The Continuum between Human Trafficking and Enslavement: Recent Italian Jurisprudence on Abuses Committed against (Female) Migrants in Libya

Abstract

In March 2023, the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya found that crimes against humanity may have been committed since 2016 throughout Libya against migrants in the context of deprivation of liberty. As the International Criminal Court faces jurisdictional as well as practical obstacles to the investigation of such crimes, it turned to domestic authorities for the purpose of closing the impunity gap. This contribution will focus on three judgments issued in recent years in Italy against third country nationals. These judgments found the defendants guilty of, among others, human trafficking, enslavement, kidnapping for the purpose of extortion, and/or rape. Through the analysis of their findings, this contribution aims to draw lessons from such judgments for the purpose of better understanding the continuum between human trafficking and enslavement, particularly when committed against female migrants.