Italy: national case

In the last decades, trafficking in human beings (THB) has become a crucial problem for Italy since it can be considered a destination and a transit country. Italy is a destination country due to its geographical position, the extension of its coasts, and the increase of wellbeing that produces an increase of the demand both for sexual and labour exploitation. Besides this, it is a transit country because it is located at the heart of Europe and therefore it is a key passage for victims destined to Northern European countries. The existing literature demonstrates that THB is committed by criminals able to exploit criminal opportunities associated with the crime. These opportunities are: high benefits (i.e. high profits) and low costs (i.e. low probability of being identified, arrested and convicted for the crime). The main responsible for THB in Italy are criminal ethnic groups based on strong familiar and/or ethnic bonds relying on consolidated contacts in different countries. They are organized in criminal networks that can be informal or organized according to their internal structure. The former act on a small-medium scale, while the latter on a large scale due to their dimension. This chapter provides an overview on THB in Italy and an analysis of the Italian public policies and legislation on the topic. It also offers an analysis of the perceptions on THB, and some results on the prosecution and prevention activities of the crime, protection of the victims and international cooperation.