Like millions enslaved at India’s notorious brick kilns, Raju Vanvasi endured dehumanizing mistreatment. All because he had borrowed 7,000 rupees, about $100. The money lender said paying off the debt would be simple, just make bricks at a friend’s factory. It would...
The first day of Hanukkah this year coincides with an important date in the anti-slavery calendar. December 2nd is the United Nations International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. That is why we are especially happy this year to spotlight a confluence of observance...
Someplace warm and dry to sleep. It’s a basic necessity. But traffickers don’t care. They force the enslaved into ramshackle conditions fit for animals, not people. Your support of Free the Slaves changes that. I’ve seen firsthand how shelter begins with freedom. On...
Why support Free the Slaves on Giving Tuesday? One word: results. We do more than create awareness. We get the job done. Here are 10 ways your support makes an impact: Your support spreads freedom: We have liberated thousands of people from slavery and educated...
It’s the busiest shopping time of the year. We’re all familiar with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We’d like to introduce you to a different online opportunity: Shop for good Sunday. Free the Slaves and other groups have teamed up with our partners at DoneGood to...
By donating to Free the Slaves, you liberate people from bondage and put traffickers in jail. Our front-line activists guide police to farms, factories and mines on raids that liberate the enslaved and arrest slaveholders. We help survivors file court cases and...
Is your birthday coming up? If so, stop for a minute and think about this: becoming one year wiser can now translate into a child slavery survivor in Ghana being able to afford a school uniform. While you are free to decide how you want to celebrate your birthday, or...
Three square meals a day. It is fundamental for proper nutrition. But a nourishing breakfast, hearty lunch and wholesome dinner are distant dreams for people in slavery. They are typically fed just enough to stay alive to work another day. Donating to Free the Slaves...
Slavery stops innovation dead in its tracks. It keeps children out of school. It blocks entrepreneurs from access to credit. It steals a community’s wealth and labor and hope. Freedom brings creativity and positivity. This jumpstarts a village economy. People start...
Traffickers don’t care about the health of people they enslave. No doctor visits for those who fall sick. No vaccinations for children. No prenatal care for pregnant women. That’s why the work of Free the Slaves is so vital. We ensure that the people we liberate...
I am a descendant of slaves. Some of my ancestors were from Malaysia and Indonesia, brought to South Africa to work in the port of Cape Town. It always surprises Americans when I tell them that people were brought to Africa more than a century ago and enslaved....
You probably take many of life’s essentials for granted. A good education. A nourishing dinner. A clean drink of water. A visit to the doctor. A safe place to sleep. These basics are denied to people in slavery. That’s why your support to liberate the enslaved is...
The reviews are in, and our 2018 Fashion for Freedom Event in New York is being heralded as a fantastic success. Scores of Free the Slaves supporters and ethical fashion advocates gathered in Manhattan for the uplifting evening. “The Fashion for Freedom Event was a...
Free the Slaves is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2018 Fashion for Freedom Award: Flor Molina, a survivor of modern slavery in Los Angeles who has become a champion for trafficking victims and survivor protection. Her inspiring journey from sweatshop slavery...
Countless friends and family ask me: “How can I tell if a company is using sustainable practices when I shop?” Let’s face it, the 40 hour workweek is a thing of the past for most people. And, who wants to spend their spare time researching corporate supply chains when...
Being fashionable is easier today than ever. Companies produce clothing at an alarmingly fast rate for little cost to the consumer. The traditional four season cycle of fashion has expanded to new fashion lines being released monthly, giving rise to the fast fashion...
It’s here! Actually, it's been going on for a while, but for those of us who are behind the curve, it's not too late – you can still join the ranks. “We are a diverse community that includes board members who have been tackling sustainability and ethical fashion for...
I think in theory we all want to be ethical consumers, but in practice that task can sometimes seem daunting or even impossible. That’s why I’ve written this post – to debunk common myths about ethical consumption and offer some useful tips on how to become a...
As we enter Father’s Day weekend, I am reminded of the many fathers I have met in communities plagued by modern slavery around the world. “My father was a slave,” one man told me. “I was born a slave,” he continued. “I don’t want my children to be slaves,” he...
As I ride the elevator to the seventh floor of the old Pfizer industrial building in Brooklyn, I have no idea what to expect. On their website, the Pratt Institute Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator (BF+DA) is described as “a hub for ethical fashion and design that...
Are human trafficking victims hidden inside your closet? Could be. It’s not your fault, it’s hard to know if your wardrobe is tainted by sweatshop slave labor. But now it’s easy to stop financing the enslavement of women and children in the fashion industry. Free the...
On this International Women’s Day, I’d like to share a remarkable success story. More than 200 women and girls have now restarted their lives at our Punarnawa Ashram for sex slavery survivors in India. The ashram’s residents have endured unspeakable brutality before...
Today brings a close to Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. But at Free the Slaves, it’s not a time to relax. We will not rest for one instant until everyone, everywhere is free from bondage. The great civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer noted that...
Saturday marks the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration – and around the world there will be Women’s Marches in major cities. For Free the Slaves, the anniversary is a moment to take stock of Trump promises and performance. In February, Trump pledged to...
With 40 million people trapped in modern forms of slavery, the goal of ensuring freedom for all is more urgent than ever before. If we pull together, we can end one of history’s most shameful crimes. And we can do it more quickly than you might imagine. That is why we...
