Luca and Peter – Who Was Trafficked?

Two men, Luca and Peter, live in two different drug rehabilitation centers. As part of their programs, both men are expected to work. 

The first man, Luca, works building doors. Before he started, his manager promised that he would be paid every Friday for his work.

On his first night, management locked the gates to the facility from the outside. Friday came and went, but Luca never received his paycheck. Weeks passed, and the gates locked every night and no paycheck ever came. 

The second man, Peter, is expected to panhandle for spare change. When he returns to the rehabilitation center, he must give the money he makes to his manager. He was never promised that he could keep it.

A few weeks pass and Peter decides to leave the program entirely and search for a different job.  

Both of these men were being exploited for their labor, but only one was being trafficked. 

Do you know which one? 

We Need To Talk About Labor Trafficking

Labor trafficking occurs at a higher rate than sex trafficking globally but is reported at a lower rate to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. It is imperative to address both sex and labor trafficking so that all can live free. 

In this five-part blog series, we’re equipping you to recognize and report labor trafficking. 

Right now, you’re reading part two, which will help you understand the distinction between labor exploitation and labor trafficking: 

Labor trafficking is a type  of labor exploitation.

 Labor exploitation is exactly what it sounds like: exploiting another human being to profit unfairly off their work. All cases of labor trafficking are an extreme form of labor exploitation. However, some cases of labor exploitation are not human trafficking. 

Labor trafficking is unique because it involves the element of choice: people being trafficked feel that they cannot choose to leave the situation they are in. Let’s look at the A-M-P Model, which defines human trafficking. 

The A-M-P Model For Identifying Human Trafficking

Trafficking occurs when an action is taken, by the means of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of profiting off someone else’s labor or service. 

Exploitation describes unfairly profiting off someone else’s labor; there is no “means” in this definition. Force, fraud, or coercion are unnecessary for exploitation to occur. At least one of these means must be present along with exploitation for someone to legally be considered trafficked. 

In a trafficking situation, force, fraud, and coercion make the victim feel like they cannot leave and get another job. 

If we know a person is being exploited for labor, we need to ask 2 questions to determine if it is human trafficking:

1. How did the victim come to have this job? (Were they recruited, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, patronized, or solicited into the job?) 
2. Was the victim forced, defrauded, or coerced into taking or staying in the job? 

If you answer “yes” to both those questions, it’s human trafficking. 

Let’s go back to Luca and Peter’s stories and ask these critical questions.

Peter

1. How did Peter come to have this job? (Was he recruited, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, patronized, or solicited into the job?)

Peter was harbored because he lived at the rehabilitation center, which employed him. Yes.

2. Was Peter forced, defrauded, or coerced into taking or staying in the job?

• Peter was not locked in at the rehabilitation center and he wasn’t physically abused if he didn’t work, so he wasn’t forced. No. 
• Peter was never promised wages, so he was not defrauded. No. 
• Peter was never threatened or psychologically manipulated, so he was not coerced. No. 

Although it’s clear Peter was harbored for labor exploitation, we don’t see an element of “means” -force, fraud, or coercion – here. Peter was not trafficked. 

Luca

1. How did Luca come to have this job? (Was he recruited, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, patronized, or solicited into the job?)

Luca – like Peter – was harbored because he lived at the rehabilitation center, which employed him. Yes.

2. Was Luca forced, defrauded, or coerced into taking or staying in the job?

• Luca was locked in at the rehabilitation center, so he was forced. Yes. 
• Luca was promised wages that he never recieved, so he was defrauded. Yes.
• Luca wasn’t threatened or psychologically manipulated, so he was not coerced. No. 

Luca was harbored through force and fraud for the purpose of labor exploitation. Using the A-M-P Model, we can see that Luca was trafficked. 

Labor exploitation and labor trafficking go hand in hand.

To identify labor trafficking, it is important that you recognize the signs of labor exploitation so that you can report unfair and illegal labor practices.  As people who support a society of freedom for all, we have an obligation to see and understand the exploitation of others around us. That’s why we at UAHT are writing this series for you! 

We Serve Labor Trafficking Survivors Through our Case Management Program

Although labor trafficking rarely makes the news, you can be assured that our team is walking labor trafficking survivors – like Luca – through every step of their journey toward freedom.

From finding somewhere safe to sleep and nutritious food to eat to job training and interviews, our Case Manager ensures every client, of any gender, who experienced any trafficking type, is equipped with the tools they need to live free.

To start at the beginning of this series, check out our first post. Meanwhile, watch our blog for the next post on recognizing human trafficking in storefront services.

