Visiting Fellow
Letizia Palumbo is a Research Fellow at MPC and is currently coordinating a research project funded by Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI) on working conditions of migrant workers in the agricultural sector in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
From 2014 to 2019 she was a Research Associate at the Global Governance Programme, taking part in several projects concerning trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers, in sectors such as agriculture and domestic work. In 2018-2019, she participated in a project, funded by the OSEPI on the factors underlying the demand for irregular employment of migrant workers in Italian agriculture, often leading to exploitation. In 2015-2016 she was the main researcher on the project âTrafficking for Labour Exploitation: Assessing Anti-trafficking Interventions in Italyâ, co-funded by the Open Society Foundations. In 2014-2015 she participated as national expert on trafficking in the study âDemand-side of Trafficking in Persons in the Domestic Work Sectorâ, part of the project âAddressing Demand in Anti-Trafficking Efforts and Policies (DemandAT)â (FP7 European Commission funded project).
She was Post-Doctoral Researcher in Comparative Law at the University of Palermo (2013-2017) and she has been Adjunct Professor also at the University of Palermo, teaching âUrban and Migration Policiesâ (in 2019), âHuman Rights and International Justiceâ (in 2017) and Womenâs Rightsâ (in 2014).
She holds a PhD in Human Rights from the University of Palermo. Her research interests include human trafficking, gender and migration, labour exploitation and human rights. Her current research focuses on trafficking and labour exploitation in the agricultural and domestic work sectors in the EU, in particular in Italy. She also serves as a consultant and trainer on this subject.
From 2014 to 2019 she was a Research Associate at the Global Governance Programme, taking part in several projects concerning trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers, in sectors such as agriculture and domestic work. In 2018-2019, she participated in a project, funded by the OSEPI on the factors underlying the demand for irregular employment of migrant workers in Italian agriculture, often leading to exploitation. In 2015-2016 she was the main researcher on the project âTrafficking for Labour Exploitation: Assessing Anti-trafficking Interventions in Italyâ, co-funded by the Open Society Foundations. In 2014-2015 she participated as national expert on trafficking in the study âDemand-side of Trafficking in Persons in the Domestic Work Sectorâ, part of the project âAddressing Demand in Anti-Trafficking Efforts and Policies (DemandAT)â (FP7 European Commission funded project).
She was Post-Doctoral Researcher in Comparative Law at the University of Palermo (2013-2017) and she has been Adjunct Professor also at the University of Palermo, teaching âUrban and Migration Policiesâ (in 2019), âHuman Rights and International Justiceâ (in 2017) and Womenâs Rightsâ (in 2014).
She holds a PhD in Human Rights from the University of Palermo. Her research interests include human trafficking, gender and migration, labour exploitation and human rights. Her current research focuses on trafficking and labour exploitation in the agricultural and domestic work sectors in the EU, in particular in Italy. She also serves as a consultant and trainer on this subject.
Journal articles
L. Palumbo (2017), âExploiting for Care: Trafficking and Abuse in domestic work in Italyâ, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Special Issue on Human Trafficking in the domestic work sector in the EU: a special case or a learning ground for the anti-trafficking field, 15(2): 171-186.
L. Palumbo (2015), ââProtection of Trafficked People in Italy: Policies, Limits and Challengesâ Journal of Money Laundering Control, Vol. 18 Iss: 1, pp.52 â 65.
L. Palumbo & A. Sciurba (2015), âVulnerability to Forced Labour and Trafficking: The case of Romanian women in the agricultural sector in Sicilyâ, Anti-trafficking Review, issue 5.
L. Palumbo (2014), âLabour Exploitation and Trafficking in the Agricultural Sector. Reflections on the (In)efficacy of Anti-trafficking interventions in Italyâ, The Cardozo Electronic Law Bullettin.
L. Palumbo (2013), Special issue of Ragion Pratica on âIus Migrandiâ (âthe Right to Migrateâ), December 2013.
L. Palumbo (2013), âPresentazione. Ius migrandi: Concetti e limitiâ (âIntroduction. The Right to Migrate: Concepts and Limits), Ragion Pratica, December 2013, pp. 1-8.
Book chapters
L. Palumbo (forthcoming), Tratta di esseri umani e sfruttamento lavorativo in agricoltura: Il caso dei «boschetari» nelle serre del Ragusano, in S. Greco, & Tumminelli G (a cura di), Osservatorio Migrazioni, Centro Arrupe.
L. Palumbo (2019) âCare for People with Disabilities in Italy: A Critical Analysis of Act 112/2016 on Assistance for People with Serious Disabilities Lacking Family Support â in C. Rogerson, J. Miles, P. Parkinson, and M. Antoskolskaia (eds), Family Law and Family Realities, Eleven International Publishing.
A. Busetta, D. Mendola and L. Palumbo (2018) âLe Badanti. I numeri, il regime giuridico e le condizioni lavorativeâ in S. Greco, & Tumminelli G (a cura di), Migrazioni in Sicilia 2017, Milano, Unidine: Mimesis Edizioni.
L. Palumbo (2017), âThe Borders of Legal Motherhood: Rethinking Access to Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Europeâ in Y. Ergas, J. Jenson and S. Michel (Eds.), Bodies and Borders: Negotiating Motherhood in the 21st Century, NY, Columbia University Press.
