US Demand for Slave Labor

Our prosperity here in the US is not without a cost. Unfortunately, part of that cost is often a human one. Slavery was an important part of the US economy for a long time until industrialization began to take effect. However, heavy industry did not spread throughout the whole of the Union. We became divided geographically based on economic activity. The south remained reliant on slave labor for agriculture, which was its main industry.

Eventually this divide tore the Union apart and we fought a war to determine what system would dominate. The slave holding states lost and slavery was officially legally ended in the US. It continued illegally for quite some time after in the form of chain gangs and other forced labor crews operating under the guise of legal punishment for criminal activity. However, the people accused of such activity were universally of African decent, and were forced into servitude for crimes as minor as being unemployed. Fortunately, this too was ended. It was however not the end of slavery in the United States. 



According to the US State Department, approximately 50,000 people are trafficked into the US for forced labor or prostitution every year. There are no reliable estimates as to how many slaves are currently in the US. It is surprisingly hard to track something that goes on all around us. In the interests of improving the chances of tracking it, we will examine the areas in which there is a demand for slave labor.

Prostitution
In my home town of San Diego California, the average age of a prostitute is 13. Considering that the human trafficking laws currently state that any minor engaging in commercial sex work cannot consent to it and is thus a trafficking victim, there are a lot of victims. Many are Mexican citizens who were lured, bought, or outright kidnapped from poor communities in Mexico or other Latin American countries.

In the San Francisco Bay area where I currently reside, many prostitutes are citizens of East Asian countries, including Vietnam, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and China. There are also a considerable number of women and girls from the former Soviet block countries, as well as many from Latin America. Many come for the money. In some cases it pays well. In many cases, they have their passports taken away and are forced to repay the transport cost to the US, in addition to living expenses once here. Threats are made against their families in their home countries to deter them from attempting to escape. Given that the organized crime groups that bring them here operate in their home countries, these threats are not empty.

In areas such as New York and Oakland, where there are large populations of lower middle class and poor people, criminal groups don't have to go so far to recruit. Domestic trafficking is now discussed as a major issue, where before prostitutes, even underage ones, were considered criminals.



I can not answer the question as to why there is a demand for forced sex in the US. The demand exists globally. However, it is critical to recognize that demand is there and is bringing thousands of women, children and even men into the country or from poor neighborhoods every year. This is not the only source of demand.


Forced labor
Illegal immigration has been a major political and social issue in the US for the last several decades. Something that is not often considered is how many of those immigrants once here are actually being paid for their work. Agricultural workers here in the US face the same issues of having their passports taken away and being forced to pay transit expenses once here as forced prostitutes. Unfortunately, because of the construct of illegal immigrants being criminals, there has been little research as to how many of them are in fact victims of criminals.



The demand for forced labor is somewhat easier for me to explain than the one for forced sex. It provides a cheap work force, which means we can keep buying relatively inexpensive produce at the local super market.

We fought a war over slavery. Today it exists in every state and every major urban center in the US. As long as we demand it, the supply will provide. How can we shift our demand to deny greater supply? How can we attack the root causes and dry the supply up?

Human Trafficking in the US-Case Study #1.

In the interests of keeping discussion as relevant as possible, the first case study will fall close to home for many readers. We will explore human trafficking in the US. The analysis will be based on the framework laid out in the previous posts. This initial post will cover supply. Subsequent posts will deal with demand, transit and aftercare. As this is intended as an introduction, it will remain general. However, more in depth studies of specific areas and cities, as well as solutions will fallow. In fact, if anyone is interested in sharing how things are in your city, feel free to post.

Supply
Lack of security, both economic and physical, is the main risk factor for exploitation. The risk goes up when there are groups actively seeking to exploit that insecurity. It goes up even more when it is easy to move those at risk to areas of greater wealth where there is more profit to be made by their exploitation. In the Americas, all these factors are present.

Poverty and underdevelopment in Latin America puts millions of people at risk. The presence of powerful organized criminal organizations means there are powers to benefit from that risk. Proximity to the affluence and subsequent high paying demand of the United States and ease of transport across the border provides an even greater incentive.

The largest source country for human trafficking victims into the US is Mexico. To put it comparatively, a days wages for a field worker in Mexico are equivalent to one hour of pay for the same work in the US. Given that consumer goods cost close to the same in both countries purchasing power is dramatically limited and poverty levels are extremely high. In fact, about 40% of the population is below the poverty line according to UN standards. Living standard are lower in countries further south, such as Guatemala and Honduras, which is why citizens of these countries illegally cross into Mexico to find work.

There are many reasons for this, including lack of investment in development and endemic corruption. Also, the US role in causing the instability in the region that has contributed to the poverty can not be overlooked. Numerous US interventions in Latin America in the past century are still being recovered from. Also, the North American Free Trade Agreement, far from creating economic equality, has lead to the domination of local markets by American goods (this puts local producers out of work), destruction of local agriculture and rampant unemployment.

These issues are complicated by the prevalence of corruption, which has provided an ideal breeding ground for criminal activity that today turns much of the region into a war zone. More people have been killed in the Mexican drug conflict, in less time, than Coalition troops in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. These organizations are unquestionably powerful. They are also business minded. With the sale of humans rivaled only by the sale of drugs in profits, they have been quick to go into the slave trade.

Finally, as the US is the richest country in the region, the highest prices for exploitation can be charged. It is easy to move people across the US/Mexico Border. It happens hundreds of times, every day.

Slavery in the US is not limited to cross-border human trafficking. In the diversity of the US, there exist microcosms of poverty paralleled by prosperity, with agents willing to take advantage of insecurity. In areas such as Oakland CA, most victims are domestically trafficked. This will be discussed at length in a later post.

As is evident, the supply is very great. What is the demand? Why is there a demand? What can be done about it?
Stay tuned as we explore slavery on the ground in our own neighborhoods.


For more information about human trafficking in the Americas, go to

http://www.misssey.org/for info on domestic trafficking.

For info on trafficking into the US and globally go tohttp://www.notforsalecampaign.org/