The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has declared Nigeria\namong the top eight countries with the highest human trafficking\nrates in the world. Photographer Elena Perlino has been working on\nthis extremely important topic for many years, focusing mainly on the\nItalian connection since Italy has an extensive sex industry based on\ntrafficking from Africa. Perlino's work attempts to show the\ncomplexities and contradictions of women's experiences,\ndocumenting their daily life in Turin, Genoa, Rome, Naples and\nPalermo. By collecting stories of women from Benin City (Edo State)\n- where around 80% of trafficked women come from - this reportage\nbears witness to the multiple reasons behind women's forced or\nvoluntary migration. Elena Perlino has succeeded in telling a\nbreathtaking story with elegance; this book became thus a harsh yet\ntouching portrait of one of Europe's most horrific daily scenes.\n\nElena Perlino (Italy, 1972) is a\ndocumentary photographer covering\nhuman issues. Her recent works have\nbeen focusing on migration, human\ntrafficking and gender issues. In 2013\nshe got the Prix Portfolio ANI,\nVendôme, France. Her long-term\nproject Pipeline will be exhibited at\nLes Rencontres Internationales de la\nPhotographie and Gaspésie, Canada in\n2015. Her work was shortlisted for the\nMagnum Emergency Fund 2013 and\n2011. Elena's images have been\nexhibited internationally, in places\nsuch the Lawndale Art Center in\nHouston, Texas; Les Rencontres\nInternationales de la Photographie,\nArles; the Festival Internazionale in\nRome; the Museum of Contemporary\nArt in Genoa; and PhotoEspaña in\nMadrid. Elena Perlino is based in\nParis, France.\n\nCristiana Giordano is an Assistant\nProfessor in the Department of\nAnthropology at the University of\nCalifornia, Davis, USA. She earned her\ndegree at UC Berkeley, and has done\nextensive research on human\ntrafficking, mental health and foreign\nmigration in Italy.\n\nIsoke Aikpitanyi is a former victim of\ntrafficking and now the main reference\npoint for Nigerian women in Italy. She\nhas published two books on the\nsubject: I. Aikpitanyi, Le ragazze di Benin\nCity (together with L. Maragnani;\n2007); and 500 storie vere (2011).