Illegal Migration and Gender-Based Violence: Evidence from Nigerian Women and Girls in Italy

Recently, cross-border mobilities have continued to increase, and people now move quickly from one place to the other due to technological advancements in transportation, either through the sea, land, or air. Nigeria has also enjoyed these advancements as a significant number of her citizens can be found in various places in the World, from Europe to America, Asia, the Middle East, etc. As such, migration in and from Nigeria to other countries, either within Africa or inter-continental, makes up a considerable part of the citizens' social, economic, and political life. This research focused on migration from Nigeria to Europe for Nigerian women and girls involved in cross-border movements from Africa. In particular, this work revolves around Italy as the leading country of destination. It seeks to disentangle the linkages between "irregular/illegal immigration" and "Gender-Based Violence [GBV] of Nigerian females." In particular, it focuses on how such a migration pattern often leads to various forms of abuse before, during, and after the migratory journeys. The research method employed for this study was the phenomenological research approach using semi-structured interviews and the Vignette Techniques. This method allowed understanding through the bottom-up approach of how this violence occurs and what kind of protection these women and girls are given from both the professional and non-professional perspectives. This study carried out fieldwork within five regions in Italy namely Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Lombardy, Marche, and Piedmont regions, spanning between July 2020 and June 2022. Data collected and analysed qualitatively showed that while Nigerian females migrate with the intent of getting better life opportunities as well as helping their families back at home, the reality of such movement is different as they begin to face various challenges and abuse from the moment the migration process begin till they arrive in Italy with Libya regarded as the last country of transit where many forms of abuse occurs and also continuing in Italy when they settle down. On the other hand, analysis from professionals revealed that even though GBV is inherent in such journeys, most girls and women from Nigerian origin are granted protection mainly on the basis of victim of trafficking and not because of GBV.