Slavery is woven into the fabric of society in rural India. In Prem Bai’s village of Koya Gunjapur, people struggle to afford food and water. They borrow money from rich farmers. When they can’t pay the interest, they are forced into slavery. Generation after...
Sangita is just 15, but she’s seen a lot. Her parents needed to borrow money from a local brick factory owner, who forced Sangita’s entire family into slavery at the kiln to pay off the debt. Now she is free, and her story underscores how the FTS Community Model for...
How do you reach people enslaved in India to inform them that freedom is possible? Call them!Mobile phones are everywhere in India, with 220 million smartphone users throughout the country. Even in rural areas, where access to technology remains low, there is usually...
Like many children who fall into slavery, Mukhal’s story begins with tragedy. His father died three years ago, when he was 9, leaving his family in a precarious financial situation.Human traffickers are always on the lookout for this kind of vulnerability. One reached...
Indian weddings are legendary – they are large, loud, colorful, and can last for days. Because it is such a big cultural occasion, families plan the biggest event possible. That expense is how marriage ceremonies can lead to slavery. Helping newlyweds and their...
One of the major challenges in the fight against modern slavery is proving that a particular strategy successfully and sustainably liberates people from bondage, and that there's an improvement in socioeconomic conditions in places where slavery has been overcome. A...
Free the Slaves has discovered an incredible way to break the back of slavery in the world’s worst trafficking hot spot.We do it by partnering with local organizations in India to strengthen and liberate entire villages. It’s amazing. Everyone breaks free....
One of the toughest challenges in fighting modern slavery is holding traffickers accountable for their crimes. But after a three-year struggle, lawyers with the Free the Slaves front-line partner group Tatvasi Samaj Nyas (TSN) have ensured that four traffickers will...
2016 Trafficking Awareness Day Spotlight More than half of the people trapped in modern slavery are women and girls. They’re exploited in bars and brothels, in homes as maids and nannies, on farms and fishing boats, and in mines and factories worldwide.Supriya Awasthi...
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...
Free the Slaves is thrilled to welcome Rajneesh Kumar Yadav to the staff as our new India country manager, based in Allahabad.Rajneesh is no stranger, he’s run anti-trafficking teams for years as a key staffer at our partner organization MSEMVS.Many of the remarkable...
Before they were rescued from slavery, residents of Sakdouri lived in terror.“Someone promised us jobs at a brick kiln,” says Durga. But they were never paid. “When we asked the owner, he beat us” Durga says.“The brick kiln owner and his supervisor threatened to throw...
Free the Slaves south Asia Director Supriya Awasthi sees herself as a connector. She builds bridges between slavery survivors and those still in bondage.“I always wanted to do something like this, because I could see something changing in front of me,” she says. Once...
Staying free is just as important as breaking free. It’s vital that slavery survivors plan what they will do to earn a living once they are rescued.In the India village of Kukdaha, rescued slaves decided that they would do in freedom exactly what they did in slavery:...
Free the Slaves South Asia Director Supriya Awasthi has great news to share with FTS supporters for International Women’s Day on Sunday. The photo she sent recently says it all. The women of Hirapur are free! That’s Supriya in front on the right. She and our...
It started with a simple loan to pay for a wedding. It turned into brutal enslavement for an entire family. It wound up as a triumphant victory over bondage, thanks to Free the Slaves and our front line partner group in India, MSEMVS. Five years ago, Jaswant borrowed...
The director of Manav Sansadhan Evam Mahila Vikas Sansthan (MSEMVS) in India, Bhanuja Sharan Lal, Ph.D., has been honored this morning by the U.S. State Department as a global anti-slavery hero in the 2014 Trafficking in Persons report. His team of more than 75 front...
Slavery is probably not something you associate with MTV. But think again. MTV has been running an awareness-raising project about slavery: MTV EXIT. The network is helping combat human trafficking through innovative campaigns to inform young people. The newest...
It takes a special kind of person to fight for freedom and justice in dangerous hot spots where slavery still thrives. It takes a resilient and resourceful spirit to assist impoverished and marginalized people in their struggle to break free. But that's the job...
It’s an ancient abuse. But it persists throughout the world today. Slavery remains one of the greatest human rights challenges of history. Modern-day slavery looks different than the sailing ships and shackles we learned about in high school history class. Today, it’s...
For former slaves in India, the government’s provision of Rs.20,000 (approximately $333) makes a crucial difference for protecting themselves and their families from being re-enslaved. With these funds, they can buy some land, or livestock, or start up a small shop....
I’d like to introduce you to five of the most passionate people I know. They are the Free the Slaves country directors – our key front line activists. They supervise our organization’s fieldwork in the world’s worst slavery hotspots. Why do these courageous staffers...
Arriving at the low caste section of Muchkudi village in northern Karnataka, we were ushered into the meeting space in a tiny Hindu temple. About 60 of us were packed closely together, and the infant sitting beside me gently touched my arm, probably to see what this...
Editor's Note: This is the third of three dispatches we will feature this week written by Free the Slaves Executive Director Maurice Middleberg during his recent trip to India. DATELINE: Punarnawa Ashram, Purnea District, Bihar State, India The girls are so young - 8,...
Editor's Note: This is the second of three dispatches we will feature this week written by Free the Slaves Executive Director Maurice Middleberg during his recent trip to India. DATELINE: Varanasi District, Uttar Pradesh State, India In the space of 24 hours we saw...
