In 2016 some 11,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy by sea. Nigerian women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking within Nigeria and throughout Europe, including in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Russia; in 2017, an international organization estimated 80 percent of all female Nigerian migrants in Italy are or will become sex trafficking victims. The morning of the hearing, Susan wore a bright T-shirt with the words: “I must be successful.” Nine survivors were due to speak as witnesses in the trial. She wanted justice. But one joined forces with investigators in Italy to expose the traffickers. Thousands of young women leave home in Nigeria every year on the promise of a good job in Europe, only to be trapped by debt and forced into prostitution. The Nigerian community in Italy is not large, and most recent migrants are afraid of causing trouble for themselves and their families. She then threw away her sim card, praying that they would believe her, and leave her and her family alone. The defendants had chosen a fast-track trial – a tool in Italian law that speeds up the criminal process and, in case of conviction, allows a reduction of the sentence. The women were terrified. Instead, she walked to the train station, intending to travel to Rome. “She was angry as hell,” said De Masi. She had been trafficked to Italy in 2016 by the same woman who had brought Susan from Nigeria. Soon after, Ivie picked her up and brought her to an apartment in Prato, outside Florence. One of the survivors got a bad headache. Because of their complexity, in Italy human trafficking investigations are managed by local anti-mafia directorates – special prosecutors’ units created in the early 90s to coordinate investigations into organised crime in Italy. By Ottavia Spaggiari, Last modified on Mon 14 Sep 2020 12.00 BST. Susan’s main concern was to stay in Italy and protect her patron at all costs. That year, in an attempt to curb trafficking to Europe, Oba Ewuare II, the spiritual ruler of the kingdom of Benin, held a sacred ceremony to revoke all curses that sealed the debt bondage and set victims free. Human trafficking of Nigerian women to Italy began to occur in the 1980s because of the demand for low-skilled labor in … Sex trafficking is rife in Nigeria, in particular in southern Benin City, a recruiting ground for criminal gangs who smuggle women to Europe. There were no days off. The country is used as a hub by the Nigerian mafia for the trafficking of cocaine from South America, heroin from Asia and women from Africa. The traditional ritual is very frightening, and exerts power over the young women long after they have left their home. Before arriving in Italy the women are forced to swear juju oaths - a ritual ceremony overseen by spiritual priests where they promise never to denounce their traffickers to the police, to obey their "mamas" and to fully pay their debts. She had been promised work as a babysitter or a supermarket cashier. In Palermo the women usually end up in the multicultural neighbourhood of Ballarò, where they are forced to work in what are called "connection houses" managed by "mamas", or they work on the streets. .css-orcmk8-HeadlineContainer{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}Uganda's Yoweri Museveni declared election winner.css-1dedj2h-Rank{-webkit-align-self:center;-ms-flex-item-align:center;align-self:center;color:#B80000;margin-left:3.125rem;}1, Final execution of Trump presidency is carried out2, Centrist elected leader of Merkel's CDU party3, Tennis stars' arrival angers stranded Australians4, India begins world's biggest Covid vaccine drive5, End to Gibraltar land border prompts joy and trepidation6, Signal messaging service goes down amid user surge7, 'Like a medieval battle': The riots frontline8, Nasa's 'megarocket' set to fire up engines9, Why California is struggling to contain Covid10. They made small talk and chain smoked. In 2017, the UN’s International Organization for Migration reported that 80% were potential victims of sex trafficking, but numbers are hard to confirm. The first few minutes of the exchange are crucial. For Susan, Ivie’s conviction was more than had she hoped for. De Masi says that whenever she has made a request to protect a woman’s family, the Nigerian authority responsible for fighting human trafficking has failed to respond. Video, Four-year-old's viral dinosaur song made into book, What does the world want from Joe Biden? The UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, a key tool in international law to prosecute traffickers and protect survivors, states that survivors of trafficking should be offered temporary or permanent residence. The fact that victims are undocumented, and tend not to trust the police, means they become even more dependent on their traffickers. She said it felt like a weight had been lifted from her. But his main rival Bobi Wine claims vote-rigging and vows to produce evidence. On a hot September afternoon I drove up to see the shelter in a sleepy village - far away from the island's capital, Palermo, so the women can be hidden away from those they are escaping. “Sometimes I kick her under the desk,” De Masi laughed – the kick is her sign to Quinto to slow down. She did not yet know what Ivie had in store for her. The trial was set for five months later, on 13 December 2019. 