Italy In the basin with piranhas, 19 years old girl slave in a circus

March 26, 2008

Comment: Announced on the first page of one of the most famous Italian newspapers, this article, in page 20 of Corriere della Sera, is the worse illustration on how to describe a human trafficking case in a sensationalist way.

Of course the story is especially rare and the case particularly horrible: recruited by a gang in Bulgaria, a four member family ended into a slavery like situation in a circus. The article describes all the details of the sufferings of the victims, their inhuman living conditions and the cruelty of the modes of exploitation.

The choice of the iconography is clear: we can see the basin where the girl was forced to immerse herself with the dangerous fishes, the ID photos of the three perpetrators, a scene with one of the perpetrator with a crocodile and… a close-up of a piranha.

The only positive aspect of the article is to mention that the victims are now sheltered into a protection structure up to the end of the trial. The rest of the article is written to attract the morbid curiosity of the readers and not to propose any tracks towards the main issues related to the trafficking of human beings in Europe.

Related press coverage:

Timesonline (March 26): “Woman, 19, forced to swim with piranhas at circus”