Abstract
Every day across the Americas, men, women, and children are forced to work in degrading circumstances due to structural poverty and inequality. They do not earn a living wage, and they are denied the opportunity to thrive to their fullest potential. They are often the victims of violence, sometimes perpetrated, often tolerated, by agents of the state. Life for these individuals is too often “poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Women and girls are often subjected to the worst abuses. Across the developing world, they work more and are paid less. They receive inferior health care, less education, and they are more likely to be the victims of sexual violence. Women of color, women with disabilities, migrants, and gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgendered people often suf-