Despite the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century, a form of modern slavery called forced labor still exploits millions of men, women, and children today. Forced labor occurs when a victim is compelled to work under brutal conditions with no pay. This often allows popular companies to make a generous profit. There are a wide range of practices that fall under the umbrella of "forced labor," including child labor, bonded labor, and forced sex. Immigration, company confidentiality, and vague legislation contribute to the existence of forced labor. However, activism, strong enforcement, and company transparency will aid in eliminating this practice. Before assessing how to fix this issue of forced labor, we must first address its causes. …show more content…
The federal government is typically responsible for cases involving high-ranking traffickers; however, the state government must have more involvement in this matter to extract all traffickers from society. The Department of Justice, namely the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), did a survey to analyze the effectiveness of state legislations relating to Trafficking in Persons (TIP). They found that "eighty percent of the prosecutors indicated that their state had anti-TIP legislation, yet only 20 percent indicated that the state legislation has helped with the prosecution of TIP cases" (NCJRS). This shows that states are not enforcing their legislations with enough force, allowing traffickers to avoid harsh punishments and continue their practices. In Criminal and Civil Confinement, Rebecca Caroll Sager notes this dilemma and writes that "smaller sex trafficking rings will remain undetected [and] the majority of traffickers will remain unprosecuted and at large." States must increase their power by enforcing these legislations to be more effective in decreasing the prevalence of traffickers. Since the majority of forced labor institutions consist of trafficking victims, a decrease in traffickers would mitigate the practice of forced