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State-Imposed Forced Labor: The U.S. Prisoners Fighting Fires or Making Products for the Consumer Market

The 13th amendment is cited as the document that abolished slavery in the United States. However, a provision in the clause permits the use of prison labor. This Black History Month, we’ll explore the years following the passage of the amendment and

State-Imposed Forced Labor: Why It Matters

This Black History Month, we explored prison labor in the U.S. today, its ties to chattel slavery and arguments for or against the practice. This is part 4 and closes the series with why having a discussion on state-imposed forced labor in the United

The "Chocolate Slaves" of the Ivory Coast

A boy no older than 12 clambers up a tall cocoa tree, his arms and shoulders criss-crossed by scars from the machete he uses to cut down the seed pods. The tree is on a cocoa plantation outside of Yamoussoukro, the political capitol of Ivory Coast. T

Labor Trafficking and Debt Bondage: “Tip of the Iceberg”

Labor trafficking and debt bondage in the United States of America is just the ‘tip of the iceberg'.  There is no actual data as over 80 percent of the cases of human labor trafficking is not reported for fear of arrest, deportation, stigma, shame, j

Slave Free Gift Planning

Yes I realize it is only October, but I am already talking about holiday gift shopping. I am against premature holiday decorating as much as the next person, but I think we need to plan where we are going to get our gifts in order to get the best sl

State-Imposed Forced Labor: Arguments For or Against Prison Labor

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that, in 2014, there were 1.5 million people in state and federal prisons in the United States. In 2005, a census of state and federal correctional facilities showed that 54% of inmates were in facilities wit

Reasons for Forced Marriage

As someone who grew up in the West, I find it is easy to quickly pass judgment on people from other cultures for the decisions that they make. When I read this article on mothers who sold their daughters into sex trafficking, I never thought that I w

Fighting Back Against Forced Marriage

Forced marriage is a form of slavery in the world today. To continue our series on this topic, here are the stories of some very brave girls who are fighting back against their communities’ traditions. Sonita Sonita is from Afghanistan, and her famil

Domestic Servitude

Victims of domestic servitude may appear to be nannies or other domestic help, but the moment their employment arrangement transitions into a situation whereby they cannot leave on their own free will, it becomes a case of enslavement. The circumstan

Sex Trafficking

Worldwide, false promises are ways in which traffickers bait and enslave their victims – both adults and minors. Indigenous populations and those who live in abject poverty are typically economically and politically marginalized; thus, most lack righ