In DAME Magazine’s recent article, How the Pandemic has Affected Survivors of Human Trafficking, the Institute’s Director of Victim Services, Marie Martinez Israelite, commented on the pervasiveness of labor trafficking within the U.S. The article describes how the economic instability brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already-challenging financial situations of trafficking survivors and victims.

“People think that labor trafficking is something that only happens in the developing world,” said Martinez Israelite. “There’s a degree of discomfort that Americans have to face in looking at how much we rely upon exploitation in what we eat, what we wear, in our services, in construction, and in our elder care facilities.”

Read the full article here.