Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers

US prisoners have become modern slaves
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US prisoners have become modern slaves

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Birds fly near the US Capitol at sunrise, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, in this Feb 8, 2022 file photo. [Photo/Agencies] Americans tend to be indignant about “forced labor” in other countries but are unaware of the prevalence of forced labor in their own country. According to a report, “Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated…

Your child’s glasses may have been made with forced prison labor
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Your child’s glasses may have been made with forced prison labor

ByEyes on Trafficking News

When Sovannarie was 3 months old, her parents noticed something unusual about their daughter: white opacities in both pupils. Without cataract surgery — and soon — doctors predicted irreversible vision loss. Even if that procedure went perfectly, Sovannarie would need glasses to rehabilitate her eyes and prevent blindness. A decade and many operations later, Sovannarie…

‘A vestige of slavery’: Why advocates are fighting to make prison labor voluntary
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‘A vestige of slavery’: Why advocates are fighting to make prison labor voluntary

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Prisoners making license plates is a popular stereotype, but most of the nation’s 800,000 incarcerated workers hold jobs more similar to those on the outside: They cook and serve food, mop floors, mow lawns, and cut hair. Unlike other workers, though, the incarcerated have little say, if any, in what jobs they do. They face…

People incarcerated in the US produce $11 billion worth of goods a year but can’t afford a bar of soap
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People incarcerated in the US produce $11 billion worth of goods a year but can’t afford a bar of soap

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Passed by the U.S. Congress on January 31, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery. But, due to an exception clause, the amendment allowed slavery to remain legal as punishment for a crime, thus allowing states to extract free labor from prisoners. Today, in the U.S., more than 65% of those incarcerated…