donate

Community Liberation Initiative

Mr. Bachelal’s Path from Surviving Exploitation to Leading Others to Freedom

Mr. Bachelal’s Path from Surviving Exploitation to Leading Others to Freedom

by | Nov 3, 2025

Mr. Bachelal, once trapped in bonded labor, turned his experience into empowerment through Free the Slaves’ Community Liberation Initiative training. Equipped with a deeper understanding of labor rights, legal frameworks, and advocacy, he used his learning to secure the release of five workers held in forced labor—and to begin mentoring them into survivor leaders themselves. His story is a testament to the transformative power of knowledge: when survivors are informed and connected, they not only reclaim their freedom—they help ensure others never lose theirs.

read more
Strengthening Networks to Prevent and Respond to Labor Exploitation

Strengthening Networks to Prevent and Respond to Labor Exploitation

by | Oct 30, 2025

Free the Slaves, in partnership with Conexión NGO, recently trained nearly 50 members of the Red Boliviana contra la Trata y Tráfico de Personas (RBcTTP) to strengthen their capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to trafficking for forced labor.

The two-day workshop blended international frameworks, practical indicators, and lived experience to bridge knowledge and action.

read more
Stronger Together: Building Survivor-led Change in India

Stronger Together: Building Survivor-led Change in India

by | Sep 4, 2025

Survivors of slavery are not just reclaiming their own freedom—they are leading the charge to protect others. In August 2025, Free the Slaves hosted a two-day training in India as part of our Community Liberation Initiative, equipping survivor leaders with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to prevent exploitation in their communities. From learning the roots of modern slavery to developing strategies for awareness and advocacy, participants demonstrated the power of transformation: once victims, now champions for change. Their stories show how one empowered life can spark freedom for many more.

read more
The CLI – Ground Knowledge to Groundwork: Free the Slaves Trains Representatives from 3 NGOs to Combat Modern Slavery in Mexico

The CLI – Ground Knowledge to Groundwork: Free the Slaves Trains Representatives from 3 NGOs to Combat Modern Slavery in Mexico

by | Mar 18, 2025

Free the Slaves, in partnership with local NGOs in Mexico, recently conducted an intensive five-day training on the Community Liberation Initiative (CLI) in Mexico City. This program equips frontline organizations with practical strategies to combat forced labor and child exploitation at the community level.

Participants engaged in hands-on exercises and real-world case studies to strengthen their understanding of human trafficking and develop tailored action plans for their communities. With a focus on mobilization, protection, legal frameworks, reintegration, and monitoring, the CLI model ensures that local efforts lead to sustainable, long-term impact in the fight against modern slavery.

read more
Strengthening Survivor Voices: Training with Survivor Groups in the Philippines

Strengthening Survivor Voices: Training with Survivor Groups in the Philippines

by | Aug 20, 2024

This initiative represents more than just empowerment; it is about creating leaders who can drive meaningful change in their communities and inspire others to join the fight against human trafficking. By focusing on survivor leadership, we are building a movement that is rooted in the experiences and voices of those who have lived through the horrors of trafficking, ensuring that their insights guide our collective efforts to end modern slavery.

read more

Sold into Slavery for $11 and a Cow

by | Jan 16, 2019

Owning livestock can transform a family’s future in rural Ghana. An impoverished farmer can sell the cow’s milk, and use its dung for fertilizer and biofuel. Of course, it’s never right to sell your son to get a cow. But that’s what Felix Kaletsi’s father did. A...

read more

Savings Start With Freedom

by | Dec 20, 2018

Traffickers target people in financial trouble. When a medical crisis or other emergency strikes — like a fire, flood, drought, cyclone or earthquake — traffickers offer quick loans to desperate people who promise to “work it off.” When the borrower arrives at the job...

read more

Dignity Starts With Freedom

by | Dec 19, 2018

Traffickers steal more than a person’s labor and wages, they attack a victim’s basic humanity. They spit on the enslaved. They beat them. They’re assaulted sexually. The slaveholder’s goal: force people to give up hope.   Our message to those is slavery is simple:...

read more

Small Shop Ensures Lasting Freedom

by | Dec 13, 2018

It doesn’t look like much, just a small wooden grocery stall beside a busy road. But this microenterprise has kept Sunil Kumar free from slavery, now six years after his rescue. Staying free is just as important as breaking free. That’s why the Free the Slaves...

read more

From Stormy Waters to a Sunny Future

by | Dec 7, 2018

When they first arrived at the rescue shelter, you could see in their eyes that these children had endured the unimaginable. “We were tied with ropes and beaten, with no food for the day,” they said. “We slept on the bare floor with no blankets.” For these three kids,...

read more

The Journey to Freedom

by | Oct 30, 2018

Field testing is underway for our latest training initiative. A Free the Slaves team this month debuted our new handbook on the liberation, rehabilitation and reintegration of people who’ve been trapped in modern slavery. The first five-day beta test workshop was...

read more