University of California

An activist artist explores caste discrimination and how to fight it – Los Angeles Times
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An activist artist explores caste discrimination and how to fight it – Los Angeles Times

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Feb. 14. I’m Suhauna Hussain, a reporter on the L.A. Times business desk. I write about issues affecting workers. I have a heavy topic to cover today: Dalit caste discrimination. Formerly known as untouchables, Dalits fall at the bottom of a centuries-old South Asian…

Psychiatrists address trauma of human trafficking survivors – Healio
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Psychiatrists address trauma of human trafficking survivors – Healio

February 14, 2023 Psychiatrists play an important role in addressing human trafficking, according to a group of California-based clinicians. “Human trafficking is increasingly being viewed through a public health lens, which allows us to address it as an issue that affects health,” Rachel Robitz, MD, director of the family medicine/psychiatry residency program at the University…

When Fishing Boats Go Dark At Sea, They're Often Committing Crimes. Here's Where It's Happening
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When Fishing Boats Go Dark At Sea, They're Often Committing Crimes. Here's Where It's Happening

In January 2019, the Korean-flagged fishing vessel Oyang 77 sailed south toward international waters off Argentina. The vessel had a known history of nefarious activities, including underreporting its catch and illegally dumping low-value fish to make room in its hold for more lucrative catch. At 2 a.m. on Jan. 10, the Oyang 77 turned off…

Fighting the Good Fight – Orange County Business Journal
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Fighting the Good Fight – Orange County Business Journal

Orange County’s affluence has made the area a desirable place to travel, settle down and start a company. Its wealth, however, has also attracted a more sinister business: human trafficking. The area is heavily overrepresented in terms of traffickers and victims, who have come to Orange County from across the U.S. due to demand, according…

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

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…

Four States Vote to Ban Prison Labor and the “Slavery Loophole”
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Four States Vote to Ban Prison Labor and the “Slavery Loophole”

In the lead up to the election, pundits strained themselves bending over backwards to claim that Democrats’ focus on so-called “social issues” leaves them out of touch from the everyday concerns “ordinary” people deal with. But surprise: The results of the 2022 midterms prove otherwise. All five states with abortion on the ballot—California, Michigan, Vermont,…

Abuses on US bases in Persian Gulf ensnare legions of migrant workers – Stars and Stripes
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Abuses on US bases in Persian Gulf ensnare legions of migrant workers – Stars and Stripes

Foreign workers (migrant workers) for defense contractors on at least four U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf are trapped in their jobs by abusive employment practices that they say prevent them from returning home or even looking for better work in the region, more than 30 current and former workers said in interviews. Many…

The United States’ Practice of Forced Labor at Home and Abroad: Truth and Facts (Part One)
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The United States’ Practice of Forced Labor at Home and Abroad: Truth and Facts (Part One)

BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) — The United States’ Practice of Forced Labor at Home and Abroad: Truth and Facts August 2022 Introduction Over the years, the United States has concocted the biggest lies of the century such as the so-called “genocide” and “forced labor” in Xinjiang, in an attempt to smear and contain China. It…

Answering the Supreme Court's Call for Guidance on the Alien Tort Statute – Just Security
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Answering the Supreme Court's Call for Guidance on the Alien Tort Statute – Just Security

by William S. Dodge and Oona Hathaway June 3, 2022 Original article here In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Nestlé v. Doe that the plaintiffs, who were allegedly trafficked as children from Mali to Ivory Coast to engage in slave labor on cocoa plantations, could not sue U.S. companies that supported those plantations under the Alien…

Guest Worker Visas and Labor Trafficking: Weaknesses in the H2 Visa Programs
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Guest Worker Visas and Labor Trafficking: Weaknesses in the H2 Visa Programs

Exploitation is practically written into immigration and foreign labor policy Original document: March 12, 2022 We offer this article in audio form. It’s generated by a program; apologies for any weirdness. Introduction Where immigration policy and anti-human trafficking initiatives meet, loopholes are often created that allow for the continued exploitation and trafficking of foreign laborers…