“One child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai. Children are like clay. We can mold them into any shape and form just by our actions or our words. If we take the time to educate children, FTS and our partners believe that many...
The Elkes Impact Awards were established in recognition of the tremendous work local advocate survivors and civil society organizations are doing in their communities. Local survivors and organizations too often do not receive widespread acknowledgment of their work,...
It’s been a busy past three months! The Freedom from Slavery Forum held three regional events focusing on Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and the combined regions of North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. This concluded the series of 2021 regional...
Editor’s Note: This guest blog from a Free the Slaves advocacy partner in the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking highlights how a key program to fight modern slavery in American agriculture has moved from a theory of change to a proven solution. The Coalition of...
International development and humanitarian relief programs frequently work in areas where modern slavery flourishes. This connection has deepened as the COVID-19 global pandemic increases social and economic vulnerabilities to human trafficking. But in India, a...
The Freedom from Slavery Forum is pioneering new ground this year as the anti-slavery movement’s premiere thought-leadership convening. For the past eight years, the Forum has been a collegial space for anti-slavery leaders from around the world to coalesce, create...
Mauritania is one of 22 nations that have volunteered to show the world that progress is possible in the global fight to end modern forms of slavery by stepping forward to become a “Pathfinder Country” under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals....
Members of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), including FTS Board Member Evelyn Chumbow, and leaders from the Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus and the Senate Caucus to End Human Trafficking gathered this week for a virtual briefing and...
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...
For more than 100 years, International Women's Day has put a spotlight onto issues affecting women around the world. Today, International Women's Day belongs to everyone who believes that women's rights are human rights. We Asked some of Free the Slaves’ leading...
On this International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, two of the world’s leading antislavery institutions are proud to announce a new partnership to merge research, community activism and global advocacy. Free the Slaves, headquartered in the U.S., and the Rights...
A new free downloadable resource from our partners at the University of Nottingham, including FTS Co-founder Kevin Bales: Today we are engaged in a global antislavery movement. But there have been at least four large antislavery movements in human history. We are part...
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) stressed the need for a whole-of-government approach to combat human trafficking inside the U.S. and around the world in comprehensive recommendations to the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden....
Three trailblazing organizations have joined the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), expanding the alliance’s depth and breadth of expertise and strengthening the alliance’s collective voice. HEAL Trafficking, Humanity United Action and the McCain...
The 8th annual Freedom from Slavery Forum is happening in a unique and exceptional environment. Countries have taken measures to contain the COVID-19 global pandemic, but modern-day slavery including sexual slavery, forced labor and human trafficking has grown worse...
The first-ever Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership to end child trafficking is wrapping up its fifth year in Ghana, and officials say it has been a terrific success that other countries should follow. That assessment comes this week by officials from the...
On behalf of Free the Slaves, we stand in solidarity with the growing global outcry against racial violence and for racial justice in the United States. Free the Slaves is appalled by the ongoing systemic injustices directed at Black people and other people of color...
It is a great honor for me to become the next chair of the board of directors for Free the Slaves, one of the founding and leading organizations of the global movement against modern slavery. I am grateful to my dear friend and predecessor, Dan Elkes, whose uncommon...
There was a time when people were unaware that slavery continues on in the world, that the buying and selling of people had stopped with the United States Civil War and legislation by countries around the world. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Free the Slaves...
A new chair has been elected to lead the Free the Slaves board of directors. Professor Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Ph.D., is an award-winning scholar, educator, activist and public servant. He holds a joint faculty appointment at Harvard University, where he is Core...
Dear Friends and Supporters, I write this letter as I shelter in place amidst the spreading of the coronavirus pandemic. The close tethering to our homes underscores the importance of communities even in today’s hyperconnected world. Likewise, eliminating slavery...
The year 2020 brings several important anniversaries. It’s the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Palermo Protocol, the landmark treaty to confront modern forms of slavery worldwide. It’s the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the...
Human rights activists from around the globe strategized new ways to confront the widespread problem of human trafficking and modern slavery during a special three-day convening at the U.N. Conference Center last week in Addis Ababa. Experts from 46 organizations in...
