Labor Trafficking In The United States

Over 14.2 million people in the world are suffering from some form of labor trafficking ("Labor Trafficking"). Labor trafficking is when individuals provide some sort of labor or services, through the use of force. Most of the victims are being manipulated, lied to, threatened, or given an unfair pay. The victims are put into poor working conditions and have a hard time getting out. Of the 14.2 million people in forced labor seventy three percent are adults and the other twenty seven percent are children. Sixty percent are males and only forty percent of the 14.2 million are female (“21 million). While some people think that it is acceptable to buy products from other countries where labor trafficking is a recurring event, the United States
A law is something everybody should follow and should be punished when it is broken. National Human Trafficking Resource Center said, “The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) establishes human trafficking and related offenses as federal crimes, and attaches severe penalties to them. It also mandates restitution be paid to victims of human trafficking” (“Trafficking Victims”). All private companies that are forcing people into working for them with little to no pay and really bad working condition are committing a crime. Just like any other crime, it should not be encouraged. With the government not doing anything about labor trafficking, they are indirectly encouraging the practice. The companies that directly use forced labor risk getting charged with both a civil charge and a criminal charge. These are both types of crimes and if found guilty, the company will be shut down instantly and the government should provide help for the victims (Seidenberg). If the company is caught using labor trafficking they will be facing many crimes. One of the big problems is that other countries are not super strict about enforcing this law. This makes it very hard for the USA to know whether or not the goods being purchased were made through labor trafficking so until the other
One of the only reasons people use labor trafficking to produce a product is because it is cheaper than hiring normal workers and paying them minimum wage. Because it is cheaper to make, people can sell the product for a lower price. The New York Time talks about how most of the American landmarks were able to be build because it was cheaper to buy the supplies from other countries. One of the many examples is the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects the Staten Islands and Brooklyn. The steal need the build this bridge was cost America thirty four million dollars which is a lot cheaper than having the stead produced in the United States (Navarro). People are very careful with their money and want to get the most out of it. Another problem that will occur if the government stops purchasing from countries that labor trafficking is that the United States would have to start to make products on its own or find another place to trade with, but this is not a permanent thing. Once the other countries start doing something to stop forced labor them the United States government can start to purchase products from that country again. The country's are not doing anything to help these people so we shouldn’t be helping the