It takes organization to free a village from modern slavery. In Ghana, that organization has a long name with a short acronym: a Community Child Protection Committee, or CCPC. Helping villagers form these committees is a fundamental element of our community-based...
Poverty and the absence of legitimate sources of credit are two of the key conditions that allow modern slavery to exist. People without resources are vulnerable to offers of cash, food or livestock if they send a child away with a trafficker. People without credit...
The Village of Life shelter is exactly what modern slavery survivors need. It’s a vibrant and supportive place – far from the hardships and exploitation that children experience when enslaved in remote fishing villages along Lake Volta in Ghana. My visit to this...
The village school in Kobiri Nsuoano is a beacon of hope. It’s a simple building down a bumpy narrow road. But what happens inside is revolutionary. Children are learning about their rights as part of a Free the Slaves program to prevent them from being trafficked...
What are the differences between historical slavery and slavery today? What are the key dates and accomplishments in the history of the abolition movement? How can you take action to make communities slavery free? Find out in our newest webinar recording: “Building...
America botched the abolition of slavery in the 1860s, a mistake that has consequences for descendants of enslaved African Americans even today. Slavery was outlawed, but millions of liberated slaves weren’t allowed to build prosperous lives in freedom. This is why...
January is Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Month in the U.S. It's an important opportunity to learn why slavery still exists, what can be done to end it, and how you can help. Thanks to the Lowenstein Sandler law firm, there's a one-hour video that will help you...
The Free the Slaves Community Liberation Toolkit is a key capacity-building tool to catalyse a civil society movement against slavery. Designed to train frontline field staff in anti-slavery strategies and integrate anti-slavery activities into the work of high-impact...
Summer is over and kids are back to school. But not enslaved children. For them, each day brings a lesson in hardship and mistreatment. They have no school mates, no pep rallies, no recess. Just backbreaking work and beatings. That’s why Free the Slaves invests so...
Emmanuel endured years beneath the blistering sky of Ghana’s Lake Volta. As a child fishing slave, he faced the bare elements in a shoddy open boat. Sharp nets left deep cuts in his fingers. The blurry water left him fearful that he might not survive when forced to...
When we visit villages that are targeted by traffickers, we see that modern slavery is, at its core, an economic crime. That's why we were thrilled to hear from an inspiring grandmother named Stella Abrokwah in Arkrah, Ghana. She explained how our Village Savings and...
When people map how modern slavery plagues their villages in the Dominican Republic, it’s a real eye opener. The simple drawing becomes a road map for freedom. Everyone in bondage is identified, and residents pledge to liberate every last woman, man and child. It...
Good news today from the U.S. State Department. Both Haiti and Senegal have been removed from the Tier Two Watch List in the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, an indication that the governments of both countries are increasing their efforts to combat human...
A single piece of paper can change someone’s life. That’s why Free the Slaves provides vital legal support for people we liberate from bondage. This summer, you can double the number of survivors who receive official documentation to put slavery behind them and resume...
As chair of the Free the Slaves board of directors, I want to personally let you know that a generous foundation this summer is increasing its support of our work. They’ll match dollar-for-dollar your summertime contributions, up to $100,000. It’s a unique opportunity...
From an early age I felt the vocation to do everything in my power to fight injustice, and I have been working for more than 20 years to advance human rights and gender equality in different countries. Injustice is manifested in different ways with different...
What happened to Soni Vanvasi has happened to millions of others in India. Her entire family was enslaved because a child fell ill. Now that she’s free, Soni is determined to prevent human trafficking from ever touching another person’s life. “I want to educate my...
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...
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:...
Inequality is one of the major root causes of modern slavery. Traffickers thrive when women’s rights aren’t respected, when gender-based violence is ignored, when girls are denied education, and when people of different races, tribes, nationalities or social status...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Last week brought high praise for our program to combat child trafficking in Ghana. It came directly from the village chief of Lolonya in the Greater Accra Region. He said our “Growing Up Free” project “has been a blessing for this community and for the children.” The...
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...
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...
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...
