Running head: DARK DAYS OF BONDAGE 1 DARK DAYS OF BONDAGE 8 Dark Days of Bondage: Human Trafficking as Modern Day Slavery John Doe University of Maryland University College Psychology 332 Professor Darrin Campen September 11, 2011 Dark Days of Bondage: Human Trafficking as Modern Day Slavery What do we think of when we think of slavery? There is the slavery that existed in prehistoric times. Countries such as China, India, and Korea all have a history of slavery that predates current history (Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.). Many of the magnificent structures seen in Egypt were built with the forced labor of slaves. There are passages that can be found throughout the Bible that reference this practice. From Deuteronomy 7: 8 (New International Version): “But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Anyone who has studied American History is well-aware of the plight of Africans who were taken from their land and brought across the Atlantic to what is now the United States to serve as slaves for primarily white owners. Thankfully, with the passage of many laws and with a new awareness of human rights, those practices were brought to an end. However, what can be said of slavery today? Despite various laws and regulations, there is still very much a type of modern day slavery in the form of human trafficking. To begin the argument in support of the idea that human trafficking is a modern day form of slavery, we can begin by examining slavery itself. Merriam-Webster defines slavery as, “submission to a dominating influence” and “the state of a person who is a chattel of another.” Dictionary.com gives an alternative definition as, “a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bond servant” and “a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person.” Both definitions boil down to the same idea: that slavery is the stripping of a human being of their most basic rights. The balance of power is completely one-sided, with the master having complete control. The slave, as property, is not allowed a paycheck; is not allocated vacation time; cannot quit his or her “job”; and is more than likely held against his or her will. Next, we can explore human trafficking a little further. In December 2000, the United Nations sponsored a treaty against transnational organized crime. One of the protocols therein, entitled the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, describes human trafficking as: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the conse ...

1. Running head: DARK DAYS OF BONDAGE 1
DARK DAYS OF BONDAGE 8
Dark Days of Bondage: Human Trafficking as Modern Day
Slavery
John Doe
University of Maryland University College
Psychology 332
Professor Darrin Campen
September 11, 2011
Dark Days of Bondage: Human Trafficking as Modern Day
Slavery
What do we think of when we think of slavery? There is the

2. slavery that existed in prehistoric times. Countries such as
China, India, and Korea all have a history of slavery that
predates current history (Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.). Many
of the magnificent structures seen in Egypt were built with the
forced labor of slaves. There are passages that can be found
throughout the Bible that reference this practice. From
Deuteronomy 7: 8 (New International Version): “But it was
because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your
ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and
redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of
Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Anyone who has studied American
History is well-aware of the plight of Africans who were taken
from their land and brought across the Atlantic to what is now
the United States to serve as slaves for primarily white owners.
Thankfully, with the passage of many laws and with a new
awareness of human rights, those practices were brought to an
end. However, what can be said of slavery today? Despite
various laws and regulations, there is still very much a type of
modern day slavery in the form of human trafficking.
To begin the argument in support of the idea that human
trafficking is a modern day form of slavery, we can begin by
examining slavery itself. Merriam-Webster defines slavery as,
“submission to a dominating influence” and “the state of a
person who is a chattel of another.” Dictionary.com gives an
alternative definition as, “a person who is the property of and
wholly subject to another; a bond servant” and “a person
entirely under the domination of some influence or person.”
Both definitions boil down to the same idea: that slavery is the
stripping of a human being of their most basic rights. The
balance of power is completely one-sided, with the master
having complete control. The slave, as property, is not allowed
a paycheck; is not allocated vacation time; cannot quit his or
her “job”; and is more than likely held against his or her will.
Next, we can explore human trafficking a little further. In
December 2000, the United Nations sponsored a treaty against
transnational organized crime. One of the protocols therein,

3. entitled the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, describes human trafficking as:
the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt
of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms
of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of
power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or
receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a
person having control over another person, for the purpose of
exploitation (UNODC, 2004, p. 42).
Even by this simple definition alone, human trafficking bears an
incontrovertible resemblance to slavery. We can start with
these basic definitions to continue the argument that trafficking
is just another word for modern day slavery. Although slavery
and human trafficking are worldwide problems, for this paper,
we will primarily focus on slavery in the United States.
Control was one of the key components of slavery and it is
the same today in human trafficking. In the past, slaves were
held under the thumb of slave owners. The time they woke up,
what work they did, the time they went to bed—these were all
decisions controlled by someone else. Slaves were not able to
just pick up and move on to another job or another town. They
were bound to their owners, usually for life, and slaves caught
trying to escape were either whipped or killed outright as a
lesson to other slaves (Davis, n.d.). By comparison, victims of
human trafficking are treated in much the same way. The FBI’s
human trafficking report (2006) states that victims are often
controlled through beatings and rapes or through drug
dependency or threatening their families. In the United States,
many victims have the added disadvantage of being here
illegally; so they not only don’t speak English, but they are
scared of being sent back to their home country. Additionally,
at the most basic of levels, they are strangers in a strange place.
They may not know where to seek help or if the police are even
willing to help (FBI, 2006).
Another similarity between trafficking and slavery is the
exploitation of one person or group of people by another. In the

