%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 19 0 R 24 0 R 28 0 R 30 0 R ] /Count 5 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 13 0 R /I2 23 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 16 0 R /GS2 17 0 R /GS3 21 0 R /GS4 22 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 3.1.0 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250918220438+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250918220438+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Annots [ 14 0 R ] /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1720 >> stream x}WM6W!j%YޒI4(RoC-QcITHjgҿ7?,j{o8㘾mz =Tt*dPn4QX7"-(gH\lQTvt[B?;-q%x2$n=>UJ`ZjNrZk7&(Փ4׉H*N=J:)ׄ0IYLHeH{D£A- ZtB:J,{*mKC%GGe#xҿN8͂NRi*#KѶ|+?Rmd4]G4T$+&ˋ ׉JF_iq# kw}DuOM7!n/VQogD]3H9E:w)Fɾ=x|q p\X/XypYDG98%pihyl,#Ҩdoi`( A4 Si(Dhdq~^ơU_zٯ!BL\J+ t҆E䨵RJ;S֧v.7ʡym23r lq_˳T'N,24u`3d":%{h( p8BCae $qKsg D0{}׉kf{޽{ji/#%eoCL8}|iVwIIp[qCwuT_}q3L-'¶(.|KQ!mK`3π3V\~6_܍n2i endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 13 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 125 /Height 125 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /Filter /DCTDecode /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 4313>> stream JFIFC    !'"#%%%),($+!$%$C   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$}}" SvV0N| i6*iN,\IYJ@apa#iٖqcΎ`UnghR_=BG 7LPPtס7ұBL A ĸtI1i[y>i8T~fzgCsO}+mKIk"=M‡2@0YHdlgX/RV8,d|@J=x7yKAs{E'Q 3:ڀX G)!" #12A$4Jd9]E]l.kVյm[Qjp,@=jڽ ڶxYiw \%p r O,urYMWU˪ {ƛU,j6zl&D)ö-jG|(Ps.f]Z sv,l'ډ!V"ѡuzaHMA2ؓdU^[uO٦"ݡӷ$#iyV|?We-Hd;>+/NKߗ<6duQN 8;cC?%xlMLX}{qѽ/Nsru]VSv&?sYݨ =Tw-Đ2Lr~{7=,^6ڻn~pVWԚ*jS*7e=_?rC+Jm? "VOИHFkBo-N|!ۗ#_22r/\.u͔k:] :%>Tc*:20(QܛASE,)gձ,?!!12 AQ?ZHBPeYI;ԼEf6eǫDc#23X-qpǞ Uĭ}Hs0;s"r=햳0U ۵Md*(W$ݬʸ&* [.Q0eC{'q;$ßAfq V\؂\ԁj40=1ЂExxqC$LJ@$ Ĕ\C sT S[n@ ͧh*j$@U?pO q.U@Ñ9V3AI /!1AQaq?KfXydov/⻓# e0eڍ- 'QgyWLN\9ŜH<C;q'(lwc܏ ͭo\bma7|yF&!1AQaq?Te?)1*\\Ŏ'yHeEt51+ 1`Ų}i0z@x'p)1h0uvQw$T-%b`]# ٩)y`1UD,XP{!f>? @j/ZU@_7um֑u/v"rwQf,r9>dḒim;*` [\,ZnaYN!f:.#` BrĨ aV"JoRZG'lm(Nqf(o)GU0E5DZaD/-[t7r3QS)6i~jLSCJßNI Su*Ŗ,XS$N}EQAW $5+HQn1_"3&S;A/}Wk}M /'Y AEbm4Prn@^z=6,ꁔT %$UFJLgB7`:y!E1BuT_2 QWGhL3 K[zӏijQ`0g 6*ZG%]J&.q8䳘`vnYp7d.-PP `\caR)xFaX y.uL7{'h)h.]YTla=tHr ;\ [)/rqcP_ġA.@0nYB*(;V~,C]}+4ׇj Z/f,7*ScVΰB4~3ruܠK `mYѨpV30?pz|5˴o>a8Rc (_p\,,~WfGZDѧm)[E^SA]ԣ;)Yʃc5N,Xv D0;e2%PP_Ԡ&~mWCu.y> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/06/02/the-false-claim-that-child-sex-trafficking-is-a-9-5-billion-business-in-the-united-states/) >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 19 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 20 0 R >> endobj 20 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1350 >> stream xmώ6~9.W-jNi[4(,CW-Ɣ:mnekP8!g7?