How Baltimore-based groups fight human trafficking in Maryland and across the U.S.

A young Colombian woman was told being an au pair was a “wonderful opportunity” in the United States — she could take classes and improve her English skills while working as a live-in nanny for an American family. However, after being matched with a family in Prince George’s County, the couple forced her to work long hours doing heavy housework, she alleged. She said they also gave her only cheap, mostly processed foods without permission to eat fresh fruits and vegetables they had purchased for themselves and monitored her every move through a network of surveillance cameras throughout the house. The woman faced abuse, isolation and threats of deportation as she was controlled, overworked and underpaid by her employers, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Colombian woman and another au pair who claims that she faced similar working conditions with the same family.