au pairs and trafficking: a word of caution

Sex trafficking is now the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. According to the U.S. State Department, roughly 700,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. Most of these people are young women and children who have been lured from their homes with the promise of a better future in a foreign country. Once they reach their ‘destination,’ they are forced to work as prostitutes (for more on this issue, visit the human trafficking project ).

So what does this have to do with anyone interested in being an au pair? That all depends, but not much if you are careful. Young women are most often tricked into forced prostitution by being offered a job overseas as waitresses, models, house cleaners, au pairs, and other positions. Yes, au pairs was on the list … But before you freak and throw out the idea of working as an au pair, you can rest assured that the potential for danger is virtually ZERO for au pairs who are placed by legitimate au pair agencies.

Agencies carefully screen their host families with interviews and background checks, to be sure that they are 100% for real and a safe place for au pairs to live and work. The only real threat exists when au pairs bypass an agency and find families on their own, or they do not check into whether the ‘agency’ they are dealing with is the real deal.

And for the record – this information is not meant to scare anyone away from being an au pair (or to keep parents from letting their daughters or sons try the job!). But in a world where the threat of human trafficking is very real, it would be irresponsible to not warn of the potential risk involved. Moving abroad alone as a young adult is a big thing, and it is vitally important to be as informed and safe as possible!