4. South, slaves were exploited mainly for their labor. They were
forced to do hard labor in fields from early morning until
nightfall. Some were “lucky” enough to work in the home of
the slave owner and while their lives were somewhat better than
those who worked the fields, the house slaves were still subject
to long hours and cruelty with no pay (Davis, n.d.). Female
slaves were also exploited sexually by slave owners. If they
refused any advances, they were likely to be beaten and raped
anyway (Davis, n.d.). Today, human trafficking consists of
thousands of men, women, and children who are exploited
through various means. Forced labor is one way, with workers
working long hours with little or no pay (Polaris Project,
2010a). An example of this would be domestic servitude.
Victims will often work long days that involve cooking,
household chores, childcare, or other similar work. The Polaris
Project (2010a) states that most victims are immigrants who live
with their employer, thus enabling the traffickers to control
their victim even more. These victims and others involved in
forced labor are essentially working for free, a huge “bonus” for
their employer. Trafficking for sexual purposes is another way
victims are exploited. Sex trafficking is in no way limited to
women or children, but they do make up about 80% of all
human trafficking cases (Yarber, Sayad, & Strong, 2010, p.622).
These victims are often forced into prostitution, whether it be
on the streets, in brothels, in massage parlors, or strip clubs
(Polaris Project, 2010c).
Clearly, the exploitation of people is another link between
human trafficking and slavery. Another link is the idea that
both trafficking and slavery are a form of business. In order to
harvest the fields, farmers and plantation owners needed
workers. Rather than paying an honest wage to employees, they
instead chose to utilize slaves, who, as property, did not need or
in their minds, deserve, to be paid (Davis, n.d.). The slave’s
loss is the slave owner’s gain. In this way, slave owners were
able to make millions of dollars on the blood, sweat, and tears
of slaves. Along the same vein, human traffickers often see

5. trafficking as a business. There are huge profits all around,
from victims working in sweat shops for next to nothing, to sex
trafficking victims bringing in huge amounts of money for their
pimps. The U.S. Department of State (as cited in Yarber et al.,
2010, p. 622) estimates that sex trafficking income is between
$7 billion and $10 billion per year. It has been said that money
is the root of all evil and this is especially true in both slavery
and human trafficking.
Another connection between slavery and human trafficking
lies in the helplessness of its victims. They are in effect
physically and emotionally trapped by their captors. Slaves
were for the most part kidnapped from their country and
transported to what is now the United States (Davis, n.d.).
Once here, they were subject to whatever mistreatment their
owner saw fit to inflict. Davis states that some of the usual
methods for punishment included: “verbal rebukes . . . kicks to
the body . . . branding on the flesh . . . and mutilation of the
body.” However, the most universal form of punishment was
whipping. Human trafficking victims often face the same sort
of brute force in keeping them trapped, be that in forced labor
or the sex trade (FBI, 2006). Traffickers see their captors as
property—like slaves—and treat them as such. Additionally, in
both cases, victims are also kept through a combination of
coercion, threats, and intimidation. Slaves were threatened with
the warning that they could be sold and separated from family
and friends (Davis, n.d.). Victims of human trafficking are
also subject to the same sort of threats. Traffickers will often
threaten violence against family members if victims do not
cooperate or they tell the victims that no one will help or
believe them if they try to seek help (Polaris Project, 2010b).
Like slaves, human trafficking victims are kept downtrodden
through a variety of means and while the slaves of the past were
eventually freed, the same cannot be said of modern day slaves,
millions of whom are trapped year after year.
There is not much than can be said in defense of the idea that
human trafficking is a separate entity than slavery. From the

6. human traffickers perspective, it is just business. The people
they exploit are not actually people; rather, they are a
commodity, a piece of chattel that can be abused in the name of
a dollar. They are immune to the human side of trafficking.
Control, exploitation, a thriving business, and entrapment: four
things that unquestionably link slavery to human trafficking.
This horrific means of exploitation has truly become today’s
form of modern day slavery. This is not a small problem, nor is
it one that will go away on its own. Much like the slavery of
years past, this is a problem that must be hit head on. No
country, age group, race, or gender is safe.
References
Davis, R. L. F. (n.d.). Slavery in America: Historical overview.
Slavery in America. Retrieved
from
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_overview.htm
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2006). Human trafficking: An
intelligence report. Retrieved
from
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2006/june/humantrafficking_06
1206
Polaris Project. (2010a). Domestic work. Retrieved from
http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/labor-
trafficking-in-the-us/domestic-work
Polaris Project. (2010b). Human trafficking FAQs. Retrieved
from

7. http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/human-
trafficking-faqs
Polaris Project. (2010c). Sex trafficking in the U.S. Retrieved
from
http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/sex-
trafficking-in-the-us
Slave definition. (n.d.). In Dictionary.com online. Retrieved
from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slave
Slave definition. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster dictionary online.
Retrieved from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave
Slavery: Slave-owning societies. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia
Britannica online. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24156
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2004). United
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8. Yarber, W.L., Sayed, B.W., & Strong, B. (2010). Human
sexuality: Diversity in contemporary
American (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.