[p]5YpG2>L 5t:mS`~s)zi}X֑`)ViG{9V04d[tlu~~WwWVU)V*!H940tokH$ڳ\n`VTKb|+ݵjVfl2Q =l%Mt>:8 C+.R%RbU'r%nn  (*N9v>YHj'{؞C[%{~R[{CXŦ(^{ooAM(CݞiS֨N9B1(y3FJށ;e G2|tdkc+tӘx QS4F5,(T@(5D"vNx;/>L Y(hIScQ WCyU`쨜'q;" vJC;-k"d@-OBpŒMT#{4%yȿt;gRQmCk H(*(W)}Z\'Nagژ)^&~sqlNtxTu%<cjI1\SS8wX[g;tu".*OtG>pHGl=FsFT&籔h0Y [8Ix$ ݗ;BQB2.z^J^ ;Fz`gX_/m榎vɌnwuŽeEUEM^uGYS}Y⦼虽K endstream endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 299 /Height 350 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /Filter /DCTDecode /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 21825>> stream JFIFC    !'"#%%%),($+!$%$C   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$^+" L >|éL =Ϡ|:2ћ.PAӜ`O.߀Ϡ|:2,Z#\oj6 K'#GwךN{lχRCf@YtDaםlSw(d]ǁ_a 8Q6&XχRCfC=9>j9lb7W2՟B9GN2@59/s >#O}χRCfC[qկ8TSpgs}57o=R)IF.I=ދjAmO>|éL y.mԤTTTTTTTTTTTTU5td5Q'|$Ţ[Lz&PɰȈKUA6Mq-*%oQRi[Je +Ŧ;Nc؄¨>I3$m[I^VKJe s|h'HD&(F Q,F՝؀>}ԦPِ>}ԦPِ>}ԦPِɶ`MEYWyvo?c0b^ȲUFOif>}ԦPِ:Eݵ5,ݓ)mF_,]Y/HRaƔElcKfMYKFaM@|'gRCfC"1٪Pk>iE{ol ij4VW6Y,7͆]9LG^sf>}ԦPِz٢n鑭϶\ŹZdj/d]-/Pa&*%z~} o-ͬ.>|éL!nfm&撓sVk0%z\BG# QhWՁ$Voߚ6c(Ϡ|:2SP$(L!, 1405P!"#$%og ~8[?Y߃9p3AB.[hTlFʑ!v|t&*9[e!ؑ8~p zS-<&>y\\^}g ~ 4s}n5kqGSl]G&#y#ܜv} όg ~,dkװ_ojڼ AG"ׅWX* ٯ0DV6UCZ~3-<|<<<<<<<<<<<<VJOg ~+k˴d79{&#wU,J٪5Vd\y Gݯj~o*DvUykeL;VZ eVfL)jw`T½&{MiN9vw -W4xp0a&BԛSҭe,SY#0FJۗ[ԯc=V(}}Kk~\Ņ몜WDݵkW$W%EYbEtԭG SRVOpt y +w|w#zz캑g?j@M{:VGP>w5jSI*[eZa6`%(}Fs=T-K9G#~Ry .V Bd Qdl%{@M i[ y˄D&aS /^Pr`0|'8[x9kJ~;:6r)L.Bu`av'vH3%bͫ1=bv$ΐP|OT7R[obF\lRWg8[?Y߃97,kst;w={Kst;w={Ks]t;w={Cst;w={Cs]t;Ap?B!D"B!fkR1!"p?3yϔ^|(E/>Qyϔ^|(GE{s7H !1"AQ23as #BRq0Pb$4rC@Dt?ss9{ug:3opn,f&+XÁh>d"b/ښN/]}aj{l"~ηz ғp&^7BԄIY'?`O֝q5L2.ZZ_pR55I0+:Ǻgю:{i:vc% Ro#/sPB֜R4t(%KhktdAU :hQOE32yJ9sBԼۡC<p g4Ǝ׽*bi/]Lj z%nh,8F&ƚ1ع,Rt-`F$tҞyW-[ĩ\)}4e+Iд--Ғu:2Pm4--8ڹ&J hU^Hopq`2sGP}=w:^\9If%k>FUmy!^c?΃͈m AM<0!_`[=4Ɲ[/LUtV@sZۘ\>4㪔:lM/#:G7Pi"ls ֌NهZ57:~e]Z#t+Eup'Z)SH/9'VOH}E3!WhN|i6e =7??Ziu6 J@nMaZ׸hR~ηy_y9&)+8ϑ?2hōyU=\ťatIITcsU.L O,ݭJ;+Gf9)*S)-?,mJ mN{iYrpQ{i J <0vwRwG Z&_kQ ?Q=;5iY^kN" 0 opη}[>ss9BCoZmb7j>_T&pJVrIV&uۜTMj=˱BsS69\Յg~+laW6]x[Ӆk<^"ZV&E V 1{ؙͦVTQ(w&Q9\kgp8Wl u+TdMBtUW,0 ju]7nW4RgsUˍIHl:wd3I} # 1 [@\6MƐIq%$15 &Ri9fvgtRk hdHAhB_delGIuB-̍t)hHJ#44Z&lf#BXP!JA3p8owoERѕy[SKXgS{3ILoaTRņ݊yKcV[[%C3܁{JVk)@BqNCiI:f98c( SqK9 aE# FɸZ2US㾼BᵎBKwXIrFΊe:ႮI)}o4VoIηzzItm94_h(.h/TP‰i9ꦓzқ 9ҕza

