Newspaper or Magazine Articles

Bernstein, Nina. “Foes of Sex Trade Are Stung by the Fall of an Ally.” New York Times. 12 Mar 2008. 6 Jun 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/nyregion/12prostitute.html?scp=1&sq=modern%20slavery&st=cse

While this article starts out by addressing the hypocrisy of New York’s Attorney General Eliot Spitzer who cracked down on prostitution rings and was later discovered to be a patron himself, it winds up elaborating on the development of strategies designed to fight prostitution. This article provides useful information to a reporter researching sex-slavery, as it elaborates on the novel approach taken to fighting prostitution in New York. Rather than trying to find and punish prostitutes and the people who run the brothels, Spitzer signed a bill that increased the penalties for men who frequented the brothels. This article provides an interesting background on the development of a plan for attacking the demand side of the sex-trade.

Kaur Gill, Amardeep. “Today’s Slavery.” Canadian Dimension. May/June 2007, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p. 19-22. 7 Jun 2008. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25239560&site=ehost-live

This article was published in the leftist-leaning magazine Canadian Dimension. While there are several references in the article to gender-based oppression, in general the article is simply a description of actual victims of labor exploitation. This would be interesting to a journalist because it is a story about a real person who was tricked into moving overseas for work, where she wound up being employed for next to nothing at an illegally-run restaurant. Also of interest is the list of recommended reading at the end of the article, which provides several other topical articles that could be useful to a researcher.

“Of Human Bondage.” Wall Street Journal. 9 Jun 2008. 9 Jun 2008. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121296112067555505.html

This article from the Wall Street Journal highlights the effect recent economic trends have had on labor. Namely, the increase in food prices have led to higher levels of slavery in Brazil. This article would be useful to a reporter as it gives a synopsis of some of the information contained in the U.S. State Department's report on trafficking and relates that to current global economic trends. For example, one of the results of higher food prices is that forced labor is being used more frequently to produce crops to meet the demand.