ortheast Ohio
Thursday February 2, 2012 2:38 PM
UPDATED: Thursday February 2, 2012 6:47 PM
UPDATED: Thursday February 2, 2012 6:47 PM
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - In two previous Life On The Streets stories, ONN's Cristin Severance reported on a woman struggling with drug addiction and prostitution and a woman who had a Master's degree after twice escaping the sex industry. This is the third part of her series.
A northeast Ohio man said that he was a victim of trafficking through forced labor when he worked for a traveling Ohio carnival that barely paid and forced him to hardly sleep.
The man, who asked that ONN did not use his name, took the job with the traveling carnival to support his daughter. He was promised $350 a week, but said that the promise was empty.
"It's total hook and bait. You know what I mean? Once they reel you in, that's it," he told ONN's Cristin Severance.
At the first stop, he said the crew had to work more than 24 hours to set up the rides and then had to work the carnival.
"I can actually remember falling asleep with people on my ride and the parents coming over and waking me up saying their kids had been on the ride for twenty minutes," he added.
Even if they were given rest time, the worker's bunkhouse was invested with cockroaches and had holes everywhere.
The carnival traveled all over Ohio, setting up in church parking lots and other venues. The overworked, underfed staff was always in charge of the rides.
The man said he has seen platforms fall and rides catch fires.
"You feel trapped, you do. You are constantly worried. There was a lot of violence. The guy that owned the carnival was a very violent person and had very violent outbreaks," he said.
The man had no money and no phone. The pay was always late and had deductions taken out for food, sitting down, or complaining.
"The next thing you know, you are just working off that debt," said the man.
The man doesn't just think he was mistreated or conned into a bad job. He believes he was a victim of human trafficking through forced labor.
Forced labor is the second most common form of human trafficking in the world. Some research shows, it makes up 32 percent of all trafficking, reported ONN's Severance.
The victim's mother has now gotten involved with a community group fighting human trafficking. She said most people don't realize men can become victims, too.
"Because they are not chained to something or in a cage, you think they are not being forced to stay but they are. There is debt bondage and other reasons that they won't leave," she told ONN.
Forced labor is defined as a situation in which victims are forced to work against their own will under the threat of violence or some other form of punishment. Their freedom is restricted and a degree of ownership is exerted.
As the victim told ONN, "You feel trapped. You feel helpless."
He was finally able to call home from a pay phone and a friend helped him escape.
Now, he and his mother want his story out there and the entire industry to be better regulated.
The two are working with authorities on his case.
She plans to working with Catholic charities to have priests come together and ask them to look for signs of human trafficking because so many carnivals set up on church properties.
A northeast Ohio man said that he was a victim of trafficking through forced labor when he worked for a traveling Ohio carnival that barely paid and forced him to hardly sleep.
The man, who asked that ONN did not use his name, took the job with the traveling carnival to support his daughter. He was promised $350 a week, but said that the promise was empty.
"It's total hook and bait. You know what I mean? Once they reel you in, that's it," he told ONN's Cristin Severance.
At the first stop, he said the crew had to work more than 24 hours to set up the rides and then had to work the carnival.
"I can actually remember falling asleep with people on my ride and the parents coming over and waking me up saying their kids had been on the ride for twenty minutes," he added.
Even if they were given rest time, the worker's bunkhouse was invested with cockroaches and had holes everywhere.
The carnival traveled all over Ohio, setting up in church parking lots and other venues. The overworked, underfed staff was always in charge of the rides.
The man said he has seen platforms fall and rides catch fires.
"You feel trapped, you do. You are constantly worried. There was a lot of violence. The guy that owned the carnival was a very violent person and had very violent outbreaks," he said.
The man had no money and no phone. The pay was always late and had deductions taken out for food, sitting down, or complaining.
"The next thing you know, you are just working off that debt," said the man.
The man doesn't just think he was mistreated or conned into a bad job. He believes he was a victim of human trafficking through forced labor.
Forced labor is the second most common form of human trafficking in the world. Some research shows, it makes up 32 percent of all trafficking, reported ONN's Severance.
The victim's mother has now gotten involved with a community group fighting human trafficking. She said most people don't realize men can become victims, too.
"Because they are not chained to something or in a cage, you think they are not being forced to stay but they are. There is debt bondage and other reasons that they won't leave," she told ONN.
Forced labor is defined as a situation in which victims are forced to work against their own will under the threat of violence or some other form of punishment. Their freedom is restricted and a degree of ownership is exerted.
As the victim told ONN, "You feel trapped. You feel helpless."
He was finally able to call home from a pay phone and a friend helped him escape.
Now, he and his mother want his story out there and the entire industry to be better regulated.
The two are working with authorities on his case.
She plans to working with Catholic charities to have priests come together and ask them to look for signs of human trafficking because so many carnivals set up on church properties.
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