ABSTRACT
Female migration and related prostitution are not a new phenomenon; however, transnational trafficking of migrants for the sex industry is specifically a feature of the 1990s. Its cause appears to be the globalization of the sex industry, in the context of open borders for capital and trade movements but closed borders for people and labour. Looking at a case study of Italy, an ambiguity of policy is identified: opposition to trafficking on human rights and public health grounds, alongside government reluctance to target profitable industries. It is concluded that there is a need to oppose raw neoliberalism with cultural values common to both sending and receiving countries, in order to attack the roots of the problem.
