US slavery victims denied compensation by courts

NEW YORK: Most human trafficking victims in the United States are not getting any compensation from their convicted captors, and the number of those awarded payment is shrinking, experts said.

Although trafficking victims are entitled by law to compensation, judges ordered perpetrators to pay in only 27 percent of human trafficking cases brought before US federal courts between 2013 and 2016, a study found. During the previous three-year period, payment was ordered in 36 percent of the cases, according to the report by anti-slavery group Human Trafficking Legal Center (HTLC) and the law firm WilmerHale. “This discouraging trend is disastrous for trafficking victims, who desperately need restitution funds to rebuild their lives,” said the report’s editor, Martina Vandenberg, head of HTLC. An estimated 25m people are trapped in forced labour worldwide, working in factories, farms and fishing boats, and as domestic or sex workers, according to the UN.