Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

By purchasing the photos, the catalog or the shopper of the exhibition you can help support the work of the Associazione Lule ONLUS which assists exploited women

Milan, October 15 2020 – Over eighty very strong photographs tell of a burning, uncomfortable and at times chilling reality: that of the condition of slavery in which in 2020 victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation still find themselves in the metropolitan area of ​​Greater Milan. A reality that we often don't know or that we pretend not to see and prefer not to talk about. The result is an unprecedented story in images created by seven prostitutes from the Milanese hinterland, three of whom are Romanian, two Nigerians and two Peruvian transgenders, who were left free to tell their stories by taking photographs themselves representative of their reality, made up of the street , but also of daily life.
They are the protagonists of the exhibition entitled “Ri-scatti. For the mercenary streets of sex", scheduled for 16 to 25 October with free admission, organized for the sixth consecutive year together with the PAC Pavilion of Contemporary Art in via Palestro by Ri-scatti ONLUS - the Milanese voluntary association that since 2014 he has been carrying out social redemption projects through photography - promoted by the Municipality of Milan with the support of Tod's.
Not without a charity aspect. The snapshots displayed during the exhibition, in fact, will be offered and the proceeds will be used to support the activities of the Lule ONLUS Association, in support of victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Curated by the PAC curator, Diego Sileo, the exhibition is perhaps the most touching of the six organized by Ri-scatti Onlus from 2014 to today. Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, Hannah, Daisy and Sallie – actually fictitious names borrowed from the novel “Little Women” to protect their identity – are women aged between 19 and 50, sometimes mothers of children, some still newborns, others teenagers. They have rent to pay and often dependent parents. They live mostly in Milan, some at most in the hinterland, but they are deprived of freedom because they are slaves to one of the most ruthless markets in the world, torn from their countries with promises, deception and violence, to offer themselves to the final consumer, mostly more Italian, who in turn uses them, sometimes beats them and sometimes robs them.

With them Amedeo Novelli, Federico Bernini and Marcello Fauci, professional photographers and photojournalists from the "Visual crew" agency, together with the curator Diego Sileo, held a photography workshop for three months organized not without difficulty by Ri-scatti Onlus, to ignite the spotlight on a cross-section that is nothing short of terrifying. It was possible to get in touch with these women thanks to the educators of the Traffic light project, who assist them every night on the road. Thanks to the relationship of trust that "Traffic light" has built over time, it was possible to hold the photography course even "on the road", at night, in a camper.

Their shots tell of a marginalized and ruthless world, a painful reality made up of women who have suffered so much, and in such an involuntarily courageous way, that they have reached the point of believing that what they are forced to do is the only way to avoid give up. A world kept hidden by the hypocrisy, ignorance and indifference of society, of those who remain silent or even worse of those who pretend nothing happened.

The funds raised through the sale of the photographs will go to "Lule ONLUS", a secular association founded in 1998 in Abbiategrasso, which, with 20 professional operators and 35 volunteers, has been offering help to victims of human trafficking for the purpose of exploitation for over 20 years sexual activity with intervention programs aimed at their assistance, integration and social recovery. On the territory of the metropolitan city of Milan, the Lule Association intervenes as a partner of the "Anti-trafficking drifts and landings" project of which the Municipality of Milan is the leader. The exploitation of prostitution is a crime regulated by law no. 75 of 1958.

The Italian system to help victims of trafficking is considered an example to be followed at an international level, due to the centrality attributed to the victim and the constant attention to respecting his rights. The entire system is structured around emergence and initial assistance programs (provided for by Article 13 of Law 228/2003) and social assistance and integration programs (provided for by Article 18 of Legislative Decree 286/1998). The Department of Equal Opportunities finances projects conducted by anti-trafficking bodies throughout Italy. There are two anti-trafficking projects operating in the 12 provinces of Lombardy: “Derive e porti” (led by the Municipality of Milan) and “Let's put the wings” (led by the Lule Association).

In Italy there are approximately 70.000 victims of sex trafficking, of which only 4.000 in Lombardy. One in 4 is a minor. 42% come from Nigeria, 49% from Eastern Europe, 4,5% from Albania, 2% from South America. There are 9 million customers, or one in 3 Italians (sources: Parsec – www.cooperativaparsec.it; Eurojust - www.eurojust.europa.eu/Pages/home.aspx).
Impressive numbers to say the least that cannot go unnoticed and make us reflect, just like the singular theatrical installation NOBODY – “Sensory journey through trafficking and sexual exploitation”, curated by Compagnia Favolafolle and Lule ONLUS. The work will be staged free of charge at the PAC as a collateral event to the photographic exhibition, on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, with the aim of offering the public an immersive and sensorial experience on the theme of the exploitation of prostitution and sex trafficking human beings, to overturn perspectives and draw attention not only to the social aspect, but also to the human one, of a phenomenon that shows no signs of decreasing.

The challenge of Ri-scatti ONLUS and the PAC is to break the silence and hypocrisy and invite everyone to reflect and intervene, raising awareness among men and women. “Re-shots. For the mercenary streets of sex” wants to stimulate a cultural change through the instrument of photography, contributing to the definition of critical thinking relating to the topic of human rights.

The eighty photographs in the exhibition were generously printed again this year free of charge by FDP, a photographic laboratory based in Monza since 1976, specialized in "fine art" and "C print" prints as well as direct prints on various supports.

Photo gallery

Re-shoots ONLUS
Contemporary Art Pavilion