Congress got tough on companies after the 2008 financial meltdown, enacting the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. It included a vital section to combat exploitation in Congo, called the “Conflict Minerals" provision. The law will require companies to disclose whether...
The news coming out of Congo, and all too often, Africa in general, is mostly dour and depressing. It's an unbalanced view of a continent that is actually teeming with activism, entrepreneurism, hope, joy and beauty. With that said, as an anti-slavery organization,...
The newest front in fighting slavery involves educating consumers that many everyday products are tainted by slavery. Sometimes it’s sweatshop slavery where products are made. Other times, slaves are forced to harvest or mine raw materials. America’s most influential...
Free the Slaves and our frontline partners in the DRC have found multiple forms of slavery in and around mining areas of eastern Congo. We in the U.S. are not separated from these human rights abuses, because there is evidence that minerals from Congo mines end up in...
Following the recent release of our groundbreaking video (which you can watch below) and investigative report on slavery in the mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Free The Slaves eagerly awaits the release of documentary film, Crisis in the...
CNN's year-long Freedom Project continues to churn out great coverage on modern-day slavery. We were excited to see Amanda Kloer's (editor of Change.org's Human Trafficking blog) recent article highlighting the importance of the U.S. government appointing a special...
SLAVERY IN SUPPLY CHAINS The problem: Slavery in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's the deadliest spot in the poorest continent on earth. Millions have died in the conflict between rebel militias and the national army. At stake: vast mineral wealth and control of...
Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition » Tell Obama & Clinton: Appoint a Special Envoy to Congo! Tell the U.S. government to make peace in Congo a priority. It's the deadliest spot in the poorest continent on earth. Millions have died during the conflict...
The State Department has responded to the letter, co-signed earlier this month by Free the Slaves, urging immediate implementation of the conflict minerals law (PDF). Their response: "we do not support a delay" in the implementation of the law. The conflict minerals...
Free the Slaves, along with ten other NGOs—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Enough Project, and our ATEST partner World Vision—sent a letter this week to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging immediate implementation of the conflict...
Minerals that come from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo turn up in electronics, in light bulbs, batteries and other everyday items. It would be hard to escape our connection to these items, and through them, our connection to slavery and conflict in...
Over the past year, Free the Slaves has been researching the extent of slavery in the mines in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Our teams have discovered multiple instances of slavery here—including sexual slavery, peonage, child soldiering, forced marriage and...
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the deadliest spots in the poorest continent on earth. Millions have died during the conflict between warring rebel militias and the national army. At stake: vast mineral wealth and control of slaves who are forced to...
This is the first in a three part series of dispatches written by Karen Stauss, the Director of Programs for Free the Slaves. Along with FTS Partnership Manager Zorba Leslie, Stauss recently returned from a fact finding trip to the DRC, where she researched the extent...