With tens of millions of individuals victimized by traffickers and slaveholders, the world urgently needs solutions that can be effectively and efficiently implemented at-scale in a wide variety of situations. I was happy to see that many of my colleagues in India’s...
It doesn’t look like much, just a small brick building with a dirt floor and tin roof. But it’s a major step in ending child slavery in Senegal. Residents of Medina Samba Diamanka have typically sent their children to boarding schools in the city to learn the Quran...
First came the sickness. Nobody knew what it was. Not the numerous herbalists nor any of the doctors could help Rosemary Gilkpo and her six children find a cure for their ailing husband, father and sole breadwinner, Simon Tetteh Dzeagu. Then the money ran out to pay...
As I visit our grassroots anti-trafficking programs around the world this year, I want to share my field notes with you directly from the front lines. With each new visit, my optimism grows. The courageous activists that you support are spreading freedom in places...
Advertising can be a powerful force – for good or bad. A recent FTS rescue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo proves the point. Three teen girls from the village of Nobili thought they were being hired to be waitresses. Instead, they were quickly forced into...
A new research report has uncovered cases of child trafficking and exploitation in six districts of Ghana. Field teams documented more than 500 instances of child trafficking in 20 communities surveyed in 2016, and 107 households with cases of child trafficking in 14...
For the first six years of his life, David enjoyed a happy and supportive upbringing in a village in Ghana. But then, his father fell ill and died – and David’s life was upended. Unable to support seven children, David's mother sent him to labor on dangerous fishing...
People become enslaved for a reason. And if we don’t change those circumstances, a trafficking survivor is at extreme risk of being enslaved again. That’s why our India team provided Chhatanki with a way to support himself after liberation from a local brick kiln....
“My story is hard to tell,” says Benita Furaha, a trainer at a dressmaking training center in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Benita’s parents died when she was 13. Her older brother threatened to starve her or to send her out of the house if she couldn’t...
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...
He traveled 500 miles to see slavery for himself, unaware that he would find a member of his own family trapped in a street begging gang in Senegal. Without hesitation, he rescued the boy, 12 and brought him home. Mamady Diamanka serves as president of his village’s...
Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick asks big questions. Who are we? What do we want to make of life? Who counts as human? And in the historical reckoning of slavery—how do we want to be judged? In his staunch support of Free the Slaves, Choi-Fitzpatrick thinks deeply about that....
Question: What do you call 26 smart, dedicated, energized, motivated and passionate human rights activists gathered together in one room? Answer: a global force for freedom! That’s the takeaway message from our 2017 all-staff retreat, which wrapped up Friday. Two...
Anti-slavery work demands constant evaluation. That’s why FTS works diligently to improve anti-slavery activities by our grassroots partners through baseline research to examine, contextualize and adapt our program strategies to best suit the needs of individual...
Today is the World Day Against Child Labor, and we are proud to share with you a remarkable story of a girl freed from slavery in India. Pooja and her family live in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges in northern India. Her parents were trapped in slavery at a brick...
A religious leader in a remote village in Kolda recruited three young brothers, only 7 and 8 years old, to go to urban Saint-Louis seemingly to learn the Quran. Many families in Senegal send their children to religious boarding schools, or daaras, in Saint-Louis, a...
FTS is proud to present a special series profiling Ghanaian children who survived fishing slavery on Lake Volta. FTS volunteer Emily Teague traveled to Ghana to photograph them. These young victims were forced to work day and night on dangerous, deadly fishing boats....
Our 2016 annual results demonstrate that Free the Slaves liberates people from slavery and changes the conditions that allow slavery to persist. We’re not only helping people break free, we’re ensuring they stay free and nobody takes their place in bondage. Here is a...
In many of the countries where we work, modern slavery is hidden from public view. But not in Senegal. Child slavery here is evident everywhere. Little boys carrying empty plastic margarine containers cluster on street corners and markets all over Dakar, Saint-Louis...
I often get asked why I wrote a book about contemporary slaveholders. Once people get over the fact that slavery still exists they want to know who on earth is out there, right now doing what it takes to exploit their fellow humans in the worst sort of way? At the...