ITALY: HHS A/S HORN PROMOTES TIP INITIATIVES

UNCLAS ROME 004454

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR G-TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM IT
SUBJECT: ITALY: HHS A/S HORN PROMOTES TIP INITIATIVES


1. This is an action request. G-TIP, please see para 8.


2. Summary: HHS A/S for Children and Families visited Rome
to discuss pro-family initiatives and trafficking in persons
with Italian and Vatican officials and NGOs. A lunch hosted
by the DCM prompted several TIP initiatives, including a
request for a joint DVC with U.S. and Italian experts on
victims' assistance. End Summary.


3. HHS A/S for Children and Families Dr. Wade Horn visited
Rome Nov 7-10 at the invitation of Deputy PM (now also FM)
Fini to discuss pro-family initiatives and trafficking in
persons with Italian and Vatican officials and NGOs. During
a lunch on trafficking hosted by DCM, Dr. Horn told Italian
officials from the Ministries of Interior and Welfare and
representatives from NGOs PARSEC (which fights trafficking)
and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and
Trafficking) that the U.S. had just begun to combat its role
as a receiving state for trafficked persons. Since 2000,
there had been increased realization of the problem and a new
effort to promote public awareness campaigns on TIP.
Although we have programs to assist victims, we have only
begun to identify those victims and much more work needs to
be done. He strongly urged Italy to bolster its efforts at
fighting traficking and to reduce the demand for
prostitution that so often relies on trafficking victims.


4. The Italians briefed Horn on the nature of trafficking
issues in Italy. The number of different ethnic cultures
involved made victim identification, police action and
victims' assistance complex. For example, trafficking of
Albanians occurred through highly organized crime rings while
Nigerians (who comprise the majority of prostitutes) operated
more independently. More efficient police action was pushing
prostitution off the streets and into apartments where it was
much more difficult to monitor and where victims were more
difficult to reach. Crime syndicates were becoming more
sophisticated at moving trafficked persons from city to city
and across borders. The new wave of illegal immigrants
flooding Sicily dramatically increased the potential for
additional trafficking and forced labor, but the Government
had limited resources to deal with the influx. The Ministry
of Interior representative insisted that the Government
continues to process illegal immigrants for asylum claims and
possible trafficking victims. All the Italian participants
praised the new 2003 anti-trafficking law but admitted that
it would take time for all police and magistrates to fully
implement it. There was still some official and public
confusion about the difference between illegal immigration
and trafficking issues.


5. The representative from the Ministry of Labor and Welfare
explained government programs to assist victims but agreed
that, to date, too few victims had been re-integrated into
Italian society. There were adequate laws to provide for
repatriation and integration, but often victims faced
persecution if they returned home and those who applied for
integration assistance faced the glacial pace of progress
through the Italian bureaucracy. The Ministry was working to
improve the process, and they believed that increased
awareness of the need to integrate the immigrant community at
large would likely assist in this effort over the longer
term. There were also government programs at the municipal
and regional levels that actively supported the
anti-trafficking work of NGOs.


6. Horn asked about child labor and trafficking and was told
there were approximately 2,000 children involved in street
prostitution throughout Italy. There were also some problems
of sweatshops in the leather industry, primarily in
family-owned businesses. However, Italian law provided
absolutely for services to assist child trafficking victims
brought here with or without parents. The ECPAT
representative also described Italian government efforts to
crack down on child pornography over the Internet.


7. The NGO representatives strongly supported efforts to
reduce demand for prostitution, but admitted this was a
culturally delicate question. They estimated that perhaps
half of the adult male population had (legally) engaged the
services of a prostitute. To reduce demand it was necessary
to begin in elementary schools to change the culture. They
welcomed ideas from the U.S. on how to approach an adult
population. Horn's office promised to provide information on
the public service announcements used by the U.S. military to
highlight the connection between prostitution and trafficking.


8. PARSEC's representative proposed a DVC where U.S. and
Italian experts could share best practices and a follow-up
report would be published in English and Italian focusing on
legislation, investigations and prosecution on the subjects
of demand reduction and victims' assistance. Action request
for G-TIP: Post would be delighted to arrange the DVC if

G-TIP can identify potential candidates and arrange a
mutually convenient time. PARSEC has requested assistance
from the Italian Ministry of Equal Opportunity to fund the
research and publication of this study.

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2004ROME04454 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED