Driven by Globalization, Today’s Slave Trade Thrives at Home and Abroad

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Driven by Globalization, Today’s Slave Trade Thrives at Home and Abroad

Friday
June 18
9:15 am

By Michelle Chen


"The bosses carried weapons. They scared me. I never knew where I was. We were transported every fifteen days to different cities. I knew if I tried to escape I would not get far because everything was unfamiliar. The bosses said that if we escaped they would get their money from our families."

--Congressional testimony of Maria, trafficking survivor from Mexico


The legacy of slavery in America is inextricably bound with the history of the nation. And the State Department has finally acknowledged that, even today, people continue to be bought and sold as property.

The 2010 Trafficking in Persons report, a global review of human trafficking and civic and legal responses to it, for the first time ranks the United States among the nations that harbor modern-day slavery.

Although the report gives the United States relatively high marks for its law enforcement and civic efforts to combat trafficking, victims are scattered throughout the workforce: the captive migrant tomato picker, the prostitute bonded by a smuggling debt, the domestic servant working around the clock without pay.

The media have often focused on dramatic narratives of young girls lured into prostitution rings. But government data suggests that "more foreign victims are found in labor trafficking than sex trafficking," particularly in "above ground" sectors like hotel work and home health care. Official estimates vary widely, but the number of victims could be more than 12 million children and adults worldwide.

Although citizens have also been trafficked, immigrant workers are uniquely at risk. The top countries of origin for foreign trafficking victims, according to the State Department, are Thailand, Mexico, Philippines, Haiti, India, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6119/driven_by_globalization_todays_slave_trade_thrives_at_home_and_abroad/

[Scuba]

1. The Republicans must be pleased.

[bemildred]

2. Capitalism loves slaves.

People who are compelled to work for the benefit of "owners" are what it's all about, what it's always been about.