Resources:

The U.S. Department of Labor oversees labor exploitation issues and workers can file claims for violations of  

• Workplace Health and Safety: OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)  

• Nearly every employee in the nation comes under OSHA’s jurisdiction with some exceptions such as miners, some transportation workers, many public employees, and the self-employed. For more information about OSHA, visit https://www.osha.gov/.  
• OSHA also administers the Whistleblower Protection program, ensuring an employer cannot retaliate by taking “adverse action” against workers who report injuries, safety concerns, or other protected activity. For more information about the Whistleblower Protection program, visit https://www.whistleblowers.gov/.  

• Fair Labor Standards Act – FLSA contains rules concerning the employment of young workers, those under the age of 18, and is administered and enforced by DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. Intended to protect the health and well-being of youth in America, the FLSA contains minimum age restrictions for employment, restrictions on the times of day youth may work, and the jobs they may perform.  

• Minimum wage, child labor, and Workers Owed Wages: Wage and Hour Division. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is responsible for administering and enforcing some of the nation’s most important worker protection laws. WHD is committed to ensuring that workers in this country are paid properly and for all the hours they work, regardless of immigration status.   

• WHD Website: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd  
• How to File a Complaint with WHD: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints  
• For more information about DOL and worker safety and health, visit https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/safety-health.    

National Human Trafficking Hotline is a toll-free number anyone can call to report or get more information on human trafficking. Call 1-888-373-7888 

1. Labor Trafficking Afflicts Every Corner Of The Globe

When we think of labor trafficking, we think “not us.”

2. But it’s more than that. It’s close to home.

Labor trafficking is here. It’s in Houston, it’s in our communities. And it’s something that we can see – if we know the signs.

3. Labor Trafficking is a business. Vote with your dollar.

But it can’t end there.

It can be complicated distinguishing the difference in prostitution and human trafficking – however, one thing you know for sure is that she has been exploited.

Kim is 16 years old, poor, in and out of school, no job, and wants to help her family survive.

After her mother lost her job, their family is left in terrible debt. A man her friend told her about says he can get her a job as a live-in housekeeper in another city for a few months.

She gets in the man’s truck and is transported across the Texas border to Mexico where she does not speak the language and is sold into a brothel where she is forced to have sex with 10-15 men every night. Her virginity is sold for $20. She has no money and no way to get back home.

Michelle is 26 years old; also, poor, was once married at 17 and has five children.

After her husband left their family, it was up to Michelle to provide for herself and her children. Without an education or job opportunities, she reluctantly goes into the city and starts to prostitute herself at a bar. She sends the small amount she receives to her mother who is raising her children. It is not the life she would choose for herself, but she does not see another way.

Kim and Michelle are both affected by poverty and social exploitation.

Both have been given few choices and opportunities in life. But one is a willing participant in the sex industry and the other is a victim of human trafficking. They both need help finding their way out, and they both need compassion – but their situations are not the same.

If the sex industry were a continuum;

on one side are adult men and women who are knowing and willing participants in prostitution – whether through direct exploitation, because of poverty or abuse, or by choice, they use prostitution as a means for income. On the other end of the spectrum are human trafficking victims — those forced into the sex industry against their will by some measure of force, fraud, or coercion.

The Elements of Prostitution and Human Trafficking

Elements of Prostitution

Act: Sexual act or contact with another person in return for giving or receiving a fee or a thing of value.

Means: To invite, entice, offer, persuade, or agree to engage in prostitution.

The Differences In Prostitution And Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking

In recent years, human trafficking has become a more common topic.

Accurate estimates on the number of people enslaved today are nearly impossible because of the hidden nature of the crime. Some estimate the global number to be near 50 million, while 24.9 million people are estimated to be in labor and sexual slavery alone.

But whatever the exact numbers are, it is true that at this moment there are people who are physically locked behind closed doors, who are threatened with their family’s safety, and who are paying off debts by servicing men in brothels or working without pay.

Human trafficking forcefully converts a human being to a commodity. One person profits by stripping rights and dignity from another person. There is no element of choice for the trafficked person; he or she is a product in a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Willing Participants in Prostitution

Prostitution is another oftentimes difficult reality for millions globally. Many women, particularly those living in impoverished areas, turn to prostitution because there are very little economic opportunities elsewhere. An uneducated woman can make fast money, she is under pressure to provide for her family, and she lives within widespread cultural acceptance of the sex industry. Prostitution quickly becomes a viable option — sometimes seemingly the only one.

