Overcoming fear is essential to freedom, and in eastern Congo there is plenty to be frightened about. Millions have died in conflict over the region’s vast mineral wealth. Control of mines and the slaves who work them has turned the region into one of the world’s most...
With the divisive 2016 election now behind us, and calls for healing and unity coming from political leaders, it’s important to note that the fight against modern slavery is a bipartisan cause with widespread public support. When the new Congress convenes and...
Fishing and electronics are two of the most visible industries where modern slavery is affecting product supply chains. That’s why forward-thinking associations and corporations are looking for ways to protect their businesses by finding ways to remove the taint of...
The film’s name is short and straightforward: Hatuko Watumwa, Swahili for We Are Not Slaves. It’s a half-hour fictionalization of how vulnerable villagers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo fall into slavery at mines – at what they can do to escape. FTS and our...
Last Friday, I flew from my home in Miami to Washington to attend the quarterly board meeting of Free the Slaves, one of the most important anti-slavery organizations in the world today. Coincidently, my parents, who reside in Williamsburg, Virginia, were in...
They typically work in nondescript cubicles in corporate office parks — and they usually aren’t aware that their desks can become the newest front line in the growing global battle against modern slavery. They are the supply chain officers for American companies. And...
Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences, says his marching orders come from the very top of the Catholic Church.“The Holy Father said: Marcelo, I want you to study this topic carefully so that we know...
The Democratic and Republican conventions are over, and the 2016 general election campaign is now underway. Party officials at both conventions included planks on human trafficking in their 2016 platforms. Here’s the official language from each:2016 Democratic Party...
Ghana is partnering with the U.S. government and civil society organizations to eradicate child trafficking here, a country where modern-day slavery is rampant. Political officials, NGOs and community leaders gathered in Accra last week for the first-ever anti-human...
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the magnitude of human trafficking is “stunning” and “outrageous.”“This is the 21st century,” he said, “we know that human civilization has had thousands of years to develop and make progress and establish rules, discern the...
Nepal’s labor minister is paving the way for safer, cheaper migration for workers – while protecting women from sexual exploitation and wage theft. Free the Slaves is one of many organizations advocating for strong measures to ensure that Nepalis who leave home to...
We need your help to make modern slavery a presidential campaign issue. With tens of millions enslaved worldwide, it’s critical that the next U.S. president make fighting slavery a priority.Today, the anti-slavery movement is launching the Generation Freedom campaign....
What if the response to a natural disaster in the U.S. looked like typical international relief efforts for crises overseas? How effective would it be?“Imagine trying to respond to Hurricane Katrina and having a French NGO, where most of the workers speak French and...
Collecting better data on slavery, developing standards for services to slavery survivors, creating a platform for U.S. presidential candidates to support, and leveraging the inclusion of slavery in the United Nations sustainable development goals.These four critical...
Today is an important date in the Catholic calendar. Pope Francis has proclaimed Feb. 8 the “International Day of Prayer and Awareness on Human Trafficking.”The date commemorates the life of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese woman who was kidnapped into slavery in the...
People ask me all the time: “What is the single most important thing a person can do to help people escape or avoid modern-day slavery?” The answer is simple. It’s one word. Donate. That’s especially true right now, as we conclude National Slavery and Human...
Over the past three years a group of children and youths in Sacramento, California, has come together to form the Kids’ Freedom Club. The purpose is to free slaves by raising money, educating others about the problem and advocating for change. We’ve raised money by...
Human Trafficking Prevention Month was created to build awareness that slavery still exists and to mobilize action to end slavery once and for all. There are two simple things you can do right now to help.Take International Political Action: Visit the 50 for Freedom...
January is a perfect opportunity to mobilize your friends, family, neighbors, classmates, clients, congregants, co-workers and everyone you know. Join us in January to raise the visibility of slavery as one of the world’s greatest human rights problems. It’s a problem...
Seventeen religious leaders from different faiths agreed they’ll take action with their congregations to confront modern slavery, following an in-depth workshop with Free the Slaves and our Congolese partner organizations in Goma earlier this month.The training...
Free the Slaves is wrapping up our 15th year of fighting for freedom. It's a good time to not only reflect on our most important accomplishment, freeing 10,000 people from slavery. It's also important to distill the lessons we've learned from years of working with...
America’s ambassador to the United Nations says nongovernmental organizations are under threat throughout the world, and it needs to stop.Ambassador Samantha Power’s remarks came during a reception in India last month, where she met with government officials and...
Today marks the anniversary of United Nations adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was a momentous achievement in 1948 to craft a charter of rights that should apply to every person on the planet. The declaration is widely accepted as the...
Anti-slavery organizations around the world are commemorating today’s International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, including Free the Slaves. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a coalition of our front-line partner organizations, called COSCAE, marked...
Today marks the official anniversary when the United Nations passed its Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. It was approved in 1949, and the U.N. has honored this landmark anti-slavery treaty...
