Women and children fleeing Ukraine at risk from human traffickers
Most of those who have fled Ukraine have been women and children. There are fears that they now face the risk of being trafficked and forced into prostitution.
prostitution
Italian police arrest suspected members of Nigerian mafia
On Tuesday, Italian police rounded up four suspected members of a Nigerian mafia-like gang known as Black Ax. The suspects are charged with slavery, human trafficking, kidnapping and recruiting prostitutes. Behind this case lies a vast system of exploitation that stretches across Africa and Europe
'Exploitation and enslavement': Two Nigerian migrants take rights case to UN Committee
Two Nigerian migrants have taken a case against Italy and Libya to a UN Committee. The two women, with the help of a legal rights association in Italy, claim that Italy and Libya failed to protect their human rights as women and left them at risk of trafficking, exploitation and abuse.
Italy sentences 11 for prostitution trafficking from Africa
A judge in the city of Catania on Italy's island of Sicily has sentenced 11 Nigerian nationals to a total of 136 years in prison for the international trafficking of young women and girls from their home country to Italy, where they enslaved them and forced them to engage in prostitution.
Couple torn apart in Libya shares story of migration dangers
A Nigerian couple heading to Europe via Libya was separated and forced to suffer at the hands of ruthless smugglers. Thanks to a safe house supported by the UN and the medical charity MSF, the two were eventually reunited.
Nigerian women forced into prostitution in Europe
In Italy, thousands of Nigerian women are being forced into prostitution. The Nigerian mafia is suspected of being behind it. Insiders warn of the dangers of this 'new mafia' – with connections to Italian organized crime gangs.
German nun fined for granting church asylum to Nigerian women
A German court has charged a nun €500 for assisting Nigerian women threatened with deportation from Germany. The two women reportedly fled from forced prostitution in Italy. Different groups criticized the court order and called for a decriminalization of church asylum.
Burkina Faso gold mines become a trap for Nigerian trafficked women
Increasing numbers of Nigerian women are being trafficked into prostitution in Burkina Faso’s gold mining camps, an investigation has revealed. Lured by traffickers who promise them jobs, they end up with huge debts and no way out.
Prostitution, COVID and trafficking: A spiral of despair for Ethiopian returnees
The economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis have forced many irregular migrants from Ethiopia to return home, where they are faced with destitution on a daily basis. Some turn to sex work as their only option to rise out of abject poverty. Others resort to prostitution to finance their next migration.
Italy: Woman who forced migrants into prostitution arrested
Police in northern Italy have arrested a woman who recruited young Nigerian women into forced prostitution. The woman has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
2 women arrested for Nigeria-Italy 'sex slave' trade
Italian authorities announced Wednesday that they had arrested two 'madams' and put 10 other people of African origins under investigation for the incitement to prostitution of 15 young Nigerian women who had arrived in Sicily on migrant boats and were forced to sell sex.
Members of group sexually 'exploiting Nigerian women' arrested
Catania police have arrested ten alleged members of a criminal group suspected of trafficking and sexually exploiting young Nigerian women. The operation called 'Promise Land' led to the arrest of the suspected human traffickers, investigative sources said.