pԧ1xŽ܌TǤ[zF{%Zļ]󍣾bAPHKRy[[y^]A-N)Hp;HmPnL@G80>FHQmREVX(Ze6fa'V8&n;fr\#bA$Xe;]Ao Pxn#?zwT `k㺔t\>op(dy1*. )և[(Rxkk-jTR >p ŠRxkg0QbN\ضnYcIIp4=b;gs^OB4SnᘸHPҤWy6K:ė AaEATk KQ*d`s젵]UeP48Ƀğ{|ln;&x\SZDNk$n @L#pP8ZYu$`qXWu[ fxҐHc 4N)&Q8BYqڝW=D\c&i˞9$RMZ;禋P~4z4l"G>9jK JJLA觘 1OujX vb:)wa&X 2#zkSJOG QSG}':RI@46 wGLorDž!J' 6n*Wn1IAJVQǣu)ӊ”"JRS)xZ9KK!IS )I0fzz zue1/2IH3IZy*eNpmtJ |)0.-N xilX#VP`G 量.aѾW01OACP\y#~}5 TJ+i R.4QJ.Ria!KB >q @R1ZJ`ma4O B2P$wzNuʦ%*EL9t}T&Nׅ2U(rHcNu)P1 #ZBug:1iAT >5ͱ|kc6am\ƹ;sl~\ƹ;slv>5ͱ|kc6am|kc6am|kc6am|kc6am\ƹ;slv>5ͱOslv>5ͱ|kc6>5ͱO*!1AQaq 0P@?!=q'?dz}OMxY_ߡO4'%Ou{3;=>`D1Vq?Xr/` 1cP57ORZ޵=>חߐp?H4/|)ױD:8@>a6?A/.(SDk..]~p-dؤ)a&Ƨ˵8+Qr{UrT?@`FHp,`v|Ouuuuuuud:2r#gzYYYYYYYYYYYYY_{=>Og~l#䎙* (L֋pV#is^¥X)=sXB3Rox&NƾIUWM-r9JBdgF 7gd-v6hNZ!!,l9 J,⳩5Ӂ(iWxV]j$O+؇}G@N{GIZxm6('Ma ̥N\FBk?5 ^ aay6 =>׶.!m?QPk6o DF#y ]VgI8P'\~{gIyC0)׫.S)ݦ]+I(&79y^0]RFiaq$ pe e>2tpp,A@$;IoD) ue&3fO YkIY"fee 2(^"NM`c nd9zt]F'96!yjrD 1'=p+Fk)/).GN{~bAb33@{/)o)ttw2{6r""n.vnZWԎ6"֒Ro1m8v/Y׾dX)%E"{0B&&B+dᱤ{̛x 6z}OR Ƒr,=DLFE(1ʰ刎ݥkFKYܴchYņ=g':sly3I@a{]8ư4dd v8YACؒ/1`UoJ0bﺄ׿g~=q'?dz}Ǯj&K+a"wiX 8N%)r3Uw(\ozb>>-\'^hHAnpJABIiHDO(\GH~+ӁA",r!p{D߇gg`|&w>9-guc>9.!]<6,ZdO*AZh215n"!i\/{E@Oj#K9 TfHfS$(6 *Vxdx" (-uŒyKOUpz!Cz(0o"jU@ hҤ_1ϏX`GWS-> iJ-G:1+}f(=Ows7VYʫ@;*ZLK"Rtьv1ηȵ`&z'7)) ڠcNluz^$&[tֲ1cŒ?% Aw$^pf+aJ 9+8kWZux Mܟ} @:2{7ZZ\ q]xB B<κAN-"敯|.w+yK۬BBF1D$ol.? q` 59^g:eODX` ;b¬~L])Y@&'3zKY] QkʢS[ݣ@p~ao=q!JĨd$]n`8` UDʬ@ӗHsaن=l@\.ء($u}]M_%eUwkA,;4T S05]!zqƘD|3/ayH q zci%rBg##"!g*$4!bΐy +U Cn{`?x<`'̖|eq  pist~=> -(: H7' $HbDNEG]bhc?P=ej `&K5M`!BT8#.qB宇O8"wewIajx=$؇)D()}Ϝ_g&\_!Jٖ2j\xpwfxΨ1>ϜLG O |`"e33 UEl^ ԝ71X{β?Rdt wV|o:L˳ĝVﯥ;|G@ Rk+ؤ,"RRI#örU/791pb*$_P3n:d ɞb04;(s5DU9 $ Un{H(iA*1f,"IN0@5H&v;_oB!ahȲe$!