Labor Trafficking

Class Session Four

Labor Trafficking

• Labor trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which individuals perform labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Labor trafficking includes situations of debt bondage, forced labor, and involuntary child labor.

Labor• 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.

• Bonded: Debt bondage or bonded labor is when a person pledges themselves against a loan.

• Forced: Forced labor is when an individual is forced to work against their will, under threat of violence or other punishment, with restrictions on their freedom.

• Child Labor:

Bonded Labor• Bonded labor, or debt bondage, is probably the least

known form of labor traffickingtoday, and yet it is the most widely used method of enslaving people.

• Victims become bonded laborers when their labor is demanded as a means of repayment for a loan or service in which its terms and conditions have not been defined or in which the value of the victims’ services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt.

• The value of their work is greater than the original sum of money “borrowed.”

Forced Labor

• Forced labor is a situation in which victims are forced to work against their own will, under the threat of violence or some other form of punishment, their freedom is restricted and a degree of ownership is exerted.

• Forms of forced labor can include domestic servitude; agricultural labor; sweatshop factory labor; janitorial, food service and other service industry labor; and begging.

Child Labor

• Child labor is a form of work that is likely to be hazardous to the health and/or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development of children and can interfere with their education.

• The International Labor Organization estimates worldwide that there are 246 million exploited children aged between 5 and 17 involved in debt bondage, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, the illegal drug trade, the illegal arms trade and other illicit activities around the world.

Child Labor• An estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are

engaged in child labor - one in six children in the world. • Millions of children are engaged in hazardous situations

or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery.

• They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, laboring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations.

• In Sub-Saharan Africa around one in three children are engaged in child labor, representing 69 million children.

Child Labor• In South Asia, another 44 million are engaged in

child labor. • Children living in the poorest households and in

rural areas are most likely to be engaged in child labor. Those burdened with household chores are overwhelmingly girls. Millions of girls who work as domestic servants are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

• Ensuring that all children go to school and that their education is of good quality are keys to preventing child labor.

• http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html

Table 1: Estimates of various forms of children’s work, 2004 and 2008

Total children Children in employment Child labour Hazardous workWorld2004 1,566,300 322,729 20.6 222,294 14.2128,381 8.22008 1,586,288 305,669 19.3 215,269 13.6115,314 7.3Boys2004 804,000 171,150 21.3 119,575 14.9 74,414 9.32008 819,891 175,777 21.4 127,761 15.6 74,019 9.0Girls2004 762,300 151,579 19.9 102,720 13.5 53,966 7.12008 766,397 129,892 16.9 87,508 11.4 41,296 5.45-14 years2004 1,206,500 196,047 16.2170,383 14.1 76,470 6.32008 1,216,854 176,452 14.5152,850 12.6 52,895 4.315-17 years2004 359,800 126,682 35.2 51,911 14.4 51,911 14.42008 369,433 129,217 35.0 62,419 16.9 62,419 16.9

http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/viewProduct.do?productId=13313

Child Labor

• One monitoring group: International Labour Organization

• http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm• Chocolate– Hersey’s

• Film: The Dark Side of Chocolate

Identifying Victims of Labor Trafficking

• Victims of labor trafficking are not a homogenous group of people.

• Victims are young children, teenagers, men and women. • Some of them enter the country legally on worker visas

for domestic, “entertainment,” computer and agricultural work, while others enter illegally.

• Some work in legal occupations such as domestic, factory or construction work, while others toil in illegal industries such as the drug and arms trade or panhandling.

Although there is no single way to identify victims of labor trafficking, some common patterns include:

• People who are trafficked often come from unstable and economically devastated places as traffickers frequently identify vulnerable populations characterized by oppression, high rates of illiteracy, little social mobility and few economic opportunities.

• Women and children are overwhelmingly trafficked in labor arenas because of their relative lack of power, social marginalization, and their overall status as compared to men.

Continued:• People who are trafficked often come from unstable and

economically devastated places as traffickers frequently identify vulnerable populations characterized by oppression, high rates of illiteracy, little social mobility and few economic opportunities.

• Women and children are overwhelmingly trafficked in labor arenas because of their relative lack of power, social marginalization, and their overall status as compared to men.

Health Impacts of Labor Trafficking*Various methods of forced labor expose victims of labor trafficking to

physical abuse such as scars, headaches, hearing loss, cardiovascular/respiratory problems, and limb amputation. Victims of labor trafficking may also develop chronic back, visual and respiratory problems from working in agriculture, construction or manufacturing under dangerous conditions.

• The psychological effects of torture are helplessness, shame and humiliation, shock, denial and disbelief, disorientation and confusion, and anxiety disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias, panic attacks, and depression.

• Many victims also develop Traumatic Bonding or “Stockholm Syndrome,” which is characterized by cognitive distortions where reciprocal positive feelings develop between captors and their hostages. This bond is a type of human survival instinct and helps the victim cope with the captivity.

Health Impacts, cont.

• Child victims of labor trafficking are often malnourished to the extent that they may never reach their full height, they may have poorly formed or rotting teeth, and later they

may experience reproductive problems.

Assistance for Victims of Labor Trafficking

• When victims of trafficking are identified, the U.S. government can help them stabilize their immigration status, and obtain support and assistance in rebuilding their lives in the United States through various programs.

• By certifying victims of trafficking, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enables trafficking victims

who are non-U.S. citizens to receive federally funded benefits and services to the same extent as a refugee.

• Victims of trafficking who are U.S. citizens do not need to be certified to receive benefits.

• As U.S. citizens, they may already be eligible for many benefits

Additional assistance…• As a result of the certification or eligibility letters issued by

HHS, victims can access benefitsand services including food, health care and employment assistance. Certified victims of trafficking can obtain access to services that provide English language instruction and skills training for job placement.

• Since many victims are reluctant to come forward for fear of being deported, one of HHS’ most important roles is to connect victims with non-profit organizationsprepared to assist them and address their specific needs.

• These organizations can provide counseling, case management and benefit coordination

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/fact_labor.pdf

Kentucky Information

What to do about it?

• http://www.laborrights.org/• ILRF is an advocacy organization dedicated to

achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.

Heifer International

• http://www.heifer.org/

Public Campaigns

• You have to have all your materials approved by me first

• You must tell the participants that this is part of a class requirement

• Group time