Human Trafficking... One of the Fastest Growing Criminal Industries...

After reading recent information about foreign; non-citizen workers, domestic and others in the United States: with this information coming to light I was reminded of someone I had met in early to mid 1990. I had started working in the kitchen of a sports bar; the manager was a woman in her, late 30's, maybe early 40's. She was a single, and working mom of a young boy who was about 4 or 5 years old. Usually on Saturday's this woman would bring a young girl in to the bar with her; the girl was maybe 17 years old; she said her name was Jackie; she was Asian. She was the 'babysitter' for this woman, who was caucasian. From some conversations we had, I know that the young woman lived with this woman and the small boy. The girl talked of going to college in the next year. Jackie seemed very immature; happy, ... very young minded and not a worldly person. Things didn't seem right the way she was spoken to, by the bar manager. Now, I look back and can see that it probably wasn't right. I don't know how this young Asian girl got involved in this older woman's life, as her baby sitter. Today I can see that it quite possibly could have been a situation as is spoken of today; a 'domestic' worker, non-citizen, working for, ?what kind of pay. No social security taxes being paid. No health benefits. Just cheap labor. Within the past weeks I became aware of this situation in another part of America. I volunteered for one of the election boards and was making telephone calls to one of our west coast states. I'm in the mid-west, possibly we aren't as aware of this in the middle states. But I phoned many telephone numbers, for about a two hour period. (I was feeling very patriotic and spent some time on this.) The time; two-hours is important because within that time period, I don't know how many numbers I dialed within that state; but quite a lot of them. What I found was that the persons, registered voters; who the numbers belonged to, would not be home; a person who 'just worked there' would answer. A foreign accent, not an accent too common in the mid-west; and when I asked if they were going to support this candidate in the election they all said, "I'm not a citizen I cannot vote." I thanked them for their time and wished them a good evening. After finding what happend to the family in New York city this past week, or two; the tragedy; of the non-citizen nanny; what I see or think is, "Do they have any health insurance? ... If they are sick, does anyone help them; think of them?" I pretty much see that this would not probably be the case. And their wouldn't be social security benefits... so, as one article on the internet said, they'd have 'to work till they droppped.' I also think of the manufactured items that are made in China (United States owned companies; or otherwise.) But if they are United States owned; and we purchase these goods: Is this no less slave labor just because we don't have to look the people in the eyes? I mean if child labor laws are broken; if people are working in unsafe conditions; breathing in air that our EPA or OSHA wouldn't allow; does this make it better, just because we don't see it? Not in my eyes. Your Health And Tech Friend Please see the article below for information as to what you can do if you suspect that someone is a victim of unfair working practices. There is a link, within the article below where you can give an anonymous tip. --------------- "... under U.S. federal law, victims of human trafficking include children involved in the sex trade, adults age 18 or over who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of "labor or services," such as domestic workers held in a home, or farm-workers forced to labor against their will. The factors that each of these situations have in common are ..." ...continued....

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where people profit from the control and exploitation of others. As defined under U.S. federal law, victims of human trafficking include children involved in the sex trade, adults age 18 or over who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of "labor or services," such as domestic workers held in a home, or farm-workers forced to labor against their will. The factors that each of these situations have in common are elements of force, fraud, or coercion that are used to control people. Then, that control is tied to inducing someone into commercial sex acts, or labor or services. Numerous people in the field have summed up the concept of human trafficking as "compelled service." Every year, human traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits by victimizing millions of people around the world, and here in the United States. Human trafficking is considered to be one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world...." "... Victims of human trafficking in the United States include U.S. citizens or foreign nationals, adults or minors, and men or women. Foreign-born victims in the U.S. may be either documented or undocumented.

Because human trafficking is considered to be one of the fastest growing criminal industries, the U.S. government and academic researchers are currently working on an up-to-date estimate of the total number of trafficked persons in the United States annually. With 100,000 children estimated to be in the sex trade in the United States each year, it is clear that the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors and sex trafficking and labor trafficking are aggregated. Because human trafficking is considered to be one of the fastest growing criminal industries, the U.S. government and academic researchers are currently working on an up-to-date estimate of the total number of trafficked persons in the United States annually. With 100,000 children estimated to be in the sex trade in the United States each year, it is clear that the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors and sex trafficking and labor trafficking are aggregated. (please click through to the original article to report any tips or to find more statistics and data) Forms of forced labor have been found in numerous places in the United States, including cases of people forced to work in restaurants. It is estimated that there are 100,000 children in the sex trade in the... continue to this text and source ...