‘It absolutely happens here’: Labor trafficking in Maine

This is part one of a two-part series in honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Month. 

What industries run Maine’s economy? The farmlands full of blueberries and potatoes, the seafood processing centers on our coasts, or the hospitality services that accommodate visitors all year round? 

Those are only some of the many employment fields in the state, and across the country, where people are subjected to labor trafficking.  

What is it? 

Labor trafficking is using fraud, force, or coercion to secure involuntary labor. Many who end up in environments where their labor is being exploited can’t leave due to external factors, such as poverty, lack of housing, and unstable immigration status, among other things, according to Hailey Virusso, director of anti-trafficking services at Portland’s Preble Street.  

The key distinction is the use of coercion within the job environment to keep people from leaving. According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, an estimated 27.6 million people were trafficked worldwide in 2021, 77% of whom were victims of forced labor. 

There are no such statistics for Maine, which Virusso said is not for lack of occurrence but because most funding is used to research sex trafficking. 

“One of the biggest misconceptions, specifically here in Maine, is the mentality that it doesn’t happen here. It absolutely happens here, and that is why our program is in existence,” she said. 

Since 2013, Preble Street’s anti-trafficking division has been working across Maine to support all ages, genders, sexualities, races and immigration statuses, whether they are actively being trafficked or have experienced it in the past. The organization helps an average of 100-150 victims of both labor and sex trafficking every year, a third of which are under the age of 18 either then or when the trafficking occurred. 

Virusso said these numbers have grown over the past year as new resources have allowed Preble Street to expand its outreach programs to rural areas where information is harder to come by, most recently Down East. This includes providing training to different sectors, placing awareness posters in public places, and going to schools to educate young people. 

The realities of trafficking 

There are sectors where labor trafficking is more likely to occur: Professions that see higher exploitive practices due to fewer regulations or oversights; ones that employ large migrant workforces or immigrants who may lack a lawful presence – although it’s a misconception that most forced labor victims are in the U.S. illegally, as the National Institute of Justice found that 71% of victims enter the country on lawful work visas. Meanwhile, most people Preble Street encounters are survivors of domestic servitude: forced labor within a private home.  

When identifying possible victims of trafficking, the organization shies away from using physical descriptors or behaviors that may perpetuate stereotypes and instead takes a needs-based approach. 

“Trafficking certainly can be folks being held against their will, but I would also argue that the conditions that perpetuate trafficking are structural. When people don’t have their needs met, they’re at higher risk of being victimized so without housing, without food, without health care, without social connection,” explained Virusso.  

This also means minority groups that are statistically more likely to have unmet social needs are also at an increased risk of being trafficked, such as Indigenous men and women who experience violent crime at rates higher than the national average or LGBTQ youth who account for a disproportionate number of runaways and minors experiencing homelessness.  

Preble Street endeavors to target the systematic issues that make people vulnerable to trafficking, like offering transitional and rapid rehoming services as 90% of the people they serve, both adults and youth, identify lack of stable housing as a main issue. Providing these resources allows people to remove themselves from harmful cycles where they could potentially be revictimized.  

In addition to social factors, Virusso also identified forced criminality as a tactic used by traffickers to control victims: forcing them to work in illicit environments (such as unlicensed marijuana growing or harvesting sites), transport or possess drugs, write false checks or do other illegal activities. 

The web can be hard to disentangle as these victims are often misidentified as criminals when there is coercion occurring. This becomes harder with juvenile offenders. In cases of sex trafficking, anyone under 18 who is induced to perform a commercial sex act is considered a victim, regardless of whether they were forced or coerced. This isn’t true for youth victims of forced criminality who need to prove external pressure, but Virusso said this requirement doesn’t take into account that children are socialized to listen to adults. 

“There’s no more powerful force than to leverage a crime that somebody’s committed over them,” she said.  

What can be done? 

One of the main components of Preble Street’s outreach program is providing training to help different sectors identify signs of trafficking, particularly in the healthcare industry as 68% of victims are seen by a healthcare professional while being trafficked. Some indicators could include being repeatedly treated for the same injuries or frequent STIs. 

Virusso also advises people to vote for policies that increase access to social services and immigration relief as ways to alleviate trafficking and labor exploitation.  

Above all else: Listen to survivors. They know what they need better than anyone else.  

“We want to make sure that anytime somebody is seeking to exit a situation, they have their resources to do so, but we don’t believe in a rescue mentality. Survivors are savvy, resilient, smart people who are making decisions for themselves daily about what they need, and what they don’t need, to make sure that their situation is as safe as possible,” said Virusso.  

Preble Street will host an event in honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Month at the Healing Center, 55 Portland St., Portland on Jan. 22, 3-5 p.m. All are welcome.  

Resources 

National Human Trafficking 24/7 Hotline: 1-888-373-7888, Text: 233733 

Preble Street: (207) 775-0026. Not sure if you’re experiencing exploitation or trafficking? Take the online self-identification on Preble Street’s website.