Forced Labor in the United States
By: Preston Goff (The Exodus Road)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Forced Labor in the United States
Landing a job is generally something to be celebrated. For many, it means the beginning of a longed-for dream career, a secure income, or better opportunities. But for the roughly 50,000 people working in forced labor in the United States, it often means a life of secrecy, fear, abuse, and hopelessness.
What is forced labor?
The International Labour Organization defines forced labor as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily."
In the United States, forced labor is most common in industries that offer low wages, where there is little accountability to U.S. law. Most media coverage in the U.S. about human trafficking focuses on the sex trade, but other common forms of forced labor are found in hotels and hospitality services, agriculture, restaurants, manufacturing, custodial services, construction, health and elder care, and domestic service. In fact, according to the Polaris Project , experts believe there are more situations of labor trafficking than sex trafficking in the United States.
Traffickers often use physical and emotional abuse, threats, and shame to control their victims. This means people who are already vulnerable are at even greater risk of being trafficked. Those vulnerable populations include those with substance abuse or mental health concerns, immigrants, the LGBTQ community , homeless individuals, those in the child welfare or foster care system, and youth who have run away.
Who is at risk for forced labor in the United States?
Immigrants
A great number of victims of forced labor in the United States are immigrants from other countries . They are vulnerable because they do not speak English or understand the laws or their own rights. They decide to come to the U.S. in hopes of more opportunities and a better life, placing all their trust in their traffickers, only to find themselves stuck in a hopeless and inescapable cycle of coercion.
Many immigrants trapped in forced labor situations come to the U.S. through a work or student visa program. They are misled about the life and job situation they are coming into, unaware of the intentions of the person they've trusted.
Jayson's story and Flor's story are two examples of how forced labor can occur when an immigrant is dependent on a trafficker for their basic needs. Traffickers exploit their victim's vulnerabilities to create that dependency.
Kids in Foster Care
The U.S. foster care system is a particularly lucrative target for human traffickers. Because of the massive size and scope of the national system, it is easy for the needs of individual children to get lost. Human traffickers know and exploit the unique vulnerabilities of children in foster care .
For instance, traffickers know that children in the foster care system are used to being moved without notice, not knowing where they are going or how long they will stay. They also know the children believe that no one will want to care for them unless they are paid. Foster children and young adults typically suffer mental health trauma, little or no family support systems, and low self-esteem. As the statistics show, these types of factors translate easily into falling victim to a human trafficking situation. In fact, the National Foster Youth Institute estimates that 60% of child trafficking victims in the United States have a history in the child welfare system.
Domestic Workers
Domestic workers are another segment of the population particularly vulnerable to labor trafficking. Most domestic workers are women, often minorities or immigrants, and the work happens in private homes where there is little or no accountability. There are no federal legal requirements, standards, or wage regulations for domestic workers. That means there is no way of making sure the domestic workers are treated fairly by their employers.
This was the situation that Natalia found herself in. At just 13, she left her village in Ghana to get an education in the United States, accompanied by family friends. Those family friends quickly trapped her in a life of merciless abuse and degrading household labor. After suffering invisibly, locked in the family's home, she was finally able to escape and reach a neighbor who called the authorities.
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This article is about forced labour in the USA and comments about any other countries or what takes place in them, or political comments, are off topic and will be deleted.
Due to the fact that comments about forced labour have been made on another article posted on NT this article is posted to point out that accusations about others should not be made unless one is willing to admit that the same accusations can be made about themselves or place of citizenship or residence.
What is missing in the above article is forced labour is also present in American prisons, either with no compensation or measly pennies paid for labour. So who among us has a licence plate manufactured in a prison?
Mom and dad made me go out and work on their golf course every day in the summer.
Busting rocks and hauling them off like I was some sort of hard labor prisoner!
Eventually was able to beat anybody with just a 7 iron. (Tin Cup came out years later).
One of those wax on/wax off thingys with Chevy Chase going nunununununu.
Can still kick ass with just a 7 iron (ground flat to putt) Ping knock off and no bag.
What's your point?
No point actually. Just drunk and pontificating.
Okay, well, thanks for the bump anyway.