The Italian protection system
registered 2,040 people who were the victims of trafficking in
2020, according to a new report by Save the Children.
The Little Invisible Slaves report said that 5% of those cases,
105, involved a child, while about 80% of all cases involved
women and girls.
The report said the rise in trafficked women with children
returned to Italy from other EU countries under the Dublin
Regulation, which gives powers to transfer refugees and migrants
back to the EU nation in which they arrived, was "particularly
worrying".
Save the Children said some 190 women with 226 children are
currently supported in the Italian protection system.
"These are often children of single girls who have been
deceived, sold, kidnapped, and who have suffered torture and
rape on their way to Europe," said Raffaela Milano, Save the
Children's Europe Programme Director in Italy
"The children are often prisoners as well, along with their
mothers. They are trapped in a cycle of violence, blackmail and
abuse that must be broken at all costs.
"It is vital to strengthen and support services to help these
women escape and to guarantee health, education, protection and
inclusion for their children".
The report said the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed child
traffickers indoors and online in Europe, making it harder to
track down the criminal gangs forcing their victims into
prostitution, to smuggle drugs or into forced labour.
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