"Honor behind Human Trafficking Absenteeism in Italian Mafias." A comparative study among Italian, Nigerian and Albanian Mafias

Abstract

Human trafficking is ranked as the third most profitable activity within the realm of organized crime, following drug and arms trafficking. Despite its highly rewarding feature, Italian mafias have never been directly involved in such a criminal activity. Attributing honor to the Italian mafias' absenteeism in the trafficking of human beings is precisely the aim of the present study. The distinctive conceptualization of honor, onore, is believed to have persistently forged autochthone mafias and their culture of operations, culminating in the establishment of a quintessential criminal organization archetype. In sharp contrast to this, the Nigerian and Albanian mafias, while categorized as such, notably lack the pivotal trait of this form of organized crime: honor. Devoid of their own conceptualization of honor, these criminal organizations have emerged as the two leading mafias currently governing the trafficking of humans in Italy. Incorporating evidence from publicly available interviews, trails recordings, testimonies, and official documents, the research will unmask the underlying framework of Italian, Nigerian and Albanian mafias. Additionally, through the lenses of a comparative study, the research will identify the four major divergences between Italian and the two foreign mafias: old vs new...