Labor Trafficking is “The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt, bondage, or slavery.”
The United States Department for Health and Human Services provides that labor trafficking can occur in many forms: bonded labor, child labor, and forced labor. Forced labor is where a person is forced under duress or threatened to work against their will. Bonded labor occurs when a person is forced to do work to pay off a debt or loan. And child labor is the labor of minors under the age of 18.
Victims of labor trafficking who are forced to work against their will have many different forms of injuries. These include physical, emotional, and psychological traumas, such as PTSD and Stockholm’s syndrome. Often, victims are forced to work without pay or were not paid the full amount owed to them for the work they did.
Some common fields where labor trafficking frequently occurs is:
- Hotel and hospitality industry
- Restaurants
- Sweatshops
- Child/elder care
- Agricultural
If you were forced to work against your will through either fraud, duress, or coercion, you may be entitled to compensation for the damages that you have sustained both mentally and physically.
The Michael Brady Lynch Firm provides legal representation to all victims who have suffered human trafficking damages and labor trafficking damages. Please reach out for a free consultation with our attorneys. Call us at 888-585-5970.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA)
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/archive/otip/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-labor-trafficking-english