Reality TV Contestants are Granted Rights — Why Not Trafficked Victims?

by Mike Smith · 2009-06-09 12:00:00 UTC
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Mike Smith is not just the new Assistant Editor here at Change.org, he's also a passionate blogger.  When Mike recently read a story about French reality tv contestants getting paid for their labor, he wondered why those same rights aren't extended to trafficking victims. 

Contestants in a French reality TV show weren't lucky enough to triumph in a show that tested their relationships on a tropical-islands full of singles, but they have been awarded the right to be treated as employed workers. A French court has granted them benefits like backpay on overtime and a full employment contract, even forcing their employers to pay them "500 euros for unfair dismissal, and 1,500 euros for the wrongful termination of their contracts."

These are the sort of rights that all workers should get, right? So why don't trafficked victims step up if it's so easy to win rights and fair pay? Perhaps it's because for trafficking victims, it's not that easy.  Many trafficked victims don't know their rights, and are let down by a legal system that doesn't know they are there, or worse, that just ignores them. And these victims are often so imitated that they fear stepping forward, or are subjected to any of the other invisible chains keeping victims in slavery.

The news about the reality TV stars is interesting because it's the one of the first judgments of its kind. But stories of trafficked victims getting similarly preferential treatment aren't so common.  In the past several years, some trafficking victims have successfully received compensation from their exploiters through civil lawsuits, but that process remains emotionally and financially painful for many victims. 

So why can't trafficking victims get the deal French reality tv stars get? Their story isn't televised and broadcast, but it's still a horrific reality they are living 24 hours a day.

Image from hubpages.com

Mike Smith
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