Many are raped, beaten, and psychologically abused by members of the Nigerian mafia that controls the sex trade.
Flaminia Giambalvo
![More than 1,200 Nigerian women arrived in Italy by boat in 2014 [Getty Images]](https://sndden.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/traf11.jpg?w=474)
Rome, Italy – A record number of women from Nigeria arrived in Italy over the past year and fears have been raised that many fell victim to Europe’s growing sex trade.
More than 1,200 Nigerian women came to Italy by boat in 2014 compared to 300 the previous year, according to a new report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“We don’t have the official figures yet but estimates suggest as many as 80 percent of the women are earmarked for sex work,” said the migration agency’s spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo. Continue reading Nigerian women caught in Italy’s sex-trade trap