Photo Credit: Miranda Turin

get educated

Get educated

One of the most important things you can do is be educated and aware of the reasons why people are enslaved and how to identify someone who is enslaved so you can report it.

Photo Credit: Miranda Turin

Photo Credit: Miranda Turin

slavery exists

Slavery defined

Slavery occurs when one person completely controls another person, using violence or the threat of violence, to maintain that control, exploits them economically and they cannot walk away.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines slavery as “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.”

These are real slaves by the harshest definitions. They are trapped in brothels, factories, mines, farm fields, and restaurants. More than half are women and children.

learn the terms

Other types of "slavery"

People become bonded laborers by taking, or being tricked into taking, a loan that they are unable to ever pay off. Some bonded laborers receive basic food and shelter as “payment” for their work, but due to penalties and exorbitant interest rates, no matter how hard they work they are never able to pay off the loan, which can even e passed down to their children. –International Labor Organization (ILO)

People who are illegally recruited by individuals, businesses or governments and forced to work – usually under the threat of violence or other penalties. –ILO

Predominately effects women and girls who are married without choice, forced into lives of servitude, often accompanied by physical violence, and who have no realistic choice of leaving the marriage. Marriage involving children under 18 years old remains a widely culturally accepted practice in many corners of the globe. Estimates suggest that 11 per cent of women aged between 20 and 24 worldwide were married before reaching the age of 15 –UNICEF 2012

Involves the transport of any person from one area to another for the purpose of forcing them into slavery conditions, including transporting people between countries and within the borders of a state. –Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000

The unlawful recruitment or use of children—through force, fraud, or coercion—by armed forces to serve as combatants or for other forms of labor. Some child soldiers are also sexually exploited by armed groups. Perpetrators may be government armed forces, paramilitary organizations, or rebel groups. –Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000

People forced to work 10-to-16 hours a day or more for little-to-no pay. The employer uses force, fraud and/or coercion, usually the threat of deportation and/or document confiscation, to maintain control over the worker and to cause the worker to believe that he or she has no other choice but to continue with the work. –ILO

by the numbers

Facts about slavery

SLAVERY

???

Victims work as: domestic servants; farm, factory, and restaurant laborers; strippers, hostesses, and sex slaves; sales crews, peddlers, and beggars; hotel and tourist industry workers.

SLAVES TODAY

50M

It is reported that 50 million slaves are in the world today. 403,000 of them are in the United States. (Global Slavery Index 2018)

MOST PREVALENT

03

Modern slavery is most prevalent in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Region (2018).

FEMALE

28.6M

Of the 600,000–800,000 people trafficked across international borders each year, more than 70% are female and half are children.

TRAFFICKED

17,500

As many as 14,500–17,500 men, women, and children are trafficked into the United States each year. (US Department of State, 2005)

LARGEST

3RD

Human trafficking is estimated to be the third-largest international crime industry, ranking behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking. (United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime)

INDUSTRY

$150B

Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the 21st century—a $32 billion industry. Of that, $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries. (ILO)

U.S. IS TOP

03

The United States is one of the top three destination points for enslaved/trafficked victims, along with Japan and Australia.

see the signs

Identifying slavery

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do is be educated and aware of the reasons why people are enslaved and how to identify someone who is enslaved so you can report it.

  • Unable to leave their job.
  • Does not control their earnings.
  • Owe a large debt and are unable to pay it off.
  • Not in control of their own identification documents (ID or passport).
  • Have their communication restricted or controlled and are frightened to speak in the presence of others.
  • Have injuries, signs of physical abuse, and/or torture.
  • Exhibit behaviors including fear, anxiety, depression, submission, tension, and/or nervousness.
  • Unable to move freely or are being watched or followed.
  • Work excessively long and unusual hours.
  • The oppressor threatens to come after them or their family if they attempt to escape.
  • Victims are told that they will be deported or put in jail if they leave because their oppressor has stolen their documents.
  • Deportation for a victim means retribution by the trafficker, as most traffickers have a web of conspirators in the victims’ home countries willing and able to get even.
  • Many victims fear retribution through black magic or physical and sexual abuse, among many other threats and promises made by their captors.
  • In many cases, particularly where slavery is historic and generational as in many villages in India and Africa, people do not realize they are enslaved.
  • Their limited language skills, unfamiliarity with the area and poor physical and mental health, due to their enslavement, can leave them helpless on the streets – vulnerable to falling prey to their traffickers once again.
  • With no money, no documents to prove their citizenship and limited skills, they are unable to earn a living and get themselves out of their situations.
  • Many victims are unaware of their rights or the fact that there are organizations available to assist them to freedom.

Photo Credit: Miranda Turin

say something

Reporting Slavery

If you have reason to suspect that someone is a victim of slavery / human trafficking, DO NOT INTERVENE. Intervening can prove harmful to the victim and yourself. Please take the following actions to report a tip:

Call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline

1.888.373.7333

Or text a message to:

BeFree (233733)

The NHTRC is a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls and texts from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. Interpreters are available for up to 170 different languages for those callers that require interpretive services. All calls are strictly confidential.

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