We see slavery and trafficking stories throughout the world each week. It’s great news that journalists and bloggers are exposing the problem of slavery, and examining solutions to it. Awareness creates momentum for change. Here are 10 top stories that caught our eye:...
Katie Ford is no stranger to those in the fashion world, and is no stranger to Free the Slaves. Made famous by her family’s modeling agency, Ford Models, Katie made the transition from CEO to abolitionist after attending a U.N. human trafficking conference in 2008....
FTS frontline work is focused on community organizing, and our partners in Ghana are no strangers to doing it effectively. One technique is to form a “CCPC,” a Child Community Protection Committee. These community watchdog groups protect children from various forms...
Voters in California this November will be deciding more than whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney will be president. They’ll have a chance to send a message to traffickers. The CASE Act has qualified for the ballot. If approved, the anti-trafficking initiative will...
Lisa Kristine has seen a lot. She’s traveled the world to photograph remote indigenous peoples. So she was “floored” at a conference when she heard that slavery still exists in the modern world. She’d never seen it in all her journeys. Or had she? You can read about...
A young Free the Slaves supporter named April recently created her own beautifully-produced anti-slavery film. After becoming aware of modern-slavery, she decided to take action. She launched a blog called "Later, Slavery," with frequent updates featuring articles,...
We're closing in on the end of the National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. If you haven't already, tweet any news about modern-day slavery with the hashtag "#endslavery". You can link to our Slavery Map, which shows the extent of slavery in all the regions of the...
Recent news that cotton used by Victoria’s Secret to sew women’s lingerie may have been harvested by slaves has sparked a broader debate about how deep companies should go into policing their supply chains. It’s also prompting discussion in Washington about...
All eyes will be on London for the 2012 Olympic games. That's why our UK sister organization, Anti-Slavery International, has started a new campaign to make sure that the games are slavery-free. According to ASI, there are 5000 people trafficked into London or the UK...
We're really excited to announce the launch of our new crowdfunding initiative, The Freedom Education Project! Based on platform IndieGoGo, the goal is simple– get 27 copies of Slavery: The Book donated to California Public Schools and Libraries. The book will also...
The Voices for Freedom event to benefit Free the Slaves is sold out of all pre-event tickets! Some may still be available at the door. But plan on getting there early. We'll see you there next week!
On December 10th, California Against Slavery and the Safer California Foundation will launch a joint campaign to move their ballot initiative, Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) Act, forward for the 2012 State Ballot. The CASE Act has groundbreaking...
This past weekend, Nov. 18 to 20, ArtWorks for Freedom highlighted the issue of human trafficking in a new multimedia piece called “In Plain Sight.” This World Premiere Collaboration between choreographer Christopher K. Morgan, composer Ignacio Alcover, and...
Last year's recipient of the Fredrick Douglass Freedom Award, activist Tina Frundt, made headlines when she returned to Cleveland—the place she had been trafficked into sex slavery when she was just a teenager. Frundt has been active in the fight against the...
"Not My Life" a documentary by oscar-nominated director Robert Bilheimer airs Saturday and Sunday at 7pm. Be sure to tune in to see our very own Kevin Bales.
Get ready! On October 23, the New Hollywood Women’s Goal Group will be hosting their first-ever performance benefit entitled “Free to Express” to raise money for Free the Slaves. TNH is asking for a $27 dollar donation, in honor of the 27 million people in slavery...
Shamere McKenzie is an American survivor of modern-day slavery. She gave a stirring speech at the 2010 Freedom Awards, in support of her friend and mentor Tina Frundt (a survivor of child sex trafficking, who won the Fredrick Douglass award for her tireless activism...
Every year an all-volunteer group called DC Stop Modern Slavery organizes an event on the National Mall for Washington-area abolitionists to show the country that we want to live in a world without slavery. This year’s gathering is set for Saturday, October 22. Free...
Mark your calendars! On Sunday, October 23, The New Hollywood Women's Goal Group (TNH) will be hosting an event to raise money for Free the Slaves. They are asking for a $27 donation in honor of the 27 million people enslaved in the world today. TNH is a group of...
The world map looks depressing when you flag it with the types of slavery that people endure in different countries. But it can look quite hopeful when you also flag it with the frontline projects that are combating slavery around the globe. That’s what the new Action...
Our YouTube channel's here: YouTube.com/freetheslaves. Share these informational videos with friends, on facebook, in the classroom, blogs, and websites. Spread the word!
Poloris Project has released their 2011 state ratings map revealing the presence or absence of 10 categories of state statutes that Polaris Project believes are critical to a comprehensive anti-trafficking legal framework. See how your state rates here
Hey New Yorkers! You have a special opportunity to support Congress in removing slavery from products that we all use every day! New York City's very own Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), together with Reps. Chris Smith (R) of New Jersey and Jackie Speier (D) of California...