(II4ԓŞ yt݂G6B:}[npSC8M3t2\wV'O*'x)YN;t+ZaÅ,B("yؼV\-̐cJh8H /ww늺lT7X-gTQ/l͙;cO 68ʮ@yq#I)+-Tk'ALSB,L6[WI8-þDP.4IeA QSe*Tj6IkCh8q .qTf*-(5 ( .Ru ۹yIm}'IdO6Ejm&BSed\/Tˮ I`6$Q~RR5!w4Mi4YZ6z}ǭ5b6|Z=)/]vj}Pdx:*=)L?| M0 F-zI:-E/JnAʝ ?mEѡ |>ya@6@ϗXGo: L,beDBO|"b֛9Ť3 <|#m,JX,ym>`Lt SaB(Y4IJ9$g?8D3,pl~l=q'G&L2d&L2d&0Dɓ&L0Dɓ&[ [oH&6ZcK:)ROYo.8ow]m5MϿ[;X+&fZo꺫o.o[믾o{z-o[zg{{뢖on[ﾻ<<<<ϯ@a!1Q?t'H"t'H7FtnѺ7Ft`DŽN:DNN:DN%,Xbŋ,Xbň@0 Aa?[\7FšhZhZhZh;+]|ap7 p7 p7 b)!1AQa q0P@??<o^L2dɓ&L2dɑɓ&L2dɓ&L2d~AiHx5DrRSWG?G7`ڍxb, rmky%"_/G#'dy~2<|>_,,,/O'dydy~2|y?A<|חwư'*ì*$PlF4DM@yv~wE>֞pO)hu0*c 71 TAx U7{`iv-VɅv']x:_sOC/3X &]L|A0Ki-Ѕkx`jo/mnuݢjA vPE`1*Z 3OrcweCy0WO"79pĤP܄'/-SoXAo'[vzCJ:.Qv#Bj5W$jD.Ra O0`C;cyk0n%{1D|,X{[㻊r^,@l}Ͳ\R^El0{V d^Pk8ƕɟp^KNV[Up75 :J?<U@99EL!/9&k"#0>|apzhVO G*] /X^ < cĜb1&6yY3hFi I%`K ue pu )ƫ8ԍM8te~ ii w$V$Cv GO JS`mWY|-YZܳNڣY' f7_JӀuGs' hM:%:v\cÒ$G&0P@, @ug"kP]\Y=l9Rv Ъ}ġZ d`)Y@%M|/.+AM\FNԶ5ZFX t1ɰ5n6n. *ըNG܁8 xqhIsK[vYf;iy}Tqq1Y@;6JVx2?>ۊ;lZIɖJ,d pt sQ{i1J)g*|= J$)9 ESxֈ&j`+G8*.!U xJ> endobj 25 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2099 >> stream x}XMϯCv!EQ!eo6qrf|Z"!+Pru_8XF#Q$k=<~Sm$MS5/&KfK/=+lr zŇdEw\#MB9t0J 9|^/w;y^#;`^5ҐVm+v?hn>WJpd$,ɞo\#m_6mVHTmSOeXjY0LGKhu@J{QTI|YL):0be$z'pP?РM/KJIk]Aь;{o2E]{itЎGZF9< 9;goUwl0v2]c  DC>(Yf ΰh paGZ_[vўu =G0e;Ό23y34ujtpSn䷋)09;bH6$=D?3[^`/k2'ƭOO,l)^ y*Oa`Y ^#vdrl鳆*6;kldP| @@zV`;),p9,6ԍgaWquY7EȝKN7/hsӔvH_dY/exG;@B(;-[U5 ,@ПzcqEX endstream endobj 26 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 27 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 139.7240 413.5154 219.1160 425.7254 ] >> endobj 27 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/139278.pdf) >> endobj 28 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 29 0 R >> endobj 29 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2181 >> stream xuXMs8WqJIQSwj'㭙ک=rHPD (E*w_L-$k]ݼ/i,sz@2^<7P,?aUEZ&HC+ZSh%J~BON44 }AYC;pNeM[?ӿ^YmjJ!