Shear Madness: Enslaved in the Salon

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-03-19 08:00:00 UTC
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Yesterday, Dereck Hounake pleaded guilty to trafficking women from their mutual homeland of Togo to work without pay at hair-braiding salons they owned in Newark and East Orange, New Jersey.  Houanake worked with his mother Akouavi Kpade Afolabi to traffic the victims and keep them enslaved.

In addition to forcing the women to work up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week without pay, Hounake had sex with many of them, including one who was a child at the time. Afolbi was in charge of ensuring the women never left the apartment where they were housed, and she eavesdropped on their few phone calls home to Togo.  When they did break the rules, Afolbi beat them.

Most people don't picture trafficking as taking place in hair braiding salons, but it happens more than you might think.  The fact is, victims have been found in a broad number of industries, even church choirs.  Service industries like salons and massage parlors have high rates of human trafficking.  The work takes place in near privacy and doesn't require language skills, which makes them attractive industries to traffickers.

Often, these victims are identified because concerned citizens noticed something wasn't quite right and told the police.  If you frequent a hair braiding salon, be aware of your surroundings and the workers there.

Image from NJ.com, pictures the room where the women were held.

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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