Lasting change in anti-trafficking work requires protection systems and the people those systems serve to work in genuine partnership. At 28, Glory reflects what that looks like. After surviving sex trafficking across five countries on a false promise of education abroad, she has rebuilt her life in Kédougou, Senegal, and now volunteers at the shelter where she once found safety, offering peer support to other survivors and building a future on her own terms.

Guatemala marked World Day Against Child Labor with an Informational Fair that drew more than 400 participants, including Vice President Karin Herrera and senior Ministry of Labor officials rallying around the ILO’s 2026 theme: “Show Child Labor a Red Card.” Free the Slaves was there alongside survivors whose advocacy is pushing Guatemala’s national Roadmap toward meaningful improvements.

Survivor participation in anti-trafficking work has become a widely accepted principle. What remains harder to achieve is making that participation genuinely meaningful. Drawing on field evidence from Guatemala and Bolivia, Free the Slaves joined the UNODC and the Organization of American States in Vienna to share what the work actually requires.

When community members are equipped to lead, lasting protection becomes possible. In eastern Uttar Pradesh, 22 grassroots leaders from Migrant Vigilance Committees and Azad Shakti Abhiyan groups recently completed Community Action Plan workshops, translating a year of training into structured, village-level strategies to prevent exploitation, promote safe migration, and connect vulnerable families to support. Here is what that looks like in practice.

In Kathmandu, tens of thousands of children work as domestic workers, often arriving with promises of education and better opportunities. A new report by Free the Slaves and CWISH Nepal reveals the realities of this largely invisible form of child labor, and the coordinated action needed to address it. Read how FTS and CWISH are turning research into prevention by bringing these findings directly into classrooms and communities in Nepal.

In May 2026, survivors of child labor in Guatemala stood before government officials and spoke. With support from Free the Slaves, survivor representatives brought eight concrete recommendations to Guatemala’s national child labor commission, demonstrating what inclusive policymaking looks like when the people most affected are treated as essential voices.