Talk shows and websites are buzzing with ideas to help you prepare for tax changes passed by the Congress and signed by the president for 2018. One suggestion is universal, summed-up in The Wall Street Journal: “The most important tax-planning tip between now and the...
Free the Slaves donors all have one thing in common: a burning desire to make slavery a thing of the past. That's why we sent award-winning documentary filmmakers this year to spotlight four Free the Slaves donors to learn how they discovered that slavery still exits...
Double Your Impact - Donate Today Dear Friends of Free the Slaves, We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to making the work of Free the Slaves possible. Your donations are spreading freedom to thousands of people around the globe. All of us on the board...
In his music, friendships and faith, Derek Mount thinks often about connections and impact. He imagines his music carries with it a “little trail of peace.” He sees the freedom in his life, the chance do what he loves. Then he looks outside himself, at the 40 million...
Over a 30-year career, Lisa Kristine has documented native cultures and causes in more than 100 countries. She is an internationally acclaimed humanitarian photographer. Today she is a global voice of anti-slavery activism. Yet it wasn’t always so. Seeing Slavery at...
Harvard historian Timothy Patrick McCarthy is a scholar of slavery. And even he didn’t know about modern slavery until he read FTS Co-founder Kevin Bales’ seminal work, Disposable People. “I was completely blind to the reality that the things I was studying...
Free the Slaves would like to thank our Washington-area supporters for coming to our D.C. United tailgate and soccer game event! With your help, we have raised more than $2,000 for our “United for Freedom” campaign. We had a great time sharing our work with the D.C....
Have you purchased your ticket to join Free the Slaves at our annual United for Freedom Campaign event? Come watch D.C. United play the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday, Sept. 23 at RFK Stadium! We have organized a terrific pregame tailgate starting at 4:30 p.m., where...
In recent weeks, I experienced the intense contradiction of great joy at the birth of a child and revulsion at despicable public conduct. Both are linked to my passion for the work of Free the Slaves. On August 14, we welcomed to the world our first grandchild,...
The fight against slavery cannot be won by one group working alone. It takes many organizations, governments and communities acting in unison to free the enslaved and protect the vulnerable. The work of Free the Slaves is only possible because of your help! That’s why...
The fight against slavery cannot be won alone. It takes unity. Freedom is possible when organizations, governments and communities work together to safeguard the lives of the vulnerable. That's why Free the Slaves has created a network of partner organizations that...
We never get tired of highlighting the amazing work that our partners in the Fair Trade Fashion Show are doing. Maggie’s Organics, a conflict-free silver level sponsor, is committed to providing fair trade fashion to their customers. Bená Burda founded Maggie’s...
Our Fashion for Freedom Campaign is designed to benefit women, men, and children working to rebuild their lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and India. Recovering from slavery requires multidimensional healing - psychological, physical, social and...
Throughout July, our Fashion for Freedom Campaign has been in motion leading up to the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons at the end of the month. Our campaign supports vocational training programs, providing safe spaces for trafficking survivors...
We are so excited to share some new information about the upcoming Fair Trade Fashion Show with you! Have you purchased your ticket yet? You'll want to after you hear who we have participating in the show! Our host will be Nada Jones. She's a consultant, entrepreneur,...
When Farida Sharma was first exposed to the shocking reality of modern slavery, she couldn’t get it off her mind for days. She saw an eye-opening movie about women being trafficked. It left her feeling moved, powerless and disgusted all at once. Sharma manages the...
An educated consumer has the power to end slavery. That’s why Free the Slaves and Bead & Reel are hosting a fair trade fashion show July 29 to raise money and awareness of modern slavery. This show is the third annual of its kind. With slavery being a $150 billion...
As we get closer to our Fair Trade Fashion Show, it's a great opportunity to shine a light on our co-host, Bead & Reel. Founded in 2014 by Sica Schmitz, Bead & Reel epitomizes ethical fashion. This brand offers clothing that is eco-friendly, cruelty-free and...
Your tax dollars have helped combat slavery worldwide. America has been the global leader in funding front-line anti-trafficking programs run by nonprofit organizations like Free the Slaves. Just this year, our team rescued three boys from traffickers on the very day...
President Trump in February promised America would “do more” to fight human trafficking. Last month, presidential adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump pledged to make this fight a “major priority.” But last week, the Trump administration released a 2018 budget that...
This week has been designated as Combating Human Trafficking and Child Protection Week in the U.S. House of Representatives. A good time for a situation update on the state of play for America's most critical human trafficking legislation. Trafficking Victims...
Over the past 20 years the global antislavery movement has grown rapidly. Chart that growth and you get a long tail, then a steep upward curve about 10 years ago. From a small campaign on the margins, antislavery went mainstream and a series of tipping points marked...
Joshua Nichols is a junior at the University of Iowa, and the winner of our 2017 "What Freedom Means to Me" student essay contest. Freedom is a tricky thing, an impish desire deeply ingrained within the human psyche. For every person, freedom means something...
Our work to end slavery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is under threat. Our Congolese partner organizations say an executive order being drafted by the Trump White House would undo years of progress. The executive order would suspend the Conflict...
Trafficking Prevention Month ends today, but we would like to ask Free the Slaves supporters to remain vigilant throughout the year. With fast-moving changes at the White House and Capitol, this is a critical time for letting government officials know that fighting...