Ottavia Spaggiari is an award-winning investigative journalist, long-form writer, editor, and media trainer.

Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The New Yorker, Al Jazeera, The New Humanitarian and others. Her long-form on human traffickers' impunity in Italy was shortlisted for the 2021 European Press Prize in the "distinguished reporting" category. The rights for this piece have also been recently optioned for screen adaptation. In 2023 the piece she co-wrote about the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Belarus after the 2020 elections received the Amnesty Media Award for Best Feature.

Ottavia Spaggiari

Basic information

Name
Ottavia Spaggiari
Title
Investigative Journalist
Expertise
Sevelopment aid, migration, gender-based violence, police brutality
Country
United States
City
New York
Twitter
@OttaviaS
Links

Supported projects

Under the Tuscan Sun - The Human Cost of a Glass of Wine

  • Exploitation
  • Human Rights
  • Migration
  • Trafficking
  • Work

TUSCANY / ISLAMABAD - Most associate the Italian wine country — such as Tuscany, the Langhe and the Prosecco hills — with scenic vineyards where some of the world's most-renowned wine is made but, for many living and working under the Italian sun, the reality is far from idyllic.

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72 hours that changed Belarus

  • Corruption
  • Human Rights
  • Politics

MINSK - 72 Hours That Changed Belarus tells the story of the post-election collapse of human rights in the country through the first-hand experiences of those affected the most: a young couple injured by a stun grenade, a recent law graduate who documented torture and later fled to protect herself and the evidence, a blogger and a student who were tortured inside the infamous Okrestina jail in Minsk.

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Mentor for

The Lives of Italy’s Rose Sellers Are Anything but Romantic

  • Agriculture
  • Environment
  • Exploitation
  • Human Rights
  • Migration
  • Trafficking

ROME / DHAKA - Of the many cases chronicling the exploitation of South Asian migrant workers in Italy, none is perhaps more visible yet underreported than the plight of rose sellers – a common sight in busy tourist destinations like Rome, Milan or Turin.

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