A new special FTS series profiles children who have survived slavery on Ghana's Lake Volta. They were forced to work day and night on dangerous, deadly fishing boats. They were abused, held under threat of violence, unable to walk away. Many children enslaved on the...
This week has been designated as Combating Human Trafficking and Child Protection Week in the U.S. House of Representatives. A good time for a situation update on the state of play for America's most critical human trafficking legislation. Trafficking Victims...
Over the past 20 years the global antislavery movement has grown rapidly. Chart that growth and you get a long tail, then a steep upward curve about 10 years ago. From a small campaign on the margins, antislavery went mainstream and a series of tipping points marked...
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...
Researchers have discovered significant levels of child trafficking and slavery-like conditions in 20 communities in Ghana’s Volta and Central regions. More than one-third of households studied are affected. Teams conducted 80 focus groups, 40 interviews, 20 social...
"President Donald Trump says he will bring the 'full force and weight' of the U.S. government to combat an 'epidemic' of human trafficking," according to the Associated Press coverage of today’s listening session with several anti-slavery organizations at the White...
A little-noticed executive order last week from President Donald Trump has directed federal officials to ramp-up efforts to target transnational criminal organizations, including human trafficking rings. The order, issued February 9, says criminals are “threatening...
Our work to end slavery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is under threat. Our Congolese partner organizations say an executive order being drafted by the Trump White House would undo years of progress. The executive order would suspend the Conflict...
Trafficking Prevention Month ends today, but we would like to ask Free the Slaves supporters to remain vigilant throughout the year. With fast-moving changes at the White House and Capitol, this is a critical time for letting government officials know that fighting...
Fighting slavery isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do. That simple truth underpins the anti-slavery movement’s recommendations to the Trump administration, which were made public this week. Simply put: slavery anywhere is a threat to freedom...
I believe today holds the promise of being a transformational moment in the history of the modern anti-slavery movement. This moment occurred in a large, nondescript room in an annex to the U.S. State Department located on G Street in Washington, far removed from the...
At the edges of the dark, shifting and murky pools of modern slavery are growing glimmers of liberation – and there is no more powerful source of freedom’s light than American tenacity. A profound moral test for the incoming administration will be sustaining U.S....
Overcoming fear is essential to freedom, and in eastern Congo there is plenty to be frightened about. Millions have died in conflict over the region’s vast mineral wealth. Control of mines and the slaves who work them has turned the region into one of the world’s most...
Fishing and electronics are two of the most visible industries where modern slavery is affecting product supply chains. That’s why forward-thinking associations and corporations are looking for ways to protect their businesses by finding ways to remove the taint of...
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...
The film’s name is short and straightforward: Hatuko Watumwa, Swahili for We Are Not Slaves. It’s a half-hour fictionalization of how vulnerable villagers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo fall into slavery at mines – at what they can do to escape. FTS and our...
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...
They typically work in nondescript cubicles in corporate office parks — and they usually aren’t aware that their desks can become the newest front line in the growing global battle against modern slavery. They are the supply chain officers for American companies. And...
Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences, says his marching orders come from the very top of the Catholic Church.“The Holy Father said: Marcelo, I want you to study this topic carefully so that we know...
Ghana is partnering with the U.S. government and civil society organizations to eradicate child trafficking here, a country where modern-day slavery is rampant. Political officials, NGOs and community leaders gathered in Accra last week for the first-ever anti-human...
Nominations are now open for the 2016 Free the Slaves Freedom Awards. Free the Slaves will award a U.S. $10,000 prize to an organization registered India or Nepal that is implementing an innovative “scalable” approach to ending bonded labor in India or Nepal. A...
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...
Today we are thrilled to release a poignant new film that features the work of Free the Slaves around the world. Two extraordinary volunteers journeyed to the front lines of slavery to meet survivors and activists. Their film uncovers the brutality of hidden slavery...
Free the Slaves is spreading the word among international development and humanitarian relief organizations about the critical need for anti-trafficking efforts following natural disasters. The latest briefing occurred this month in Washington at InterAction, which is...
Inspiring news to report today: Free the Slaves has liberated 12,000 people from slavery! That's worth saying twice. Free the Slaves has liberated 12,000 people from slavery! People who had been forced to do backbreaking work for no pay, by ruthless criminals who use...
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...
