LONDON.- The 8th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award, chaired by Monique Villa, CEO of Thomson Reuters Foundation and Founder of Trust Women, is dedicated to modern slavery and the trafficking of women. The laureate, French photographer Lizzie Sadin, worked on the trafficking of women and girls in Nepal, from prostitution to enslavement. Her photo reportage is on show at the Saatchi Gallery from 15 May to 15 June 2018.

After the devastating 2015 earthquake that killed 9,000 people and displaced 650,000 others, the lives of many Nepalese have been shattered. Unemployment and the precariousness of living conditions have risen dramatically since then, leading to an increase in trafficking, notably of women. While in Nepal, photographer Lizzie Sadin explored how the trafficking and forced prostitution of women are not only a result of economic poverty but also a consequence of social and cultural practices.

Sadin met some Nepalese women who experience violations of their fundamental rights on a daily basis. They have little hope to pursue higher education and almost no control over their own destiny and future. Trafficked women live in fear of regular physical and psychological abuse as well as symbolic violence, which are sometimes perpetrated by family members themselves. The current social context, which defines women as being inferior to and dependent on men, and its underlying values, needs evolving for human rights violations to stop in Nepal.

Following Sadin’s research in Katmandu and at the India–Nepal border, the Carmignac Photojournalism Award will present an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London, which will showcase 8th Laureate Lizzie Sadin’s photographs. A monograph of Sadin’s works is published by Skira.

Following a call for applications in July 2016, the Carmignac Photojournalism Award’s jury, presided by Monique Villa, chose to give a voice to Nepalese women by selecting Lizzie Sadin’s project, a deeply moving testimony on gender-based human trafficking and its impact in Nepalese society. The jury is composed of:

• Monique Villa, CEO of Thomson Reuters Foundation and Founder of Trust Women

• Elizabeth Avedon, Independent Curator specialized in photography books

• Francesca Fabiani, Photography Special Projects, Department for Contemporary Art and Architecture, Ministry of Culture, Italy

• Thierry Grillet, Chief Curator of Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF)

• Olivier Laurent, Photo Editor of the Washington Post

• Élisabeth Quin, Journalist, writer and Arte TV Presenter (28 Minutes)

• Narciso Contreras, Laureate of the 8th Edition

French photographer Lizzie Sadin has devoted the first ten years of her career to socio-educational issues and has developed a singular outlook to report on the world around her. Inspired by Humanist photographers, she decided to focus on photography in 1992 and contributes to reporting on issues that are too often overlooked. She joined Robert Doisneau’s Rapho agency in 1994 and concentrated on in-depth human rights reportages. She has explored a variety of topics through which she has developed a strong interest in the trafficking of women, illustrated by her project for the 8th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award