This month we will continue on our series of the 25 different types of Human Trafficking, categorized by the Polaris Project. You can read out first two installments here: Part I & Part II.
11. Hotels and Hospitality: hospitality businesses such as hotels, motels, resorts, or casinos working as front desk attendants, bell staff, and, most frequently, in housekeeping. Most are women and men from Jamaica, the Philippines, and India, and typically they are told that they will make lucrative wages to support family back home.
12. Construction: Labor trafficking in the construction industry usually occurs within small contracting businesses completing tasks such as roofing, carpentry, welding, electrical work, and masonry on both large commercial construction sites as well as in private homes. Employers may misclassify workers as independent contractors, thus limiting their access to worker protections and benefits.
13. Personal Sexual Servitude: Personal sexual servitude takes various forms, and the payment is not always cash. The line between ongoing sexual abuse and personal sexual servitude is complex, and different survivors may define their experiences differently. It can occur when a woman or girl is permanently sold, often by her family to settle a drug debt, to an individual buyer for the explicit purpose of engaging in periodic sex acts over a long period of time. It can also occur within a commercial non-consenting marriage situation.
In most reported cases, victims are U.S. citizens. Runaway homeless youth and LGBTQ minors are particularly vulnerable. Foreign national victims are predominantly women and girls from Mexico and Central America.
14. Health and Beauty Services: Labor trafficking and exploitation has been known to occur in businesses such as nail salons, hair salons, and health spas. Though workers interact regularly with customers, providing services such as manicures and facials, due to language barriers and intensive monitoring, it can be difficult for workers to reach out for help.
Due to limited data, little is known, but traffickers predominantly have an employer relationship with victims, and many are from Vietnam or China.
15. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: Some crops such as tobacco—the crop cited most often on Polaris-operated hotlines—require much more intensive labor to harvest, making them more susceptible to forced labor or exploitation. Others frequently mentioned are cattle/dairy, oranges, tomatoes, and strawberries.
Often an agricultural contract will promise an hourly rate but then pay on a piece-rate basis, which severely limits earning potential and further entraps the victims.
If you witness or suspect human trafficking, or you are personally being trafficked, call the toll-free, multilingual, 24-hour National Human Trafficking Resource Center & Hotline: 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP to 233733 (BEFREE). To get help for victims and survivors of human trafficking or to connect with local services 24/7.
The first step to abolishing human trafficking is education, awareness, and understanding. Greenlight Operation offers age appropriate education and trainings at schools, churches, clubs, events, or other community gatherings. If you would like to schedule a speaking engagement or training event please go to https://www.greenlightoperation.org/book-a-speaker.
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