It’s been a year since the 2015 Nepal earthquake killed thousands and left large parts of the country in ruins. One of the key tragedies of the quake’s aftermath is that human traffickers preyed on desperate and vulnerable Nepalis, causing a rise in slavery cases.A...
Nepal’s labor minister is paving the way for safer, cheaper migration for workers – while protecting women from sexual exploitation and wage theft. Free the Slaves is one of many organizations advocating for strong measures to ensure that Nepalis who leave home to...
They’re young. They’re eager. They’re energetic. And they’re the future of the anti-slavery movement. Across America, college students are studying strategies for action in the global fight to eradicate human trafficking.I had the honor to speak to some of these...
We need your help to make modern slavery a presidential campaign issue. With tens of millions enslaved worldwide, it’s critical that the next U.S. president make fighting slavery a priority.Today, the anti-slavery movement is launching the Generation Freedom campaign....
What if the response to a natural disaster in the U.S. looked like typical international relief efforts for crises overseas? How effective would it be?“Imagine trying to respond to Hurricane Katrina and having a French NGO, where most of the workers speak French and...
Police officers in Nepal sometimes respond with indifference to human trafficking cases, impeding slavery survivors’ access to justice.That is beginning to change, thanks to the Free the Slaves front-line partner organization GMSP. It is working with local and...
Collecting better data on slavery, developing standards for services to slavery survivors, creating a platform for U.S. presidential candidates to support, and leveraging the inclusion of slavery in the United Nations sustainable development goals.These four critical...
When asked what he does for a living, Maurice Middleberg answers with a smile: “I free slaves.” Last week, he told students just how he does it, as a guest lecturer at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies’ Human Trafficking Center....
Thousands of U.S. Peace Corps volunteers are posted around the globe each year to promote world peace and friendship through projects that tackle international development challenges such as climate change, pandemic disease, food security and gender equality. They...
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...
Your generous support has empowered Free the Slaves to liberate people from inhuman mistreatment in bondage and change the conditions that allow the evil of slavery to persist. If you haven’t had an opportunity yet to contribute in 2015—our 15th year as an...
Seventeen religious leaders from different faiths agreed they’ll take action with their congregations to confront modern slavery, following an in-depth workshop with Free the Slaves and our Congolese partner organizations in Goma earlier this month.The training...
Free the Slaves is wrapping up our 15th year of fighting for freedom. It's a good time to not only reflect on our most important accomplishment, freeing 10,000 people from slavery. It's also important to distill the lessons we've learned from years of working with...
The U.S. and Ghana governments have signed a historic compact to accelerate the fight against child slavery in Africa. Free the Slaves has been chosen as one of the key organizations to lead the way.The four-year project will not only free more than 400 children in...
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...
It takes more than passion and indignation to eradicate the evil of slavery. It takes science. That’s why Free the Slaves has developed our Community Based Model for Fighting Slavery. It’s a four-step formula that guides our work to bring entire communities from...
The world’s largest consulting firm has teamed up with Free the Slaves to tackle one of history’s greatest challenges: the eradication of slavery.Deloitte has been volunteering its staffers this year to take stock of the anti-slavery movement and recommend ways for it...
AP investigative journalist Martha Mendoza says covering modern-day slavery is fraught with ethical challenges—including the risk that the people you are trying to help might be killed instead.“If you show their face, they can be eliminated as evidence,” Mendoza told...
Economic and political leaders need to step up their game if global slavery is to be successfully overcome. That’s the message that Free the Slaves Executive Director Maurice Middleberg shared with millions of BBC World Service radio listeners overnight on the...
We headed to Burkina Faso earlier this year for a training program that traditionally does not fall under the Free the Slaves model for intervention. Our mandate was to train 29 community facilitators on issues of child labor and slavery, social protection and data...
A slavery survivor from Haiti shared a grisly account of her childhood in restavèk domestic servitude: “I was born on the street in front of a brothel. Prostitutes brought my mother a towel, so she could swaddle me. My father’s mistress was beautiful, and she, too,...
Free the Slaves Executive Director Maurice Middleberg loves his job. But he says feeling good is not good enough. For true satisfaction, Maurice says he must know that his work has impact. “I can’t get up in the morning without knowing if we’re making a difference,”...
Editor's Note: We thought you'd like to read a remarkable presentation by our Executive Director, Maurice Middleberg. Our thanks to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Boca Raton, Florida for inviting Free the Slaves to spread the word about slavery today. October 30,...