Human trafficking continues

By The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)

Posted: October 30, 2009 at 7:11 a.m.

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NEWARK, N.J. — When Akouavi Kpade Afolabi lured more than 20 young women from West Africa to New Jersey with promises of a better life, she lied. Once here, the young women - who ranged in age from 10 to 19 - were made to work countless hours in her family’s two hairbraiding salons for no pay.

Her attorney argued the treatment of the girls was cultural. That’s hard to believe. But it was profitable - and criminal. She stole their meager tips, barred them from attending school and threatened them with violence and voodoo curses if they tried to leave.

On Oct. 14, she was convicted on 22 counts of human trafficking and visa fraud. She now faces her own captivity, 20 years in prison. A fitting punishment.

Sadly, such abuse is the story of tens of thousands of women from around the world who are trafficked to America in hopes of escaping the poverty of their homelands. They think they’ll be working in factories, as domestics or as baby sitters. Alone in a foreign land and in deep debt for their travel and lodging, many soon realize they’re trapped in a tale of modern-day slavery.

Most people would like to think such things don’t happen in their communities, that forced servitude is a brutality of the past. But modern-day slavery is alive and well, even here in New Jersey. We would all do well to educate ourselves about how human trafficking works, and what it looks like.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/30/2009

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