From the Archives: “Human trafficking” brings to mind sex slavery and extreme human rights abuses. But an equally pernicious, lesser-known form of slavery persists in the U.S. and elsewhere.
These stories are shocking. But the women highlighted in them collectively compose one piece of a much larger—and more commonplace—puzzle in which we are all complicit.Luis M. Alvarez /Associated Press
It can be tempting in some cases, such as Pulido’s situation, to blame “culture” as the cause; perhaps, some in the U.S. say, it is simply normal in other places for people to be abused in these ways. This is not a helpful response. Trafficking is a cross-cultural phenomenon that affects men and women alike. These people are not victims of culture but are survivors of harrowing circumstances brought on by the larger forces of political economy. And the United States is partly to blame.
Notably, under trafficking laws passed in 2000, the U.S. created a proviso for the distribution of 5,000 T visas each year. While this might not stop trafficking from happening, it gives survivors an escape route. Between 2008 and 2016, however, only about 4,300 were given out, according to the Department of Homeland Security. This is a drop in the bucket.
Migrant remittances are part of the Philippine government’s answer to national debt, but migrants often lack information about their rights and how to protect them. A new U.N. Women’s program, piloted in the Philippines, Mexico, and Moldova, provides one solution.The case of the Philippines—the origin of Pulido’s story—perhaps illustrates this best. Washington, D.C.
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