The world’s largest consulting firm has teamed up with Free the Slaves to tackle one of history’s greatest challenges: the eradication of slavery.Deloitte has been volunteering its staffers this year to take stock of the anti-slavery movement and recommend ways for it...
A new leader is taking charge at the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (J/TIP). Susan Coppedge was nominated to the post earlier this year by President Obama and was confirmed by the Senate last week.With the rank of ambassador-at-large she...
AP investigative journalist Martha Mendoza says covering modern-day slavery is fraught with ethical challenges—including the risk that the people you are trying to help might be killed instead.“If you show their face, they can be eliminated as evidence,” Mendoza told...
Today marks the five-year anniversary of SB 657, a landmark California law to combat human trafficking. Our friends at KnowTheChain are marking the anniversary by expanding and retooling their website to help companies improve corporate transparency and responsible...
The United Nations General Assembly begins a three-day summit Friday in New York to shape the world’s agenda for international development over the next 15 years. The elimination of slavery is one of the U.N.’s key objectives.“The sustainable development goals (SDGs)...
Pope Francis drew thunderous bipartisan applause this morning as he spoke to a deeply divided Congress about the need for unity to promote “the transcendent dignity of the human being.”“Cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to eliminate new global forms of...
With a new national charter that took effect over the weekend, Nepal has taken an unusual step: banning human trafficking directly in the country’s constitution.This puts Nepal – one of the world’s worst hot spots for modern-day slavery – in the vanguard of nations...
Your right to know if corporations are enslaving people to make products you buy is under threat. A court ruling last week might allow companies to conceal the suffering and slavery that we see every day in our front-line field programs.Here’s what has happened: A...
Free the Slaves Executive Director Maurice Middleberg remembers there was skepticism that polio might one day be fully eradicated in developing countries. But 30 years ago, Rotary International began a global child vaccination campaign that is now close to achieving...
Two House members known for trailblazing support of anti-slavery laws introduced a new measure Monday that would require large corporations to publicly disclose if they are taking steps to prevent human trafficking, modern-day slavery and child labor in their products...
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry this morning unveiled America’s annual assessment of the world’s response to trafficking in persons. The 2015 TIP Report rates the governmental response of 188 countries and territories.“The purpose of this document is not to scold,...
It was completely unplanned. A spontaneous and poignant moment. A fuzzy photo that speaks volumes.Several members of the National Survivor Network were in Washington recently for meetings at the White House and several federal agencies. The network, formed by the...
Economic and political leaders need to step up their game if global slavery is to be successfully overcome. That’s the message that Free the Slaves Executive Director Maurice Middleberg shared with millions of BBC World Service radio listeners overnight on the...
Perhaps more than anything else, the legacy of Abraham Lincoln is helping to outlaw slavery in the United States. That’s why Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian social activist and winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, went to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Tuesday to...
June 16 is the Day of the African Child, commemorated throughout Africa as a time to reflect on the status of children and the challenges they face in realizing their human rights. This year’s theme is ending child marriage.There is growing recognition that the forced...
Sewing factories that use slaves to make cheap clothes have become one of the newest battle fronts in the fight against human trafficking. A new investigation by one of our Brazilian partner organizations unveils just how important this effort can be. Repórter Brasil...
Today marks the 13th annual World Day Against Child Labor, and this year’s theme is education. That’s because educating children is one of the most effective ways to prevent them from becoming exploited in hard labor or slavery.Schooling prepares children for...
Ghana is one of the world’s top 10 gold producers, providing international refiners with gold that is eventually sold to banks, jewelers, electronics manufacturers and others. But a new investigation by Human Rights Watch (HRW) unearths how gold extracted by child...
European companies may soon have to ensure that their products do not contain so-called “conflict minerals” that are often mined by slaves. The European Parliament “made history” yesterday, according to a statement by Amnesty International and Global Witness, by...
The U.S. Senate is poised to vote this week on a fast-track trade deal among 12 Asia-Pacific countries.However, one of those countries–Malaysia–has been identified by the U.S. State Dept. as a persistent slavery hot spot, and anti-trafficking organizations are urging...
Congress has approved tougher penalties for traffickers and increased funding for slavery survivors.The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act deadlocked the Senate for weeks earlier this year, and even delayed Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s confirmation...
People often ask us at Free the Slaves if there is something they can do in their daily lives to help fight slavery. Well, this Saturday is your chance. Communities around the world will be coming together to fight poverty, social injustice and climate change on World...
Are you up-to-date on emerging trends in corporate transparency and accountability? You can be sure you are by attending a free luncheon conference in New York next week that examines the quickly-evolving field of slavery and the law. Regulations that require...
A slavery survivor from Haiti shared a grisly account of her childhood in restavèk domestic servitude: “I was born on the street in front of a brothel. Prostitutes brought my mother a towel, so she could swaddle me. My father’s mistress was beautiful, and she, too,...
Free the Slaves joined 22 other organizations this week urging U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to appoint a new special envoy for Africa’s Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The U.S. “has played an increasingly central role in...