US lawmakers push for legislation to forced the Justice Department to release more Epstein files.
Source: Newsweek
Survivor pressures ‘Seinfeld’ actor to back California child marriage ban
Model Courtney Stodden, who was married off to a 51-year-old actor at 16, is urging California lawmakers to finally end child marriage. A bipartisan bill before the California State Senate would establish 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage without exceptions. Stodden has spoken openly about the lasting impact of marrying as a child, […]
Louisiana bill turns poverty into a pipeline for forced labor
A controversial bill moving through Louisiana’s legislature would make sleeping outside a crime—and could force unhoused people into unpaid labor if they cannot afford fines or treatment. Advocates warn the proposal does more than criminalize homelessness. It risks turning poverty into a pipeline for coerced labor. Coercion in disguise House Bill 211 would criminalize sleeping […]
Inside US detention centers, hunger strikes highlight abuse and exploitative labor
In immigration detention centers across the United States, detainees are refusing food—and in some cases refusing to work—because conditions have become unbearable. From Michigan to Pennsylvania, hunger strikes are exposing a system marked by abuse, neglect, and forced labor inside facilities run by private contractors like GEO Group. Hunger strikes spread across detention centers This […]
Wisconsin legislators aiming to ban child marriage in the state—no exceptions
Research shows definitively that child marriages have higher rates of exploitation and domestic violence, both in the US and globally. And still, there is currently no federal law that specifically governs child marriage in the US. That means individual states are left to make their own varying laws about this legal loophole. Now Wisconsin stands […]
Guatemalan children caught between deportation and exploitation in the US
Over Labor Day weekend, US immigration authorities attempted to deport hundreds of Guatemalan children without hearings or due process. The plan unraveled when immigrant rights groups sued, prompting a federal judge to issue an emergency order halting the removals. The case raises serious concerns about the government’s disregard for protections to safeguard unaccompanied minors from […]
Pressure mounts on Cambodian government to free journalist Mech Dara
Journalist Mech Dara’s reporting on cyber slavery compounds based out of Cambodia shone a light on a rapidly expanding form of modern slavery. However, despite winning awards for his heroism in reporting, Dara was recently arrested on what most observers agree are trumped up charges aimed at stopping his reporting. But there is increasing international pressure for his […]
Organ trafficking in the age of digital currency
A recent investigation by Newsweek reveals the alarming use of social media and cryptocurrency in the organ trafficking trade. Modern technology is being misused on platforms like Telegram, where human organs are sold in exchange for cryptocurrency. Demand and desperation The demand for organs is fueled by a global shortage, with about 90,000 people waiting […]
Expert urges Qatar’s luxury hotels to step up worker protection before World Cup
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Doha’s luxury hotels are expanding their workforce, hiring mainly from South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Africa. The hospitality sector is set to profit significantly from the sporting event, but will it protect the migrant workers making it all possible? In an opinion piece for Newsweek, Isobel Archer, Gulf Program Manager of the Business & […]
Private prison company, GEO Group, ordered to pay detainees minimum wage
A class-action lawsuit brought against private prison operator Geo Group in 2017 concluded this week as a federal jury decided GEO Group must pay detainees Washington’s state minimum wage of $13.69 per hour for work they carry out at Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. A dollar a day This is a significant decision […]