Editor's Note: This is the first of three dispatches we will feature this week written by Free the Slaves Executive Director Maurice Middleberg during his recent trip to India. DATELINE: Majgama village, Araria District, Bihar State, India Ishtiaq Hasib was only 10...
It is a familiar story: a child taken, a family frantic for help. But for 24 families in northern India, this time the story has a happy ending. Our inspiring new video shows the boys being rescued, and how spreading information about trafficking and slavery leads to...
The first ever Global Online Counter Child Trafficking Conference will take place October 16-18th, and two FTS frontline partners will be featured speakers, alongside many global experts about the latest anti-trafficking techniques and innovations. Based completely...
They said it simply, and artistically: Freedom is possible. The artists were slavery survivors in northern India, members of the Federation of Former Slaves, organized by the Free the Slaves frontline partner group MSEMVS. Their mission was to create a gesture of...
Free the Slaves staffers helped lead an important conference in Peru earlier this month to develop anti-trafficking strategies throughout the Americas. The two-day event was called "Strategic Coordination between Governments and Civil Society for the Integral...
It was the day that 25 families in Lakhminiya village in Bihar had dreamed about for decades. A breakthrough that would give them self-sufficiency, protecting them from trafficking. Their village used to be a haven for traffickers. But recently, these destitute, low...
As the school year begins, it's important to recognize that teaching is a profession that often requires bravery. But one teacher in India, Daulati Kumari, brings a special kind of bravery to her classroom. Daulati escaped slavery only a few years ago, and now she...
They had never been in the media spotlight before, and no one was sure what would happen. Four slavery survivors would face journalists to say that it is time to take a stand against bonded labor slavery in northern India. It wasn’t the way news briefings are usually...
It isn’t often that all five FTS country directors are in the same place at the same time. But it happened last week in Washington, as our overseas staff briefed the U.S. State Department’s "J/TIP" anti-trafficking team. The presentation was called “Innovations on the...
Editors Note: this article was written by FTS South Asia Director Supriya Awasthi and FTS Associate Programs Director Ginny Baumann. Free the Slaves has received deeply disturbing news from our frontline partner organization, Manav Sansadhan Evam Mahila Vikas Sansthan...
I’m writing to tell you about an extraordinary man and his remarkable legal clinic in India. The man is Roshan Lal. He was raised in a family of slaves. Now he is free and helping those still in slavery. Roshan’s clinic is a testament to his courage and dedication....
Trickery cuts a wide swath in India’s impoverished communities. People often leave home in search of work, and many find themselves being trafficked instead. FTS frontline partner MSEMVS aims to change that. And young people are at the heart of the strategy. The goal...
Imagine being beaten and denied the right to govern your own life. Imagine being deprived of basic necessities. Little food, water, shelter or money -- and no education. That’s the reality of modern-day slavery. But for 25 families in the village of Titrahi in...
He seemed hopeless and anxious two years ago, when FTS South Asia Director Supriya Awasthi first met him. Supriya was visiting the Indian village of Bahari, where residents had broken free from slavery at a brick kiln. The villagers helped Munnu escape too. But he was...
Its arrival causes quite a stir. It’s just a simple van. But when it stops in remote hamlets, singers pop out, signs go up, and villagers learn that their lives can be better. It’s called the “Anti-Slavery Chariot.” It tours communities where slavery is rampant. And...
You’ve seen her posts in the FTS blog. Now you can read the in-depth account of one woman who decided to take action after discovering that child slavery still exists. The book is called Facing the Monster: How One Person Can Fight Child Slavery. In it, author Carol...
When I got the news, I rushed to the site with our local colleagues. I knew that this day would be especially important. Labor Department authorities were raiding a brick kiln. Freedom was within reach for 27 adults and 24 children. The raid was triggered by one...
Editor’s note: FTS South Asia Director Supriya Awasthi briefed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month during Clinton’s trip to India. We thought you would enjoy Supriya’s reflections on her experience. It is not easy to get an invitation to meet the...
Editor's note: This is the fifth and final post from guest blogger Carol Metzker. Carol is a longtime supporter of Free the Slaves. She recently visited our frontline work in India. In this series of articles, she writes about the Punarnawa ashram, a shelter for girls...
Editor’s note: This is the fourth part in a series of blog posts written by longtime Free the Slaves supporter Carol Metzker. Carol has been writing about her visit to Punarnawa ashram in India, where girls who have survived slavery heal and rehabilitate. (You can...
Editor's note: This is the third part in a series of blog posts written by longtime Free the Slaves supporter Carol Metzker. Carol has been writing about her visit to Punarnawa ashram in India, where girls who have survived slavery heal and rehabilitate. (You can read...
Friend of Free the Slaves, artist Ben Swatez will be having an art show this Sunday, February 12 at the Phantom Gallery in Long Beach, CA. Last year, Ben visited our frontline work in the village of Bahari in India. The community there had just recently come out of...
Editor’s note: This is the second part in a series of blog posts written by longtime Free the Slaves supporter Carol Metzker. Carol has traveled to India to see Free the Slaves’ frontline partner work. Here, she gives us a snapshot of the Punarnawa ashram, where girls...
Editor's note: We are thrilled to feature a series of blog posts from Carol Metzker. a longtime supporter of, and donor to Free the Slaves. Carol has traveled to India to see Free the Slaves' frontline partner work. Her most recent trip took her to the Punarnawa...
Free the Slaves and its local partner in India just helped three survivors of sex trafficking to gain a legal victory against their three traffickers, now sentenced to 10 years in jail. In an unusual step, the judge also awarded half of their fine of approximately...