The Slave Coasts. Transnational Sexual Exploitation from Nigeria to Italy. From human trafficking to human rights

This research intends to open a global debate on the current strong link between migration and prostitution on the basis of the reality observed in Palermo in the timespan 2015-2017. The main three elements emerging from the analysis are criminality, poverty and exploitation. As data suggests, Italy is the favorite destination of the Nigerian sexual exploitation market. In particular, Sicily plays a major role in the sexual exploitation ring involving Nigerian migrants, besides headquartering the Italian as well the Nigerian mafia. The agreement between Cosa Nostra (Sicilian Mafia) and the two organizations known as Black Axe and Eye (Nigerian mafia) represents the starting point for sexual exploitation of Nigerian girls (minors as well as adults). The social and cultural degradation, along with the limited presence of the Italian State in some neighborhood, contributed to the creation of what hereby I call the “Republic of Ballarò”, an outlaw area in the city of Palermo, ruled by the joint venture of the Nigerian-Sicilan mafias.  It is in this criminal context that the Nigeria-Italy transnational sexual exploitation market flourishes.