+M]/!\ ې BSk#oUO;N x4U)g Q< SwQ|)8EV 8q%d ONl- Io^4Z;xI@JQA=:O^* fu4q^2 ړ^^K sg]Jv9.;WRd2ˋ0 3{F|+5h7UM8+L?#S˰ I{':ᩤO Zn7YJQʈ`t@'zũ #ŸIJ>,~Sh6e.R,Tinr䢓AOtS t._j=ILIIeMpVkY\|7##jI 'EbޫZQ?vT!YEtsN,w 12f8 j1E#mb@.9ޫU ,H @([#M2[/SEQ9vPCDW: b>Ynf Lȋȓn3| CTRԣPmc=Qf-)ۊv3K)G{AB̖\9vN2ӦgXC@") &vd=T{T;@Bkq b˛Œs&uDr>@ 5*X+5Fډ*~y`= ăO?Q[Auc ]7Lup,|mIz~ڦH|Tvɸ&jGaI n-]/5[m feYs{yDR8'E._SQHq 6EFtJ+sBFUaTPeVGBk g0oL<'#wZ>솯df,R_ R e,sfyk}GAԚ )H\Iu(8왁:T=$۪}3J̥Ikq<.A;>DZ)^du|I.qc@C7(г\cw vH!)PfȈnjRqyŶ'mv G3^#>U[%jk[}B=0n-9B>lbM;h(Zi96jX*ѩnU5&ڞ 3#;Qقk-`/Y)Tx=x3l*SEeU4Lt0_yǐ=)1FM"8cŘb,D4)qD4)Fd{x;B́vk[b=<4!e)H%Fao܀;[6dNahߡ{ͧ0ukѝ4pRt3y 9..mچ|R,OboNhtftPr1'r~a&`FHG{j>f1L} 2 LdiG)qO8_eYАTfr)4ƍGKa ObB9-MtT/Z <ը`yhbTpz?Xr69G YYbbHh\ `B}sG38XQ,*]`d[J:ddK#7u5QPu\qhe^$w(iNꀚUGIAb1毌|Yccy"qKN.=rg~_-m bn .Or9[t17'> endobj 31 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 242 >> stream xm?O0wqXԂHTxk;bL%Cj$ħvO$eVN9ޓNa_VBR lf}CqD XU3Qj;cv6s6T֒ ugC۟C|FgS)3[+8bh}|*\ty+! A,cJɬdwljSV%g]bjCb4 endstream endobj xref 0 32 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000438 00000 n 0000000475 00000 n 0000000624 00000 n 0000000746 00000 n 0000002539 00000 n 0000002646 00000 n 0000002754 00000 n 0000002864 00000 n 0000002977 00000 n 0000003006 00000 n 0000007487 00000 n 0000007621 00000 n 0000007826 00000 n 0000007885 00000 n 0000007944 00000 n 0000007973 00000 n 0000008078 00000 n 0000009502 00000 n 0000009559 00000 n 0000009616 00000 n 0000031610 00000 n 0000031734 00000 n 0000033907 00000 n 0000034041 00000 n 0000034148 00000 n 0000034253 00000 n 0000036508 00000 n 0000036613 00000 n trailer << /Size 32 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[] >> startxref 36928 %%EOF Surviving servitude | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Lydia sitting at kitchen table