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The Nigerian mafia has a strong presence throughout Italy. “It’s the juju!” she screamed, convinced that she was being punished because she was about to betray her madam, to whom she had sworn an oath of loyalty back in Nigeria. As other women got anxious, De Masi took out her phone. The survivors’ faces would not be on camera, only their backs. Nigeria has a history of hearing financial issues causing significant unemployment and poverty. She had spent years in a shelter, sharing her room, bathroom and kitchen with other women. “It’s hard for them.” There is also a need for absolute confidentiality. A woman who had been trafficked from Nigeria to Italy, 2014. usan’s case ended up in the offices of the anti-mafia directorate in Florence, close to where she had been forced into prostitution for the first time. Female traffickers could be in detention together with their victims. Centrist elected leader of Merkel's CDU party, Why California is struggling to contain Covid, The other virus that has scientists worried, .css-1snjdh1-IconContainer{display:none;height:0.875em;width:0.875em;vertical-align:-0.0625em;margin-right:0.25em;}Four-year-old's viral dinosaur song made into book. One reason convicting traffickers is so hard is because the crime usually involves large numbers of criminals working in multiple jurisdictions. But neither of them will likely ever see the money. Osas Egbon opened up a shelter for these victims of trafficking on the Italian island in January - the first of its kind created by and for Nigerian women. Susan was never alone, but she felt isolated. A pre-trial hearing was set for July 2019, and Susan took the train to Florence. (Foreign Correspondent: Louie Eroglu) Susan underwent a traditional juju oath-taking ceremony, in front of a priest, in which she swore to pay the woman back and to be loyal to her. Since then Ms Egbon says it has become easier to gain the trust of the women and she has been able to help free many of them. “Let’s go,” she said. After her mother told Susan what had happened, she grew more determined than ever. But everything remains so difficult.”. She currently has four women in their 20s, one with a baby - and hopes by the end of the year two more will join them. rancesca De Masi has been visiting the Ponte Galeria women’s detention centre in south-west Rome every week since 2008. In the mountains of Sicily a Nigerian woman is leading a battle to help rescue women like herself from a life of forced sex work. In spite of the danger to witnesses and their families, the Italian system puts the onus on survivors to press charges against their traffickers. By the time arrest warrants were issued for the four Nigerian madams, police had lost all trace of the girls. She kept records of phone numbers and notes of what happened to her. “They don’t remember the name of the city they were transferred to, so they are not considered believable,” Carla Quinto, a lawyer working with the anti-trafficking organisation Be Free, told me. The investigation also revealed that Ivie had herself worked in the streets as a sex worker for a few years before becoming a madam. “You deserve the princess room,” De Masi told her, giving her the biggest room in the apartment, with a queen-size bed and a television. The lawyer established the most important thing: that the woman who had trafficked Susan would not see her. In one case, a survivor’s mother was killed. When she finally made it on the train, her phone began to ring. Re: Nigerian Victim Of Sex Trafficking In Italy Tells Her Shocking Story by Nobody: 9:44pm On Jun 04, 2017 Afonjashapmouth : we don tire for dem story abeg make dem network muritala Women of Benin City runs a drop-in centre, offering advice and, importantly, emotional support, which sets the group apart. Now, here in Italy, Susan knew that if she did not repay the debt, there would be terrible consequences. De Masi feared that if Susan was transferred to the reception centre, she would be picked up by her trafficker. On Wednesdays, De Masi and her team Be Free usually set up in Ponte Galeria’s library, a dark room with few books and many mosquitos. There were no days off. She had managed to keep the contact details of the immigration lawyer she had seen at the Ponte Galeria detention centre in July 2015. The traffickers prey on the women's spiritual beliefs so they become too afraid to speak up, fearing if they do so harm will come to them or loved ones back home. But about a week after her arrival, the new madam went on a trip to Nigeria, leaving Susan with another woman whose control wasn’t as tight. VideoFour-year-old's viral dinosaur song made into book, Why a teacher was killed 'execution-style' in Ethiopia, End to Gibraltar land border prompts joy and trepidation. Susan had made it to Rome, and found the lawyer’s office before nightfall. Previous complaints had been dismissed by police officers, investigating magistrates and prosecutors who did not take the women’s stories seriously, or dragged their feet, given the difficulty of gathering enough evidence for a successful prosecution. “So much time had passed, I thought the case had been dismissed,” De Masi told me. Susan’s case involved thousands of pages of phone records and transcribed conversations. Quinto speaks as if she is always in a hurry. “Nobody,” Susan replied firmly. But this time, they were in luck. One morning in early February, she packed her phone and notebook in a small purse and left the house, saying she had to meet a client in a nearby town. But things did not get easier for her. Enraged by her meagre earnings, Ivie would yell at her: “You’re not a serious girl.” She was forced to work the streets every night, from 5pm until 3am, standing in the cold and rain. One underage girl, Marianne, was raped at a gunpoint by a client – a man who had posed as a police officer – and then forced to get an abortion. “So much time had passed, I thought the case had been dismissed,” De Masi told me. Four in five of them were destined to become victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Sometimes she and her colleagues approach the detainees in the corridors; sometimes it’s the women who enter the library and strike up a conversation. VideoWhat does the world want from Joe Biden? That day was like nothing she had ever experienced. “If I could choose, I would like to help old women.” She is now waiting for the Italian asylum commission to re-evaluate her case and to have her