Human trafficking is a significant problem in Hawaii. Several industries, including commercial fishing and sex trafficking, exploit vulnerable workers. In commercial fishing, slaves from Southeast Asia are forced to work long hours with little pay and live in poor conditions. They have their passports taken and cannot leave. Sex trafficking is also widespread, with an estimated thousands of girls and women trafficked into Hawaii's 150 brothels each year. Agricultural workers, including those tricked into coming to Hawaii on fraudulent visas, also face abuse, poor treatment, and trafficking. Hawaii has weak anti-trafficking laws that do little to protect victims or prosecute abusers.

1. Human Trafficking in Hawaii
Amanda Lyzwinski

2. Hawaii is home to the loving culture of aloha. It
is a beautiful island that is a number one
tourist spot for rest and relaxation

3. Yet a growing number of human trafficking
cases have been unearthed.

4. Just last year a report found $110 million worth
of fish are caught by slaves every year here off
the coast of Hawaii

5. These workers earn only $0.70 a day, 140
hours a week, and suffer extreme debt if
they choose to leave before their contract
is up

6. They are often found with scurvy, tuberculosis,
they are forced to swim between boats at open
sea, and to use buckets as bathrooms

7. Workers are selected from Southeast Asia, their
passport documents are taken by captains, and
they are not allowed to step foot land. The workers
have no defense against exploitation without their
documents.

8. The Hawaiian companies that employ them find it
cheaper than hiring local Hawaiians. Hawaii laws
allows them to higher foreign workers without any
basic rights or protections.

9. Hawaii law has also allowed a bigger industry,
sex trafficking to continue in the islands.

10. There are 150 brothels reported in Oahu alone.
Estimates of trafficked girls and women are in the
thousands each year.

11. Girls are usually brought in at the early teen
years, many come from stable families. They
are forced to make $1000 a day, this requires
seeing around 10-20 men a day.

12. Pimps use a technique called, ”boyfriending” to start
them out. They will get close to the girls then coerce
or drug them into the trade.

13. Girls stay for a few months in Hawaii and then
are shipped to other large cities. Many cannot
escape the mentality or the environment for the
rest of their lives

14. Hawaii’s legislation on trafficking is one of the
worst in the nation. Victims can be charged if they
turn to police and are forced to testify against their
abusers

15. Even on Hawaii’s farmlands there is little respite.
Agriculture workers are the most vulnerable for
human trafficking.

16. Asian workers have been trafficked into
Hawaiian farms. In the most recent case,
1,000 were tricked into the US by a B-2 visa
scam

17. These workers experience physical
abuse, discrimination, and are
expected to handle illegal pesticides
with no protection.

18. The cases of the migrant farm workers have
been prosecuted. Countless other cases are
still happening in Hawaii today

19. Sources
• https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/slave-caught-fish-illegal-
thailand-legal-hawaii
• http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/01/paradise-lost-
sex-trafficking-hawaii-160120111423579.html
• http://www.hawaiireporter.com/rise-in-human-trafficking-impacts-
hawaii/
• Pictures:
• https://pixabay.com/