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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Marie Arendt
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Politics & government

THE TRAFFICKER NEXT DOOR

Rhacel, Salazar Parreñas

How Household Employers Exploit Domestic Workers

A renowned sociologist examines the pernicious societal forces that lead employers to exploit vulnerable domestic workers.

The phrase "human trafficking" often conjures nightmarish images of sexual exploitation, but Rhacel Salazar Parreñas reveals that the vast majority of trafficking victims are domestic workers - who suffer abuse not at the hands of shadowy crime lords but rather "ordinary" family employers. Drawing on twenty years of groundbreaking research across three continents, Parreñas exposes the grim realities faced by migrant workers ensnared in forced labor due to poverty and debt bondage. She uncovers how entrenched social and legal norms, coupled with a patronizing "employer savior complex," foster a troubling sense of ownership among employers over "their" domestic workers. Through powerful firsthand accounts, including harrowing stories of workers held against their will in the United States, Parreñas illustrates migrants' desperation and the power dynamics that often lead to modern-day slavery. Parreñas's urgent narrative challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about everyday household arrangements and calls for justice and fair treatment for all workers.

Rhacel Salazar Parreñas is the Doris Stevens Professor in Women's Studies and professor of sociology and gender and sexuality studies at Princeton University. The award-winning author of three previous books on labor, exploitation, and human trafficking, she lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

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Book Published 2025-09-02 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Comments

Leading expert on human trafficking, Rhacel Salazar Parreñas exposes how employers ignore the moral dilemma of participating in a system of legal indenture, debt bondage, and labor exploitation by embracing an 'employer savior complex.' Drawing on decades of research, The Trafficker Next Door makes the case that we must recognize the fusion of personal, cultural, legal, and structural components of live-in domestic work to eliminate trafficking in our country, neighborhoods, and homes.

If you have ever wondered how domestic workers, who are entrusted with the most precious elements of our lives - our families and our homes - could be mistreated and exploited by the very people who rely upon them, this book explores this profound question. In the process, we understand the true urgency of Dr. Parreñas' call to action for employers and institutions to establish dignity and respect for the workers who enable families and economies to thrive.

Based on decades of research, award-winning sociologist Rhacel Salazar Parreñas explains the warped psychology and perfectly legal practices that allow modern-day slavery to persist. Packed with rich and compassionate detail, this brilliant book explains why it will take much more than moral outrage to put an end to human trafficking.

Rhacel Salazar Parreñas has done it again! The culmination of 20 years of researching global migration, The Trafficker Next Door shows how the hidden abode of domestic labor can so easily slide into forced labor, how workers resist or put up with it, and how employers justify inhumane exploitation. A must read for anyone concerned with labor rights or human rights.