Nigerian Women Come To Italy For Honest Work But End Up As Prostitutes

Police control find a Nigerian woman working as a prostitute in the outskirt of Turin

Nigerian women who came to Italy to work as nannies or in factories often end up working the streets as prostitutes.

Paris-based photographer Elena Perlino, originally from Italy, decided to highlight their plight to the world. She began to notice the presence of young African women working on the streets during her commutes from Turin.

She said: "I decided to start from this surreal vision to tell a story. I have been working on the topic for several years, focusing mainly on the Italian connection."

According to Perlino, many Nigerian women come to Italy hoping to make enough money from honest work as nannies or factory workers to support their families back home, but are tricked by traffickers into working in the sex trade. Arrests, violence and abuse often follow.

Nigerian woman Fatima shows the scars on her body due to vicious fighting with collegues working as prostitutes in the outskirts of Acerra

A Nigerian in Italy waits for a client in the countryside during the winter season

Traffickers demand on average more than 50,000 euros (US $60,000) for travel expenses and accommodation, with the women having to work as prostitutes until their debts are paid off.

Eighty per cent of women trafficked to Italy come from Benin City, Edo State, in south Nigeria.

The photographer explained: "My work attempts to show a complex phenomenon that crosses Italy from North to South.

"This involves many cities including Turin, Milan, Genoa, Rome, Naples and Palermo and thousands of Nigerian and Italian people."

A Nigerian cultural mediator offers condoms and psychological support to some of the younger prostitutes working close to Acerra

Nigerian women working as prostitutes in the North area of Turin

Nigerian women in a Catholic shelter for victims of trafficking

Italian police review the documents of a Nigerian woman working as a prostitute
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime declared Nigeria among the top eight countries with the highest human trafficking rates in the world.

This photograph shows a Nigerian woman waiting for a client in the summer season