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IN THIS SECTION
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Projects Hidden Slaves
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2. Introduction
Migrant-Camp Operators Face Forced Labor Charges
Takoma Park Couple Enslaved Woman
Slavery in Florida's Citrus Groves
"Coyotes" Offer Evil Deal: Hondurans Forced into Prostitution For most Americans the occasional newspaper headline is the only indication that forced labor exists in the United States. Each year forced labor generates millions of dollars for criminals who prey on the most vulnerable—the poor, the uneducated, and the impoverished immigrant seeking a better life. Held as captives, victims of forced labor toil in slavelike conditions for months and even years with little or no contact with the outside world. Those who survive enslavement face enormous challenges as they struggle to regain control over their shattered lives. Forced labor is a serious and pervasive problem in the United States for four reasons: it is hidden, it is inhumane, it is widespread, and it is criminal. Forced Labor Is Hidden Each year thousands of men, women, and children are trafficked into the United States and forced to work without pay in deplorable conditions. Most of them are rarely seen in public places. Hidden from view, they toil in sweatshops, brothels, farms, and private homes. To prevent them from escaping, their captors confiscate their identification documents, forbid them from leaving their workplaces or contacting their families, threaten them with arrest and deportation, and restrict their access to the surrounding community. Victims of forced labor have been tortured, raped, assaulted, and murdered. They have been held in absolute control by their captors and stripped of their dignity. Some have been subjected to forced abortion, dangerous working conditions, poor nutrition, and humiliation. Some have died during their enslavement. Others have been physically or psychologically scarred for life. Once freed, many will suffer from a host of health-related problems, including repetitive stress injury, chronic back pain, visual and respiratory illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, and depression. Forced labor exists in ninety cities across the United States. It is practiced in a wide range of industrial sectors, including domestic service, the sex industry, food service, factory production, and agriculture. In the last five years alone the press has reported 131 cases of forced labor in the United States involving 19,254 men, women, and children from a wide range of ethnic and racial groups.1 Although many victims are immigrants, some are U.S. residents or citizens. Forced labor is universally condemned and outlawed. Its practice in the United States violates a host of laws including indentured servitude, money laundering, and tax evasion. Yet criminals find it a highly profitable and lucrative enterprise. Their workers are forced to be docile, and when problems arise, "employers" know they can rein workers in with threats and physical violence. Criminals also have learned that the odds are good that they will never be held accountable in a court of law. The United States is at a critical juncture in its struggle to end forced labor. In 2000 the U.S. government enacted new laws to hold perpetrators of forced labor accountable and to assist survivors freed from captivity. Since then, both prosecutions of suspected wrongdoers and the number of social and legal service providers assisting survivors have increased exponentially. As efforts to stamp out forced labor gather speed, there is a need to evaluate the record to date and to propose new measures that will further strengthen eradication of this egregious practice. To this end, Free the Slaves and the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, with the assistance of the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University, conducted a study of the nature and scope of forced labor in the United States to assess efforts of government and nongovernmental organizations to address the problem and to recommend measures to improve the U.S. response to forced labor. The research team employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. To gain an understanding of the numbers, demographic characteristics, and origins of those in forced labor in the United States, we conducted
To gain knowledge regarding the experience of survivors of forced labor and the adequacy of the United States response, we also conducted
Of the eight case studies selected for study, one involved forced prostitution, two involved servitude of domestic workers, two involved agricultural workers, two involved factory workers, and one involved children who had been sexually abused and forced to work in the restaurant and service industries. The cases took place in California, North and South Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, Washington, D.C. and the United States island territory of American Samoa. In conducting the case studies, researchers often encountered difficulty gaining access to survivors. Some service providers and advocates were unwilling to convey our request for participation in this study to their clients, citing the need to protect them from contact with individuals who were not directly involved in their cases. This access barrier to survivors may impede success of further research regarding the effects of forced labor on survivors and may influence how well clients are served by the current U.S. response. Despite this challenge, researchers interviewed six survivors. The rest of this report consists of six sections. Section 3 provides background and analysis of the causes and extent of forced labor in the United States. It reviews the literature and research on the structure of labor markets and their relationship to maintaining forced labor. It also examines data collected on forced labor to determine geographic and demographic patterns as well as the occurrence of forced labor in particular economic sectors. Section 4 reviews the legal history of prohibitions against forced labor in the United States and at the international level. Section 5 examines the way in which U.S. laws are enforced against traffickers and used to assist survivors of forced labor. Section 6 discusses the impacts of trafficking and forced labor on the health of survivors. Section 7 sets out the numerous challenges that social and legal service providers face in their efforts to meet the needs of survivors. Finally, section 8 presents our conclusions and recommendations to strengthen the U.S. response to forced labor.
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