Touching pictures of what Nigerian women go through as prostitutes in Italy by Elena Perlino

I think it's no longer news that Nigerian women are being trafficked to Italy under the pretense that they will be working as nannies or in factories – but often end up working the streets as prostitutes.

Their plight has been highlighted by Paris-based photographer Elena Perlino, originally from Italy, who began to notice many young African women working on the streets during her commutes from Turin.
According to her: ‘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. 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.’

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; 80% of women trafficked to Italy come from Benin City, Edo State, in south Nigeria.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recently declared Nigeria among the top eight countries with the highest human trafficking rates in the world.

This is sad.I'm not making excuses for them, but if only Nigeria a lot better than this, then the case may have been different. 

More pictures after the jump:

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

A Nigerian called Faith having a blood test at the Amedeo di Savoia Hospital in Turin

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

Nigerian women in a Catholic shelter for victims of trafficking

 Nigerian woman waiting in the countryside for a client in winter season

A Nigerian woman in a temporary detention centre

Italian police review the documents of a Nigerian woman working as a prostitute

A Nigerian woman, working as a prostitute in the countryside, is taken to a police station because she was found without a passport

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

A Nigerian woman commuting between Turin and Milan on the 4am train