Stephen Lendman

Called human trafficking or forced labor, modern slavery thrives in America, largely below the radar. A 2004 UC Berkeley study cites it mainly in five sectors:

-- prostitution and sex services - 46%;

-- domestic service - 27%;

-- agriculture - 10%;

-- sweatshops or factories - 5%;

-- restaurant and hotel work - 4%; with the remainder coming from:

-- sexual exploitation of children, entertainment, and mail-order brides.

It persists for lack of regulation, work condition monitoring, and a growing demand for cheap labor enabling unscrupulous employers and criminal networks to exploit powerless workers for profit.

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