Today, October 18, 2013, is the European day against human trafficking. In this occasion, CESIE wants to remind everyone how modern kinds of slavery still exist and occur before our very eyes. What lies behind the experiences of immigrant workers, begging children, or foreign prostitutes is often violence and persecution. An example is the story of X, a girl from Romania, taken to Italy by deception, and forced into prostitution by her exploiters.
According to a study conducted by the European Commission, between 2008 and 2010, more than a quarter of identified or presumed victims of human trafficking in the EU, could be found in Italy (6,426). Italy is both a transit and destination country for women, children and men who are victims of sex trafficking and slave labour. Most of them (60%) come from Africa (Nigeria, Egypt, Marocco, Tunisia), are females (73%) and are exploited for sexual purposes(70%).
The Coordinamento “Favour & Loveth” estimated that more than five hundred victims of sex trafficking are present in Palermo alone. This phenomenon, that involves girls and women coming especially from Nigeria, produces about € 10 million per year to those running the sex industry.
Human trafficking is a growing phenomenon. Even if it is not always easy to identify and eliminate, it is a crime which can and must be faced!
Struggling against human trafficking should affect all of us; we are not referring to a social and physiological phenomenon, but rather to a crime perpetuated by mafia organizations because of the weak contrasting systems existing in the countries of origin, of transit and of destination.
CESIE meant to mark the importance of becoming conscious of this issue, through trainings and rising-awareness activities within the project “Peer education in trafficking in human beings prevention”, ended in 2010. Participants of the activities were youngsters coming from different European and Caucasus countries.
In continuation to this project and in support of the Coordinamento “Favour & Loveth” of Palermo, CESIE decided to take part in the “ROOT” project, coordinated by CISS (Cooperazione internazionale Sud Sud), aiming at tackling sex trafficking in Palermo.
The project, funded by the EU programme ISEC – Prevention and fight against crime -, aims also to raise awareness amongst people and to develop a transnational cooperation network with the countries of origin of trafficking.
In the occasion of the EU Anti-Trafficking Day (October 18th), the two organizations will make an official presentation of the project to show the citizenry that fighting against this phenomenon, especially after two years since the deaths of the two victims of sex trafficking, Favour and Loveth, is still necessary.
The presentation will take place at 6:00 pm, at CEDOC, CISS’s documentation centre, in via G. Marconi n 2/A, Palermo– 90141. Afterwards, the documentary “Isoke e le figlie di Mami Wata” (60′) by Isoke Aikpitanyi and based on her personal story will be screened.
You are all invited to participate!
CESIE says NO to sex trafficking and makes a plea to keep on fighting against this modern form of slavery!
For further information on the event, please contact partnership@cesie.org
