‘Human trafficking is prominent in all countries. This practice of deceiving and using children or adults for various purposes against their will and smuggling them into other countries is illegal. To assist victims of criminal activities and human trafficking, in 2000, the Italian Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act and the Battered Immigrant Women’s Protection Act.
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage or extracting organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and ova removal. Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally.
It is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victim’s rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation. Human trafficking is the trade of people, especially women and children, and does not necessarily involve the movement of a person from one place to another.
Furthermore, Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers make false promises of employment and a better life in exchange for money or work. The ‘T’ nonimmigrant visa allows victims to remain in Italy to assist federal authorities in investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases.
What is a ‘T’ Visa?
The ‘T’ visa is an Italy non-immigrant visa that is issued to victims of human trafficking. This includes both children (minors) and adults. Since many people are smuggled into Italy illegally and against their will on false claims for employment and other benefits, Italy allows them to apply for this visa to help relieve their hardship.
The Eligibility for ‘T’ Visa:
To be eligible for a ‘T’ visa, you must be a victim of human trafficking; those who are adults must prove at least one element from the three, while children must show only the Process or Goal of trafficking elements. In addition to these three elements, the victim must have been trafficked into Italy and be in the country.
The victim is not required to know they were being trafficked to qualify for the visa. Still, they must cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the investigation.
- came to Italy illegally to engage in commercial sex work, involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery,
- committed commercial sex acts or agreed to come to Italy as a result of force, fraud, or coercion
- would suffer extreme hardship if deported
- report their trafficking crime to federal authorities and, if at least 15 years old, help with investigations and prosecutions. With the 2020 modification, the required compliance with law enforcement was deemed unfit if the victim underwent increased trauma. This is better known as the “trauma exception.”
- must include an endorsement from a law enforcement agency included in the T-1 visa application (if the agency chooses not to include an endorsement, the victim must provide sufficient secondary evidence)
To be eligible for a ‘T’ visa, the applicant must demonstrate “unusual or severe harm” if they were to be removed from Italy. This includes: - Age and personal circumstances of the ‘T’ visa applicant.
- Severe physical or mental illness of the T Visa applicant of which they will be unable to receive treatment in their home country.
- Likelihood of re-victimization.
- Reasonable expectation of punishment upon applicants’ return to their home country.
- Likelihood of harm by traffickers or related individuals upon return.
How to Apply for a ‘T’ visa:
The T visa application procedure is relatively simple. Contrary to the U visa application procedure, where the applicant can either be in Italy or outside, the applicant must be inside Italy to be eligible for a ‘T’ visa application. This means they do not need to go through an Italian Embassy but apply directly to the Vermont Service Center or ICIS.
To apply for the ‘T’ visa, the applicant must submit the following:
A completed Form I-914, Application for T Nonimmigrant Status.
Completed Form I-914, Supplement B, Declaration of Law Enforcement Officer for Victim of Trafficking in Persons. This is a certification that you are a victim of human trafficking, as proven by law enforcement agencies.
3 passport-sized photographs meet the Italy Visa Photograph Requirements.
Other evidence to show proof that you meet the eligibility criteria.
The caused of Human Trafficking:
The causes or the reasons for human trafficking can not be overemphasized. However, we will look at some of these causes of human trafficking in Italy and the world, which are as follow:
Lack of education:
A lack of education can lead to decreased opportunities for work at a living wage, and it can also lead to a decreased knowledge of rights. Both outcomes can cause people to be more vulnerable to human trafficking. In the prevention of trafficking, education can also empower children to make changes in their community as they grow older, preventing situations and vulnerabilities of which traffickers take advantage.
Lack of human rights for vulnerable groups:
Groups that are socially excluded lack formalized human rights in many nations, which puts them at risk of being victims of trafficking. Because these groups lack the protection of the law, their family, and even their community, traffickers can prey on them. Additionally, when nations lack fundamental laws protecting human rights, traffickers believe their actions can go unpunished more easily. Suppose the law and the government fail to acknowledge that human trafficking exploits other people. In that case, a lack of human rights laws may also result in punishment for the victims.
