(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 30 - Today is the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, one of the most serious crimes in the world, as well as one of the most widespread forms of modern slavery of the twenty-first century.
"Human trafficking is one of the most serious transnational crimes in the world and one of the most complex human rights challenges of our time," said Laurence Hart, director of the International Organization for Migration's Mediterranean Coordination Office in a statement.
"For years - explains Hart - we have been working to identify and support victims of trafficking and we have managed to protect hundreds of people, but given the scale of the phenomenon, we believe that it is necessary that all those involved in the issue multiply their efforts to ensure that in Italy they are protected from exploitation. Furthermore, strengthening the fight against trafficking also means fighting networks of traffickers and criminal organizations often linked to a multiplicity of illicit trafficking ".
The forms of trafficking that have been identified in these years by IOM in Italy are many and of different types. For a long time, the note emphasizes, the serious phenomenon of thousands of Nigerian girls victims of trafficking, especially for the purpose of sexual exploitation, has been recorded.
Recently it has also been possible to bring out cases of trafficking for the purpose of begging which see as victims young men from Nigeria who landed a few years ago when they were minors of age and cases of trafficking for the purpose of forced marriages / domestic servants which see young Ivorian and Guinean women arriving by sea among the victims. .
Worldwide, according to the data reported by the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2020, as regards women, exploitation is above all sexual (in 77% of cases) and occupational (in 14% of cases) ) while when the victims are men the exploitation is mainly work (in 67% of cases) and sexual (in 17% of cases). (HANDLE).