One study of prostituted women in nine countries found that 70-95 percent of the women were physically assaulted, 60-75 percent were raped, and 89 percent of the women told researchers that they urgently wanted to escape prostitution. Even if individuals choose this profession, globally it is a dangerous one full of exploitative and demeaning circumstances.

What is UAHT doing about it?

Our mission is to end human trafficking through preventing exploitation, educating the community, and empowering survivors.

We believe that no human life should be for sale. Children and teenagers, men and women, are exploited for sex and labor in our city every day. We exist to change that.

Through awareness, we turn our community’s attention to the atrocity of human trafficking. Our neighbors become empowered to join our strategy to address this human rights violation.

Through education, we prepare professionals, first responders, and community members to recognize and address human trafficking solutions. Institutions become qualified to aid victims and survivors with a trauma-informed approach.

Through programs, support groups, and direct outreach we bridge the gap between service providers and those who need them. We interact with overlooked people to identify exploitation and connect them with appropriate resources and restoration.

Commercial sexual exploitation needs to be stopped. To effect change, we need to respond to the specific needs of both people in prostitution and human trafficking– and all those in between. With the commitment of our team an our community, we can and will continue to help one survivor at a time.

Memorial Day has come and gone, and you know what that means! That’s right, it is officially summer! Okay, maybe not officially, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get ready for some fun in the sun with these summer essentials.

Now, some of these might not be applicable to your socially distant summer but fret not! Some of these products, you can use regardless of wrenches thrown in summer plans. Others are ones you can stock up on for when beaches and barbeques are open for business again. So, shop on, and get ready for summer 2020!

How is shopping a solution to human trafficking?

Buying items from brands that pay fair wages, hire survivors, and invest in their community, keeps people free. You ensure that a farm worker can provide for her family and that a sex trafficking victim can stay away from his captor.

Imagine a creative and skilled survivor just learned that someone purchased a necklace made by her hands. A smile lights up her face as she remembers she is loved and capable because you choose to buy her craft – rather than her body.

Each purchase is an encouragement to press on into pursing a fair and free future. We’ve made it easy for you to fight human trafficking through fun summer shopping. Look at our fun list below. There is something for everyone!

Summer Clothing

For people of all genders, shorts are a summer staple. That being said—a sad truth is that fair trade menswear has been neglected in the clothing conversation. Enter Marine Layer! They have a broad selection of menswear, but for warmer weather, check out their collection of shorts and trunks! (And if menswear isn’t your thing, don’t worry—they have plenty of other style options, including for kids and for the gals).

For a further guide to ethical menswear, this list from The Good Trade can help you start searching. And to find unique, eco-friendly (and budget friendly) clothing across the board, you can look at thrift stores, or consider doing a closet swap with friends that wear your size! For those socially distancing, there are always online thrift shops available. My personal favorite to online-shop at is happygirlthrift, a woman-run, Kansas-based Instagram account selling secondhand wears and accessories.

Swimwear

Stuff Kids Love

Speaking of swimsuits: Where can you buy them for kids? Many fair-trade stores only offer options for a limited (read: adult-sized) audience. If you’re shopping for a little loved one, we have some options for you.

Hanna Andersson has some great swimsuits for kids in their swimwear collection. And if you have older kiddos or are shopping for a wider age range, Eternal Creation has clothing and accessories for ages 0-14.

For more brands and places to check out, Good On You’s ethical children’s brand directory has you covered! 

Accessories

Skincare & Sunscreen

 A good sunscreen is an essential part of any summer routine, on the beach or off. To protect skin from damaging UVA beams, The Body Shop’s Aloe Soothing Moisture Lotion (SPF 15) is here for you! Additionally, the fair trade, community sourced aloe in the formula will keep your skin cool and moisturized during the hot Houston days. They also have a skin-brightening Vitamin C lotion in SPF 30, for those looking for a higher level of protection.

For an added boost: Put on sunscreen after a luxurious DIY exfoliation worthy of a spa. After brewing a cup of fair trade coffee from A 2^nd Cup,  save the grounds! Mix them with some ethically sourced olive oil for an eco-friendly, budget friendly skin scrub that will leave your skin glowing and soft. This will keep in a sealed container for about three to five weeks, depending on batch size. An added bonus: by clearing away dead skin cells, combining this with an SPF will boost your summer tan!

If you don’t want to DIY, check out Elijah Rising Goods in-store or shop online for their bath soaks, body scrubs, and lip balm!

And there you have it! Whether you’re staying in with the AC on blast, or are out on the beach, here’s to you having a fabulous, fun, ethically sourced summer!