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"That's a huge problem when someone is there and something like this happens. The agency usually scares you so no one talks about it or call[s] the Department of State."

Abuse and exploitation of labor

In far too many cases, au pairs receive last minute hours added to their work. Yet, host families often choose not to pay for these extra hours of labor. In many cases, the extra hours include tasks beyond the scope of work agreed upon in the beginning.

The extra tasks may include pet cleaning and house cleaning; neither of these tasks fall under the umbrella of responsibilities for au pairs.

Many of the au pairs I spoke with also claimed the host families undergo zero background checks from the agencies setting them up with au pairs.

"My area director is the worst. I know a girl that she was [in] danger and [the area director] allowed that. [Agencies] get paid for the amount of families. So most of them don't really care about us."

One au pair told me host families knowingly take advantage of au pairs.

"They take advantage every time they can....The worst was that once, I worked straight 30 hrs. When the parents have to pay the more than 20 extra hours, they just discount hours for my day off...They just paid me three extra hours from 20+ [hours of work.]"

Another au pair informed me the emergency numbers that agencies give them essentially remain non-operational.

"They usually give you an emergency number, but that doesn't help when you really need it."

When I asked one au pair if there was any hope for them to escape the agencies, the answer I received revealed quite a bit.

"No, we came here 'sponsored' by agencies; the program is only with [the] agency. If the Department of State found out that we have extra money (even for extra hours for the host family), they are going to revoke our visas."

"Or that is what they say, which I'm not 100% sure because we are in a 'cultural exchange' but we've SSN and pay taxes."

Au pairs deserve better

Au pairs arrive in the United States, agreeing to provide childcare services to families in exchange for learning American culture.

Host families and au pair agencies have a duty, morally and legally, to live up to these agreements, not take advantage of vulnerable foreign workers.

Both the host families and au pair agencies engaging in these forms of labor exploitation and labor trafficking of au pairs deserve to face full legal accountability for their crimes.