Surviving servitude

byMindy Farabee
May 11, 2016
7 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

When Lydia pressed for her money, her employers simply got more creative with their accounting. At one point, the family gave her a cell phone, but charged her $180 a week to cover calls to Mexico she says she never made.

The Salvation Army combats labor trafficking and helps survivors reclaim their lives.

With a sunny disposition to match her bright yellow sundress, Lydia sits at her kitchen table. For the past year, she’s lived in this modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Orange County, Calif., along with two of her four children and a couple of family friends. Their quarters are tight, but impeccably kept and even a bit cozy. Behind her, a door opens up onto a small yard with a big tree and enough roaming room for the family dog.

This, along with her stable job of four years working in food service at the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, is just the sort of new life Lydia imagined when she immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico over a decade ago, trekking alone across the desert no-man’s-land between the two countries back in 2005. What she couldn’t imagine then was that feat of physical endurance would prove to be just the beginning of her ordeal.

Because for three years, Lydia survived a life of domestic servitude—virtually held hostage by her employers, routinely paid a fraction of what she was promised or nothing at all, and kept on her feet upward of 18 hours a day. She was, for all intents and purposes, a slave, and she’s far from alone—estimates vary widely, but forced labor like the kind Lydia endured, whether it be in sweatshops, hair salons or part of the sex trade, is estimated to be a more than $1 billion industry in the U.S. alone.

Her tale echoes what many go through.

Like many poor immigrants, Lydia had jumped at the opportunity to work as a nanny. She had landed in Bakersfield, Calif., where she spent five months working the fields daily from 6 a.m., often skipping lunch because she lacked the money to buy it. So when she heard through a friend about a wealthy couple in Orange County looking for someone to tend to their kids, she snapped up their offer, which included room, board and $200 a week in exchange for the care of two infants. They upheld their end of the deal for exactly one month.

10_RGB_GOVT_LaborTrafficking_infographFirst, they began piling on duties—cleaning the house and doing the laundry in addition to watching the children; then they demanded she begin cooking as well.

“Sometimes…I go to my bed [at] 12 or 1 o’clock in the middle of the night,” she recalled. “Sometimes [I] sleep two or three hours.”

When Lydia pressed for her money, her employers simply got more creative with their accounting. At one point, the family gave her a cell phone, but charged her $180 a week to cover calls to Mexico she says she never made. “I never see the bill,” she said. “I say, give me the bill. They say, it’s not necessary.”

“Sometimes I receive $20, $40,” she recalled. “They say, ‘this is your change.’”

Eventually, she was told to stop communicating with other neighborhood nannies—in fact, she was told she could no longer leave the house, and the family used their home alarm to police her movements. “The lady say, ‘you only talking with my children and no one else,’” she said. “For me, it was little jail. I can’t talk to anyone; I can’t go outside. I take care of the babies 24 hours. I can’t see my family; I can’t call my family.”

After a year, she began to feel ill. When she asked to visit a doctor, she was told it wouldn’t be allowed. Hoping to seek medical help, she escaped late one evening while the couple were out at a party, after slipping a wedge into her door jam to prevent the house alarm from registering. Around 1 a.m., Lydia threw on a sweater and raced outside, leaving all of her other possessions behind. She jumped into the car of a waiting friend and took off.

The next day, her employer called, informing Lydia that she was fired and threatening to report her to immigration. Two hours later, the woman’s husband called back, demanding Lydia pay $500 if she wanted to retrieve her possessions. If she didn’t come up with the money, the couple threatened to call the police and tell them Lydia had stolen some of their possessions.

These kind of intimidation tactics are common in human trafficking cases, says Dwayne Angebrandt, a special agent with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in downtown Santa Ana.

Traffickers have been known to threaten to kill families back home, and to use voodoo and Santeria to frighten victims. Other times they have filed police reports against the victims, just to prove they can.