L. Palumbo (2011), Which approach to Sex-Trafficking? Revisiting Feminist Debates on Sex-Trafficking in Europeâ, in F. Balsamo (Ed.), WWW - World Wide Women, Globalizzazione, Generi, Linguaggi, vol. 2, Torino: CIRSDe - Centro Interdisciplinare di Ricerche e Studi delle Donne UniversitĂ degli Studi di Torino, pp. 145-154,
Research and policy reports
A. Corrado & L. Palumbo (Eds.) (forthcoming), Are agri-food workers only exploited in Southern Europe? Case studies on migrant labour in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, Open Society Foundations.
A. Corrado, F. Caruso, M. Nori, M. Lo Cascio, L. Palumbo, A. Triandafyllidou (2018), Migrazioni e lavoro agricolo in Italia: le ragioni di una relazione problematica, Open Society European Policy Institute Publisher.
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/b6ead456-1d7e-443e-b066-8f0e70a6f1be/is-italian-agriculture-a-pull-factor-for-irregular-migration-report-it-20181205.pdf
A. Corrado, F. Caruso, M. Nori, M. Lo Cascio, L. Palumbo, A. Triandafyllidou (2018), Is Italian Agriculture a âpull factorâ for irregular migration â and, if so, why?, Open Society European Policy Institute Publisher.
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/ba12312d-31f1-4e29-82bf-7d8c41df48ad/is-italian-agriculture-a-pull-factor-for-irregular-migration-20181205.pdf
A. Corrado, F. Caruso, M. Nori, M. Lo Cascio, L. Palumbo, A. Triandafyllidou (2018), Is Italian Agriculture a âpull factorâ for irregular migration â and, if so, why?, Open Society European Policy Institute Publisher, Policy Brief,
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/1f32cb97-c6ba-4c88-8339-180bd2d216d8/is-italian-agriculture-a-pull-factor-for-irregular-migration-policy-brief-20181206.pdf
L. Palumbo & A. Sciurba (2018), âThe vulnerability to exploitation of women migrant workers in agriculture in the EU: The need for a human rights and gender based approachâ, Study commissioned by the European Parliamentâs Policy Department for Citizensâ Rights and Constitutional Affairs.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/604966/IPOL_STU%282018%29604966_EN.pdf
L. Palumbo (2016), Trafficking and Labour Exploitation in Domestic Work and the Agricultural Sector in Italy, RSCAS Research project report, European University Institute.
https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42406
L. Palumbo (2016), Grave sfruttamento e tratta nel lavoro domestico e in agricoltura in Italia: unâanalisi critica degli strumenti di contrasto, prevenzione e tutela delle vittimeâ RSCAS Research project report, European University Institute.
https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42405
L. Palumbo (2016), Grave sfruttamento in agricoltura e nel lavoro domestico in Italia. I limiti della normativa e delle politiche: alcune proposte di interventoâ, RSCAS Research project report, European University Institute, Policy brief,
https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42084
L. Palumbo (2016), Demand in the context of THB in the domestic work sector in Italy, DemandAT Country Study No. 5.
https://www.demandat.eu/sites/default/files/DemandAT_CountryStudies_5_Italy_Palumbo.pdf
L. Palumbo (2016), Exploited for Care: Abuse and Trafficking in Domestic Work in Italy, Policy Brief.
https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/41935
Blog posts
L. Palumbo (2018), La necesidad de un enfoque de género para abordar la explotación y la trata de personas, OpenDemocracy,
https://www.opendemocracy.net/es/la-necesidad-de-un-enfoque-de-g-nero-para-abordar-la-explotaci-n-y-la-/
L. Palumbo & A. Triandafyllidou (2016) âAddressing severe exploitation: a critical view of awareness and transparency initiativesâ, Special issue on the blog Beyond Trafficking and Slavery, OpenDemocracy.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/addressing-severe-exploitation-critical-view-of-awareness-and-transpar/
L. Palumbo (2016), âWhy Show Your Cards? The Problem of Transparency in Agricultural Supply Chainsâ, OpenDemocracy.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/why-show-your-cards-problem-of-transparency-in-agricultural-supply-cha/
L. Palumbo (2016), âGender Exploitation in the agricultural sectorâ, EUI Times, Winter, pp. 21-22.
https://times.eui.eu/gender-exploitation-in-the-agricultural-secto.html
L. Palumbo (2015), âThe need for a gendered approach to exploitation and traffickingâ, OpenDemocracy.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/need-for-gendered-approach-to-exploitation-and-trafficking/
L. Palumbo & A. Sciurba (2015), âNew mobility regimes, new forms of exploitation in Sicilyâ, OpenDemocracy.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/new-mobility-regimes-new-forms-of-exploitation-in-s/
L. Palumbo & S. Romano (2014), âLa Corte dei diritti dellâuomo, un poâ meno delle donneâ, Ingenere.
https://www.ingenere.it/articoli/la-corte-dei-diritti-delluomo-un-po-meno-delle-donne
L. Palumbo (2009), âAnother Step Backwards For Womenâs Rights in Italyâ, Columbia University Gender & Sexuality Law Blog, November.
http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/genderandsexualitylawblog/2009/11/05/another-step-backwards-for-womenâs-rights-in-italy/
Book chapters
Research and policy reports
Blog posts