RITI RELIGIOSI E PRATICHE DI SFRUTTAMENTO. IL CASO DEL SISTEMA CRIMINALE NIGERIANO IN ITALIA

The thesis analyses the phenomenon of trafficking and the system of exploitation of prostitution involving Nigerian women in three distinct Italian contexts: Milan, Naples, and the Domizio coastal area (in the Campania region). The study examines the role played by the religious dimension in determining or not conditions of vulnerability. To this end, we tried to understand both the functions covered by the traditional rites, known as “juju rites”, practiced on women on behalf of the criminal organization by local priests (the native doctors), and the roles played by the pastors of the Nigerian Pentecostal churches present in many Italian cities. Gender is the second dimension of analysis taken into consideration, in relation to the criminal markets involved and their management, the determination or not of conditions of subordination-exploitation and the ability to emerge and recognize the status of "victim of trafficking” by the institutions responsible for combating the phenomenon and protecting the actors (women but also men) directly involved. The basic hypothesis that drives the research is that it is not possible to understand the criminal phenomenon of the Nigerian trafficking and, more generally, the female-dominated criminal system that coordinates its management, if we do not try to understand (as far as possible) the religious dimension, that is the spiritual world on which most Nigerians seem to base their choices, whether they are inserted in a criminal or completely legitimate context.