Human trafficking in Europe

“Minorenni in vendita”—“Young girls for sale: Teenage girls forced into prostitution; a lucrative business in Eastern Europe; a woman who struggles to save them." This is the title of the book of Romanian psychologist Iana Matei, presented last night in Rome at the Foreign Press Center. Named “European of the Year 2010,” Iana Matei runs a center in which up to now over 400 girls, victims of trafficking, have found a safe refuge.

“Children for sale” is the story of thousands of Eastern European woman forced into prostitution. They are often kidnapped and raped before being forced into what amounts to slavery. But it is also the story of the book’s author, who has dedicated her life to helping “teenagers bought and sold like pieces of meat,” victims of this infamous traffic. “It amounts to organized rape,” says Iana Matei.

She spoke to Amedeo Lomonaco: