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Human Trafficking Series: Labor Trafficking at Home: Involuntary Domestic Servitude in the U.S.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022
6:00 pm8:00 pm

Please join the Quinnipiac University School of Law Human Trafficking Prevention Project—along with the Connecticut Bar Foundation and the Connecticut Bar Association—for our second panel of Awareness Week 2022: “Labor Trafficking at Home: Involuntary Domestic Servitude in the U.S.”

When Americans think about human trafficking, we tend to focus on sex trafficking. And yet, experts estimate that labor trafficked persons—i.e. persons subject to forced labor—account for roughly two-thirds of all trafficked persons worldwide. Trafficking experts point to domestic servitude—including live-in nannies and other domestic help—as the predominant form of labor trafficking in the U.S. and in Connecticut in particular.

Because it involves work in a private residence, involuntary domestic servitude can be especially difficulty to detect and presents unique vulnerabilities for victims. Domestic workers, especially women, confront various forms of abuse, harassment, and exploitation, including sexual and gender-based violence. Victims are often underpaid—if they are paid at all—and many arrive on the first day of work already facing enormous debt; others find their passports confiscated by their employers; and all find themselves isolated and often alone in the residence where they work, without freedom of movement or ability to leave their employment. Our patchwork of federal and state laws fails to protect most domestic workers, who do not receive basic benefits and protections extended to other workers—things as simple as a day off.

To explore the various dimensions of this pressing issue, our panel includes three inspiring women with lived experience and/or legal expertise.

To learn more about this event or to register, please visit the link provided below.

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