Slave trade is back in US, senators told

[Blackaxe]

Despite stricter enforcement and greater protection for victims, human traffickers continue to smuggle in thousands of people from poor countries to work as slaves in brothels, homes, factories and farms in the United States.

"Americans may be particularly alarmed to learn that at least 15,000 human beings are trafficked into lives of slavery in the United States each year," Senator John Cornyn, told a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. Some estimates put the figure as high as 50,000 a year, he said.

Women, men and children are brought in from places as far apart as Uzbekistan and Mexico, lured with false promises of glamour, education or, in some cases, simply the prospect of a steady job.

Beatings, isolation from society, threats of deportation, sexual humiliation, rape or threats of retaliation against family in their home countries are some of the tactics used to discourage attempts to escape.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/09/1089000357084.html?oneclick=true