This increase in the number of migrants worldwide, due to the Syrian crisis and war-torn countries, has led to an increase in the number of trafficking in persons worldwide in recent years.
As the next years go by several organizations have agreed to help with this issue, the UN’s 2030 agenda being at the forefront.
I hope that this article shed light on the trafficking issue at hand in our world today and that by being more aware of this issue that you will not take a resistance to action.
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