WHEN MOST OF US hear the term human trafficking, it immediately brings to mind a young woman or girl who has been forced into prostitution. But as Melissa Hope Ditmore, author of the new book Unbroken Chains: The Hidden Role of Human Trafficking in the American Economy, reports, involuntary sex work is just one of many occupations in which human trafficking is rampant. Ditmore’s definition of trafficking includes exploitation that involves fraud, force, or coercion by someone who has power over the victim. “The tactics used by traffickers differ across workplaces and forms of exploitation,” she writes. “Some tactics overlap, while others are particular to a specific field.” Among the most blatant means of control, she explains, are verbal, physical, or sexual abuse; threats against family; social isolation; the withholding of wages; and debt bondage.
“The end goal of all forms of forced labor is for the employer to get something for nothing, or nearly nothing,” she continues. “Various forms of trafficking and exploitation have allowed American employers to obtain labor for below-market wages—or no wages—for hundreds of years.” This exploitation, she concludes, extends into fields as diverse as agriculture, in-home domestic work, door-to-door sales, and the aforementioned sex trades.
Ditmore spoke to me about her book, the extent of 21st-century human trafficking, and the human rights campaigns that are being led by trafficking survivors and their allies.
ELEANOR J....
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