What is modern day slavery?

Human trafficking, also known as modern day slavery, is the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world today, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Drug dealing is the largest, while human trafficking and illegal arms are tied for second.) This is likely due to its low risk and high reward nature:

  • Human traffickers are difficult to catch
  • Human trafficking as a crime is difficult to prosecute
  • The penalties for human trafficking are relatively light

The trafficked victims are forced into sexual and/or labor exploitation through fraud, threat and coercion.

Human trafficking is defined by the following:

US Trafficking Victim Protection Act of 2000

1. sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or

2. the recruitment, harboring, transportation provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

United Nations

Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation

How can slavery exist in a free country?

The #1 destination for Americans seeking sex with a child: USA.

According to Shared Hope International and the US Congress, at least 100,000 American minors are exploited in domestic minor sex trafficking, often known as the pimping industry. American children are being sold for sex on the internet and on our streets. Average entry age: 11-13 years old! The rape and victimization of these children is often overlooked in our society as we mislabel these kids as “prostitutes” or “hoes.” Pimps and pedophiles (“johns”) enjoy reign over them almost unchecked.

Below is a trailer from “Playground: The Child Sex Trade in America” directed by Libby Spears and
produced by George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Grant Heslov, Jeff Vespa, Abigail Disney, David De Rothschild and Julia Ormond.

 

In addition, each year 14,000 to 17,500 foreign nationals are brought into the U.S. as slaves for labor or commercial sex. Dr. Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves, is a leading world expert on modern day slavery. In this 5-min clip, he answers some basic questions about these slaves: What do they do? Where do they live? Why can’t they leave their enslavement? This is an excerpt from the documentary, Dreams Die Hard.

Human trafficking is not human smuggling

Most people associate human trafficking with (human) smuggling, which is erroneous. Here is a brief overview of the differences:

Trafficking Smuggling
Must Contain an Element of Force, Fraud, or Coercion (actual, perceived or implied), unless under 18 years of age involved in commercial sex acts. The person being smuggled is generally cooperating.
Forced Labor and/or Exploitation. There is no actual or implied coercion.
Persons trafficked are victims. Persons smuggled are violating the law. They are not victims.
Enslaved, subjected to limited movement or isolation, or had documents confiscated. Persons are free to leave, change jobs, etc.
Need not involve the actual movement of the victim. Facilitates the illegal entry of person(s) from one country into another.
No requirement to cross an international border. Smuggling always crosses an international border.
Person must be involved in labor/services or commercial sex acts, i.e., must be “working”. Person must only be in country or attempting entry illegally.

Table from US DOJ’s ” FACT SHEET: Distinctions Between Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking “