Transcrime has analysed how human trafficking was covered by the main Italian newspapers and magazines from 1 June 1999 to 30 June 2009.
The following considerations emerged:
- There appears to be less interest for cases of trafficking not linked to illegal immigration;
- The greatest part of press coverage focuses on trafficking for sexual exploitation of (young) women and on street prostitution. Other forms of exploitation, such as labour, are also present on a small scale;
- The attention is focused on the act of exploitation while there is a tendency to ignore the preceding phases during which the victims are reduced to a condition of slavery. This approach makes it difficult to understand both the complexity of the trafficking phenomenon and the organization of the criminal networks that perpetrate it;
- The lack of attention on the phases leading up to human trafficking leads to a strong focus on the activities of the Italian law enforcement agencies and judiciary. There is also a lack of general interest about what happens to the victims after they emerge from the exploitation circuits as well as about those who are involved in assisting victims after the end of their ordeal.
Research summaries archive