documents renewed. At the time, she wasn’t sure she would be able to do anything with them, but she wanted evidence of what she was being forced to endure. Investigations are complex and often slow, while traffickers move quickly, relocate their victims frequently and change their phone numbers multiple times. Italy has the largest population of Nigerians victimized to human trafficking; studies have found as many as 10,000 Nigerian prostitutes in Italy subjected to human trafficking. In autumn 2018, the so-called Salvini decree – named after the far-right politician who was then deputy prime minister of Italy – introduced a series of measures that made it more difficult for survivors of trafficking such as Susan to renew their immigration status and rebuild their lives. Susan’s information was detailed, reliable and well documented. Half a dozen people were investigated, but in January 2017, just four madams, including Ivie’s daughter, were indicted for trafficking 17 young women and girls from Nigeria to Italy. In 2018, she had spent two months in Nigeria’s Edo state to research the country’s anti-trafficking efforts. De Masi and Quinto knew Susan’s chance of winning justice was small. Some women shouted in anger, others started to cry. Susan, however, used the notebook to record her experience. This would protect her from deportation, but because she would not admit that she was recruited in Nigeria, Susan had to remain in the detention centre until the interview with the asylum commission, which was scheduled a month later. .css-1xgx53b-Link{font-family:ReithSans,Helvetica,Arial,freesans,sans-serif;font-weight:700;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;color:#FFFFFF;}.css-1xgx53b-Link:hover,.css-1xgx53b-Link:focus{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}Read about our approach to external linking. She repeated the same line when the madam called. The traffickers prey on the women's spiritual beliefs so they become too afraid to speak up, fearing if they do so harm will come to them or loved ones back home", Hundreds of migrants still dying in Med five years since 2015, Four-year-old's viral dinosaur song made into book. Enraged by her meagre earnings, Ivie would yell at her: “You’re not a serious girl.” She was forced to work the streets every night, from 5pm until 3am, standing in the cold and rain. The woman had offered to pay for Susan’s journey to Europe and promised she would get decent, paid work when she arrived. In some cases, suspected traffickers walk right into migration centres to pick up their targets. The two main groups of Nigerian mafia that operate in Italy are the Supreme Eye and the Black Ax and are linked primarily to prostitution and to drug trafficking. Some of them bring new women to Italy in order to finish paying off their debt to their traffickers and find a way out of the streets, and others have been exploited for so long that they see exploitation of others as their only option for a better life. She would like to go back to school, but more than anything she wants to be able to work and help her family back home. Several Nigerian trafficking networks have expanded … Hillary’s father, who lived in Nigeria, had been working closely with Ivie, and had recruited his own daughter, as well as other girls. A history of suffering The trafficking of Nigerian women for prostitution began in the late 1980s, according to the UN, when women were sent to Italy and forced into sex work. Francesca De Masi has been visiting the Ponte Galeria women’s detention centre in south-west Rome every week since 2008. Susan laughed, pleased with the privacy and comfort. Frustrated by Susan’s poor earnings, Ivie hit her so hard that Susan was afraid she was going to lose the sight in one eye. “The less you interview them, the better it is,” she told me. ‘Susan is back.” The immigration lawyer was on the phone to De Masi. In addition to witness testimony, the wiretaps also offered a window into the violence that the victims experienced on a daily basis. She provided her madam’s phone number and the names of the other girls.” As one of the few prosecutors handling human trafficking cases in her office, Pietroiusti was able to make a connection between Susan’s criminal complaint and the investigation she had recently started. After the closing arguments, prosecutor Angela Pietroiusti invited De Masi and Quinto into her office to wait for the judge’s decision. Becky is one Nigerian woman who survived the five-month journey to Italy. She had built a thriving business, and trained her 24-year-old daughter to run it for her, exploiting women her own age and younger. The most important European destination for Nigerian trafficking victims is Italy, where there may be as many as 10,000 Nigerian prostitutes. A Nigerian woman at a social support centre for trafficked girls, Italy, 2016. Read about our approach to external linking. But the women around her were not laughing. 4Trafficking of Nigerian Girls in Italy. Increasingly, the Nigerian migrants being forced into prostitution are minors, some as young as 13, according to the International Organization for Migration's 2017 report on human trafficking. She was building a case by following the women’s activities, but needed access to communications between the traffickers. According to a US state department report, published in June this year, only 135 people in Italy were investigated for trafficking in 2019, compared to 314 in 2018, and 482 in 2017. Women being held in the Ponte Galeria detention centre for migrants near Rome in 2017. n Prato, Susan found herself living a nightmare. “We can’t say openly that we are an anti-trafficking organisation,” De Masi explained. There were no days off. Complex cases, such as ones involving human trafficking, tend to be passed over by judges, Pietroiusti said with a sigh, as they require more time and work to evaluate. 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