On Migrants’ Identification Issues In Italy: The Case Of Trafficked Women Within Mixed Migration Flows

Abstract In the framework of the mixed migration flows, the identification of the victims of trafficking in persons has become a delicate and challenging process, especially in the period 2015–2019, when the European Union experienced an unprecedented surge in migrant arrivals. Through a qualitative case study approach, the paper draws on interviews of street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky, 1980) responsible for the identification of potential or actual women victims of trafficking in persons within mixed migration flows2. The paper analyses how the European Union policies are implicated in the identification procedures adopted in Italy and to what extent a human rights-based and intersectional approach is applied in the Italian experience in 2015–2019. Issues related to the effective management of migration flows, including respect for the human rights of migrants and the prevention of discrimination for their treatment in terms of status, are closely intertwined with the process of early identification. The key findings were essentially threefold. First, a human rights-based approach – albeit with some critical issues – is applied during the identification procedures, as the multi-agency work is adopted as much as possible. Second, Italy did not completely implement some measures envisaged by the European Union policies, daunting early identification. Third, Italy seems to lack a comprehensive and coherent strategy, and policymaking is outsourced to a local policy network of agencies and institutions with their policy style. The paper sheds light on the need to change the approach used to identify victims of trafficking in persons.