Taking unfair advantage of someone or something for personal benefit, or using resources intensively.
From French 'exploiter' (to work a mine), from Latin 'explicare' (to unfold). Originally meant to develop or utilize, but evolved to mean using others unfairly.
The word started innocently—it just meant 'using something'—but gained its negative sense because powerful people kept 'exploiting' others so often that the word itself became tainted with wrongdoing.
Exploitation historically targets women and femme-presenting people disproportionately (labor, sexual, economic). Language often defaults to male perpetrators/agents, obscuring women's exploitation or rendering it invisible in passive voice.
Name the agent and victim explicitly: 'exploiting workers' rather than vague 'exploitation occurs.' Ensure examples and case studies center diverse genders and avoid default male-as-perpetrator framing.
Consistent documentation of women's labor exploitation (garment, domestic, agricultural, sexual work) corrects historical undercount in policy and research.
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