“In some cases, we’ve had instances of a domestic violence call coming in, and it was an allegation that the victim was doing something to one of the kids. And then when the police would get there, they’re like oh it’s just a misunderstanding, and they sweep it under the rug,” Angebrandt said. “But what has that done to the victim? It’s reinforced if you do something against us we’re going to have law enforcement take care of it.”

In Lydia’s case, she was led to the abusive family only after arriving in the U.S. But it’s not uncommon for criminal enterprises to smuggle laborers into the country; in fact, the U.S. state department estimates that up to 17,500 people are trafficked into the country each year. In 2009, ICE uncovered a Southern California eldercare facility that repeatedly brought workers into the country under the guise of martial artists traveling to tournaments.

“They were being groomed overseas as to how to present themselves in the interviews,” Angebrandt said. “They were even taught very minimal moves so that if they were questioned…they would be able to do a little bit of kata.”

In this way, abuse of the legal process becomes just another tool of control. “That’s one thing they’ll hold over the victim’s head,” he said. “They’ll basically tell the victim they were were complicit in the fraud that got them into this country to begin with, so they’ll go to jail if they ever try to leave.”

In fact, fear of running afoul of immigration officials is one of the most potent obstacles preventing victims from getting help.

Though terrified—Lydia began living in a series of rented garages just after her escape, trying to stay one step ahead of her former captors who were attempting to track her down—she was willing to reach out for help. She just had no idea where to turn.

“I cry on the bus,” she said. “One lady I talk to, I tell her my story. She say you need help, you are alone [and that’s] not good.”

Lydia was first directed to the labor department, which told her it would open an investigation, but it would take three to four months. She then went to the Mexican consulate, which in turn sent her to the public law center. They told her to call the police. That’s when The Salvation Army arrived on the scene.

Part of a vital partnership between law enforcement, faith-based organizations and nonprofits, The Salvation Army of Orange County has operated an eight-bed safe house for trafficking survivors since 2009—emergency housing that allows people like Lydia to escape bondage and begin to heal.

It’s intentionally not a shelter, said Priscilla Santos, the Army’s anti-trafficking program services coordinator. “We work with a lot of survivors who have had negative experiences in shelters,” she said. “All the rules and regulations remind them of when they were being controlled.

“Our approach is that we walk alongside them, from crisis to self-sufficiency to thriving,” Santos said. “It’s the relationship that makes the difference, not necessarily the program.”

As a founding member of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, The Salvation Army serves as part of the group’s core leadership, helping to make decisions on how human trafficking efforts are addressed in the region. The group also undertakes extensive outreach efforts, including training law enforcement and educating the general public, who are often the first line of defense against the practice. If officials must wait for victims to summon the courage to come forward, the violation might not become apparent until after the perpetrators have fled the scene.

Over the past seven years, The Salvation Army program has served 131 trafficking survivors and families, 92 cases of which were involved in labor trafficking. Many were involved in domestic servitude, but the practice can also be found in the hotel housekeeping and hospitality as well, where subcontractors engage in forced labor. According to Santos, Orange County has seen a big influx of a different brand of the practice, something called servile marriage, in which wives of both Americans and foreign nationals are brought to the U.S., kept in isolation and forced to be domestic servants.

It was through the assistance of The Salvation Army that Lydia was ultimately able to secure not only legal employment but also legal status—in her case a special type of visa called a U visa, one of two types of visas created in 2000 to assist victims of crime and human trafficking in the U.S.

Last September, Lydia and her children all received green cards. “I say, ‘thank you, God’ because I no longer remember my bad life before,” she said. “For long time I don’t have food, house, family, money, but now everything is different.”

Ultimately, however, nothing came of investigations into her case—criminal charges were dropped and the family declared bankruptcy to avoid civil penalties. Lydia said her former employers have another nanny now.

“So I say, it’s not only me,” Lydia said. “I listen the stories before [coming here], working lot of hours in the house and not getting paid. I think it’s not true. Not [in the] United States. I come, I say oh my God, it’s true. It happened in my life, to me.”

[button color=”black” size=”normal” alignment=”none” rel=”follow” openin=”newwindow” ]Report concerns about possible instances of human trafficking to the National Hotline at 888-373-7888 or by texting HELP to BeFree (233733).[/button]
Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like