Crime Victims – Italy

• When a woman is actively encouraged – through false promises regarding work possibilities and earnings – to come to Italy, regardless of whether a job in another field was promised her or whether she was willing to work in prostitution;
• When a sex worker’s identity papers or earnings are taken away from her;
• When a woman is forced into prostitution or into giving sexual services;
• When a sex worker is blackmailed, threatened, humiliated, beaten, raped or imprisoned.In the above instances it is irrelevant whether the woman previously worked as a sex worker or whether she was willing to work as a sex worker because/while she was misinformed about work conditions and earnings.
  In Italy, several laws make it a punishable offence to help someone to enter the country illegally and to place them in an exploitative situation (e.g. sexual exploitation, exploitative prostitution, or other forms of exploitation). (Law 75/58, article 3, no. 6-7; Law 269/98, article 9 (regarding minors); Law 286/98, article 12).

Women who are victims of the trafficking in women have special rights and are entitled to special support services.
They may obtain a limited residence permit (“Permesso di soggiorno“), which can, under certain circumstances, be changed into a permanent one. Compulsorily linked with the residence permit is a social integration programme which encompasses accommodation, language courses, and the possibilities for work or study.
The women may seek support from non-state advisory centres.
These rights also apply in Italy to women who have been forced, under slave-like conditions, into other kinds of work, or into theft, drug- or weapons-dealing.
For details on special offers for, and special rights of victims of trafficking in women, see the corresponding paragraphs.

If the woman’s statement or other evidence leads the police to believe that she may have been a victim of trafficking in women (Definition), she has special rights.

Essentially, in Italy the woman is not entitled to a consideration period to decide whether to give evidence as a witness. In order to obtain a temporary residence permit, she must immediately agree to give evidence.
In selected cases, advisory centres may persuade the police to allow the woman to recover in their care programme before making a decision for or against giving evidence. This does not mean that the woman is granted a residence permit; she is merely kept from being deported. The length of time a woman may remain in a care programme varies according to the state police district, and is dependent on court backlogs etc., which encompass periods ranging from a few weeks to several years.

If the woman decides to give evidence, she is granted a temporary residence permit valid at least until the time when she gives evidence as witness. If she decides against giving evidence, she must leave the social integration programme and loses any right she had to remain in Italy. However, this process is not automatic. The temporary residence permit can, under certain circumstances, be changed into a permanent residence permit. Obligatorily linked with the residence permit is a social integration programme which provides accommodation, language courses and possibilities for work or study.

The woman is entitled to obtain advice and support from a state-sponsored or state-recognised private advisory centre. The woman should insist that the police establish contact to such an advisory centre.

Before the commencement of court proceedings, the woman should decide, together with her lawyer, whether to make her statement solely as a witness or whether also to appear as the injured party in the crime; that is, whether to appear with joint status as both plaintiff and as the suing party in a civil case.

The statement is given either in the course of one day or of several days. Occasionally, the witness may also be asked to attend a second time, later in the proceedings, because new questions concerning her testimony have arisen.

Questions are put to the witness by the judges, the public prosecution, the defence and under certain circumstances her own lawyer.

The witness must answer questions truthfully and must omit nothing; otherwise she risks criminal action against her on grounds of perjury/false testimony. However, she may remain silent on anything which incriminates or tends to incriminate her or her family.
A witness who has already been questioned in detail during the investigative proceedings (“Incidente probatorio”) may be relieved altogether from the necessity of giving evidence in court.

When giving evidence, the woman may be accompanied by a lawyer only if appearing jointly as injured party/civil party.

The witness is entitled to the services of a translator in her own language. If she feels unable to trust the translator, she can refuse her/him on grounds of interest. The court then decides whether to provide another translator.

The public is excluded from court sessions if personal or intimate questions are to be put to the witness.

The accused party may be excluded if the witness is afraid or has other reasons for not giving evidence in his or her presence.

In cases of organised crime or where the victim/witness’s life or safety are endangered, she may give evidence via a video network. In this case she does not need to come to court and her appearance and voice can be altered.

In cases of organised crime or where the victim/witness’s life or safety are endangered, the witness’s verbal evidence may be replaced by a reading of her written affidavit.

A witness who has already been questioned in detail during the investigative proceedings (“Incidente probatorio“) may be relieved altogether from the necessity of giving evidence in court, if the perpetrator agrees to a waiver. However, in case of a waiver the perpetrator obtains a more lenient sentence.

The woman in question may make compensation claims against the state only if she has been recognised as a victim of organised crime.

If the woman previously obtained a residence permit on humanitarian grounds or for social protection reasons and, after the verdict, either holds employment or undergoes job training and has accommodation, her residence permit will be extended and may be changed into a permanent residence permit. (This right is not dependent on the verdict issued at the end of a court case but, rather, on the provisions made by the social protection programme.)

Where there is concrete danger that, in her own country, the woman’s life, health or freedom will be endangered by the perpetrator (or by others), she may be granted a residence permit for humanitarian reasons. Such a residence permit is valid for the same length of time as that granted to a woman who chooses to give testimony against a perpetrator. Extensions are granted every six months or, for work purposes, every two years.

Independently of her role as witness, the woman may be entitled to residency for other reasons, e.g. employment, study, marriage or asylum (compare Migration).

If a woman is officially expelled and deported, the state pays for the homeward journey. However, no public means are available to help the woman meet the cost of her homeward travel, the procuring of documents or the cost of setting up in her own country in cases where she has not been deported.

Advisory centres in Italy help clients to organise their homeward travel and supply contact information for support in the home country.