It Happened in the Desert, in Libya and in Italy: Physical and Sexual Violence Experienced by Female Nigerian Victims of Trafficking in Italy

Sarah Adeyinka (), Ine Lietaert and Ilse Derluyn
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Sarah Adeyinka: Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Ine Lietaert: Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Ilse Derluyn: Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Nigerian girls and women constitute a large percentage of African victims of human trafficking in Italy. Extensive research has been conducted on the causes, push-and-pull factors, and the perpetrators in the phenomenon of trafficking Nigerian women and girls into Italy. However, limited data exist on the women and girls’ narratives of their experiences during their migratory journey from Nigeria to Europe. Using data collected through a mixed method, longitudinal design, 31 female Nigerian victims of trafficking in Italy were interviewed for this study. This study gives voice to the experiences of sexual violence that these women and girls encounter during transit, leading to many of them arriving in Italy severely traumatized. It also discusses the health impact of these experiences and the different survival strategies that they are forced to employ. The study shows how sexual and physical violence is employed by smugglers, traffickers, and people in authority alike. It shows that the violence experienced along the way does not end after arrival in the destination country (in this case, Italy), but is, in some cases, exacerbated and similar to previous experiences of violence.

Keywords: sexual violence; physical brutality; human trafficking; smuggling; Nigerian; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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