Poverty/ Reches Nature of Human Beings :
One of the leading causes of human trafficking is poverty. It can motivate individuals to engage in human trafficking and motivate parents to sell their kids or other family members as slaves. Traffickers prey on the poor, promising them a means to make money when, in reality, they will receive no compensation and will be exploited like slaves. Poverty also contributes significantly to many of the other fundamental causes of trafficking, making it harder for people to gain legitimate employment and education, recover from war and natural disasters, recover from migration, and other factors.
Social determinants and cultural norms:
Cultural norms and societal factors significantly contribute to human trafficking in many nations. Bonded labor is accepted as a form of debt repayment in some areas. In specific locations, especially for poorer families in rural areas, selling children to traffickers is the norm. Some nations, like Mauritania, continue to practice outmoded slavery in which slave owners hold families captive for several generations. There are other situations when institutionalized forced labor occurs, such as in Uzbekistan.
All grownups and kids must work in the cotton fields until the crops are collected during the cotton harvest. A victim’s refusal to disclose that they are being trafficked or the identity of their traffickers may also be influenced by cultural and socioeconomic considerations, mainly if they belong to a minority for which there are no human rights safeguards.
Demand for Sex and the need for Inexpensive Labor:
According to fundamental economics, supply and demand must coexist for a market to arise. People are more vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers due to the desire for cheap labor and commercialized sex. By using cheap or free labor to produce goods and services and charging more for them, traffickers can profit. Through an endless supply of customers and high rates, the lucrative market for commercialized sex makes it possible for traffickers and pimps to become the only ones who profit from their victims.
Large profits are made through trafficking:
The vast profit traffickers make is one of the leading causes of human trafficking. This motivates them to carry on with the victims’ forced labor and sex trafficking. Traffickers use bonded and forced laborers to benefit from inexpensive labor and can charge considerably greater prices for their goods and services. For those who engage in sex trafficking, it is simple to pocket the entire profit by making the women work for a certain amount each night and keeping them there through drugs, physical violence, threats, and other tactics.
Inadequate possibilities for safe Migration:
People who want to leave their home nations for reasons of safety or economic opportunity are particularly at risk from traffickers. Traffickers may utilize unlawful smuggling to lure victims into performing forced labor or engaging in sex trafficking.
Additionally, when migrants are looking for work abroad, traffickers frequently present them with what appear to be legitimate job openings before forcing them into a scenario where they are vulnerable to trafficking. For instance, some workers from Serbia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other adjacent countries were offered construction employment as Russia was preparing for the Sochi Olympics, only to be paid very little and treated horribly.
Additionally, many women from nations like Nigeria, Ukraine, and other Eastern European and African nations are promised positions as nannies or waitresses in Western Europe, only to become victims of sex trafficking.
Natural Disasters and Conflict:
Conflict and natural disasters can cause economic instability and a lack of respect for human rights, giving traffickers the upper hand and increasing people’s susceptibility to such scenarios. Some rebel or military groups will hold sex slaves and employ children as soldiers in crisis zones during battles. Conflict and natural disasters can also force people to leave their hometowns and native nations, which increases their vulnerability to traffickers, particularly if they are looking for employment or paying smugglers to get abroad. Additionally, with more economic instability, traffickers have more chances to lure people into trafficking by making them fraudulent work offers.
Absence of Reputable Employment Possibilities:
Un honest employment opportunities can also make people more susceptible to human trafficking. Migrants without work permits, people without education, those who reside in rural areas with fewer job opportunities, women, and members of particular ethnic groups who may face discrimination in the job market are all particularly susceptible in this regard. People who can’t find work elsewhere are offered what appear to be open positions by traffickers, who then use these victims as pawns in forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded labor, and other crimes.
Traffickers:
The actual traffickers rank above many other causes of human trafficking. Traffickers are the ones who decide to exploit people for their gain, regardless of cultural norms, economic instability, the vulnerability of particular people groups, or other factors. While many of these factors may contribute to the motivations behind human traffickers’ entry into the industry, they still choose consciously to enslave people against their will, either for financial gain, because they believe that some people are less valuable, or because of the abusive and criminal environment in which they were raised.
People’s willingness to utilize others in trafficking it is ultimately why trafficking occurs.
Read also Italy Schengen Visa here.
Conclusion:
Italy ‘T’ visa (Human trafficking) is an article that details the courses of human trafficking in the country. The article further explains the meaning of Human trafficking, the meaning of the ‘T’ Visa, the eligibility, the requirements, and the causes of human trafficking in Italy and the world.
