Imagine yoou're a poor immigrant with no job prospects and an uncertain future. Would you take a job as a maid? I would. I'm sure most people would if they were offered a visa and free food and housing. Anyone would want to think that these people who hire domestic servants are doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.
Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Now imagine they've taken all your identification papers and locked you in their home. Imagine they've given you a small mattress in the attic to sleep on and only let you eat the food they don't finish off their plates; food you cooked for them. Imagine day and night you clean the entire home and sometimes take care of the children. Imagine you've been promised pay for this work but for some reason your paycheck keeps being delayed. Imagine your new "employers" tell you if you try to run away from the house that you'll be arrested as an illegal immigrant. Who would want to leave?
The thing about moving to a new country is that it's terrifying. You don't know anyone, you don't know where to look for a job; all you want is to get out of the poverty-stricken or violence-stricken place you were before. Even if this job is paying you imaginary money for real, tangible work that makes you sick and exhausted, the hope that comes from it may be worth more to you than having to go back to your country where things seemed much worse.
Unfortunately, many of these people don't realize they're slaves or that the situation they're in is wrong. They may try to justify their situation because they either find it much better than where they came from or they don't think anyone will be able to help theme escape even if they wanted to.
Yes, places like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuwait are currently under fire for domestic slavery; but it doesn't just happen there. You'll notice that the more American the problem is, the less American articles are written about it. The closest you can generally find now are statistics; hardly any stories. Statistics are great, but they don't give you the face and personality that real peoples' stories can.
Luckily, The White House's .gov website does care, and as far as we can tell from that link, they appear to actually be making efforts to end it.
Even though they are making efforts, and the problem continues to decrease every day, our work is far from over. Pay attention to the homes in your area, especially if you live in a heavily populated or heavily wealthy area. There could be slaves behind closed doors you never would have guessed about.
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