There are few places on earth where it’s harder to stand up for human rights than Haiti. On this year’s Human Rights Day, we’d like to share an update about our courageous front-line activists there, who continue to fight child slavery even in times of national...
Free the Slaves is thrilled to announce that a courageous advocate for the rights of women and children has joined the organization as executive director. Bukeni Tete Waruzi has helped put a Congolese warlord behind bars, has helped women trafficked into domestic...
Editor's Note: Free the Slaves is honored this month to highlight the investigative reporting of journalist Ian Urbina of the New York Times, creator of The Outlaw Ocean Project. His award-winning series first appeared in the Times in 2015. For the past four years,...
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...
My journey to becoming a human rights activist began while I was a high school. During holiday breaks, my classmates and I organized "Framing Camps" to benefit children in our neighborhood. Later, I had an opportunity to attend a child rights workshop and research...
Last week’s Free the Slaves seminar in Senegal on child begging slavery was a remarkable success. Representatives from the Senegal government, international organizations and local civil society groups gathered to learn how our Aar Sunu Xaleyi (Protect Our Children)...
Editor's Note: This dispatch from the field originally appeared on the University of British Columbia's Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA) program website in December. Free the Slaves thanks the university team's remarkable effort to help us improve...
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...
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...
Free the Slaves has begun the work of educating field workers at high-impact international development organizations how to liberate entire communities from slavery. This year, we have partnered with READ Nepal, a group that helps villagers improve their livelihoods,...
Transparency and accountability. They are two guiding principles of Free the Slaves, and the reason why we publish a detailed report every year about our activities, impact and financial health. The theme of our most recent annual report is "Communities, Counterparts...
I am in Ghana this week with news to share that just can’t wait, so I’m writing directly from the field. The work you support has transformed villages where child trafficking used to be common. I’ve just seen it firsthand. It takes time to reach Dzilakope, a remote...
People who don’t care about intellectual property rights don’t care about human rights either. That’s why Free the Slaves is proud to be affiliated with DH Anticounterfeit, a Swedish software firm that helps companies manage their investigation of counterfeiting cases...
One of the most important annual gatherings of anti-slavery leaders is set to get bigger and better this year. The Freedom From Slavery Forum will double in size and move to the Global South for its fifth annual convening. The event is slated for December 3-5, 2018 in...
February marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass, one of history’s great abolitionists. At Free the Slaves, we’re proud to follow his footsteps and finish the work he helped start generations ago. Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland – the...
What does slavery look like? Somehow it’s both notorious and faceless. Sometimes it peeks out from bars or restaurants. Often it’s hidden in homes, brothels, and farms, then buried further in international supply chains. Child slaves—forced to haul heavy bricks at...
Every day, the staff of Free the Slaves works in solidarity with local partners and communities to help bring about a more just world. We do so in Haiti, in several countries in Africa, and in Asia. Every day, our staff manifests tremendous dedication and skill. Every...
Free the Slaves believes in stopping slavery at its source by changing the conditions that allow slavery to exist. You can read about this important strategic focus today in a CNN.com op-ed from FTS Executive Director Maurice Middleberg. “How to Stop the Slave Trade...
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....
Harvard historian Timothy Patrick McCarthy is a scholar of slavery. And even he didn’t know about modern slavery until he read FTS Co-founder Kevin Bales’ seminal work, Disposable People. “I was completely blind to the reality that the things I was studying...
This week’s release of new estimates on the scope of slavery worldwide are both shocking and encouraging. Shocking because the figures are worse than many experts had believed. But encouraging because the report’s release at the United Nations General Assembly has...
As the United Nations General Assembly convenes this week in New York, an important announcement is coming about modern slavery worldwide. The International Labor Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the group Walk Free will be...
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...
This post was written by Kanta Mendon, with contributions from Sarah Bluestein and Shannon Fallon Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi says American consumers play an important role in the fight against child labor. America has one of the largest import economies in...
As we get closer to our Fair Trade Fashion Show, it's a great opportunity to shine a light on our co-host, Bead & Reel. Founded in 2014 by Sica Schmitz, Bead & Reel epitomizes ethical fashion. This brand offers clothing that is eco-friendly, cruelty-free and...
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....