The report The Human Trafficking of Domestic Workers In The United States: Findings From the Beyond Survival Campaign 2017 was released on March 13, 2017
In 2014, a group of domestic workers who had survived human trafficking took the stage at the National Domestic Workers (NDWA) Assembly to make an important statement, including Karmo, a domestic worker from Nepal. She was rescued by NDWA members from a home in Virginia where she had been forced to work from early morning until late at night for years. Her employer had confiscated her passport, and she was isolated and prohibited from speaking to other people. Upon arriving at the assembly, she was greeted by hundreds of other domestic workers, some of whom had survived similar abuse and exploitation.
Such experiences leave an indelible mark on the lives of domestic workers, their dreams, and their families. Nonetheless, many of these women have become leaders in their communities and in the movement to end labor exploitation and trafficking, like Shanti, a domestic worker organizer with Adhikaar – a worker rights organization in New York – who considers her voice to be the most powerful weapon in the fight for workers’ rights. At the age of 17, Shanti was trafficked by a diplomat employer, who paid her a total of $120 for working sixteen-hour days over the course of three years. Despite a judge having ordered her employer to pay her $1.5 million in compensation five years ago, Shanti has yet to see a penny of her money.