We spent two days on the Willie Nelson Country Music Throwdown tour with our friend Lukas Nelson. Lukas pulled out all the stops to make sure everyone at the show was aware there are 27 million people in slavery today. The fans lined up after his set to get autographs...
Dear Editor: Last week’s Village Voice article, “Real Men Get Their Facts Straight,” touches on an important challenge in combating trafficking and slavery: the lack of universally-agreed on numbers about the scope of the problem. We are disappointed that the Village...
Hot off the presses: The 2011 TIP report! The Trafficking in Persons report is the benchmark resource for the state of modern-day slavery and human trafficking in the world. Produced annually by the U.S. State Department, the report gives almost every country in the...
This 4th of July, celebrate our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—by remembering the 27 million people in the world who are still denied these basic freedoms. If you're like me, the 4th of July is a time to eat too much, maybe drink too much, and...
Last year singer, songwriter, and abolitionist Jason Mraz joined Free the Slaves on a field visit to Ghana, West Africa to see slavery first hand. The trip gave him something to talk—and sing—about: "A year later I’m still active and learning to use my voice in a way...
Last month, Vanity Fair published a major investigative story on modern-day slavery in the U.S. 'Sex Trafficking of Americans: The Girls Next Door' takes a look at domestic sex slavery—an illicit industry that preys on every-younger girls and boys (the average age...
Editor's note: Editor’s note: High school student Aditi Sinha was inspired to become an anti-slavery activist after attending Free the Slaves’ annual Freedom Awards show in 2008. With her friends and family, she recently put on a benefit show to raise money for...
It's Good Friday and Easter is just around the corner... this means that come Sunday yummy chocolate eggs will appear in Easter baskets all across the world. But where do the raw ingredients that make these delicious treats come from??? The Ivory Coast is the world's...
It’s important for those in the anti-slavery movement to let the world know that slavery can be eradicated. Alerting the public that slavery still exists is not enough. We must show the way to a world where all are free. This is why Free the Slaves celebrates...
Passover is just around the corner. It is said that this is the longest, continuously observed holiday in the world—a time when millions around the world commemorate the story of Exodus: the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery. For this year's Passover, Free...
During the 2010 Freedom Awards events, Free the Slaves became acquainted with an energetic artist and traveler, Ben Swatez. Ben did live painting during the Freedom Rocks after party, and we were inspired by his passion, and ability to connect with the audience. Ben...
“Give me a few men and women who are pure and selfless, and I shall shake the world.”—Swami Vivekananda Yoga is taking over the world, seriously. Every month it seems like another studio is opening, offering a “new and improved” way to practice this ancient...
Human Trafficking - FULL V5 from Jeth Weinrich on Vimeo. Katie Ford is the CEO of the Katie Ford Foundation. Formerly the Global Ambassador for Free the Slaves and the CEO of Ford Models, Inc., Ford is an influential activist in the anti-slavery movement. Here, she...
Tawney Bevacqua is Free the Slaves' outreach coordinator. She is also the face of the 'Artists Against Slavery' blog—a sub-section of the FTSblog—in which she explores how artists and creative professionals are using their talents to help end slavery. Thousands of...
When Free the Slaves was founded over ten years ago, it was a challenge to convince people that slavery was still alive today—and that it was going on in our own back yards. Through years of awareness-raising by FTS and other anti-slavery organizations, the tide has...
AP: Romania enacts official holiday to mark abolishment of Gypsy slavery BUCHAREST, Romania -- Romania's president has signed a law making Feb. 20 an official holiday to mark when the slavery of Gypsies, or Roma, was abolished. There are believed to be 1.5 million...
Here's an amazing video from the newly-formed Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT). Formerly Polaris Project Colorado, LCHT became an independent entity last year. Their focus is on compiling much needed hard data on the extent of modern-day slavery. The...
Lukas Nelson and his band are busy promoting their new album (the eponymous 'Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real'). But Nelson still had time to sit down with me recently, and talk about his desire to help eradicate slavery. For someone who took his first steps on...
More from the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking's groundbreaking PSA campagin in Times Square! Read more about this campaign here. Has anyone seen this live? Tell us what you think!
A groundbreaking report on slavery in domestic servitude in Europe has been released today, by Maria Grazia Giammarino, Co-ordinator for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings and representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)....
We are excited to announce that our friends at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking—an L.A.-based anti-slavery organization that gives legal advocacy, shelter, and other direct services to survivors of modern-day slavery—are holding the annual 'From...
Are the clothes you're wearing tainted with child slavery? The answer could be yes, considering that Uzbekistan is the third top exporter—and sixth top producer—of cotton in the world. There is evidence that in the Uzbek cotton industry, children are pulled out of...
Join the Freedom Project! Here's how: Download and print the Free the Slaves signs here and here. Snap a photo of yourself holding the signs up Upload the photo on our Facebook wall Make it your Facebook profile pic Voila! You've helped spread the word. And keep your...
Our friends at the Superforest Blog have written a wonderful article on 2010 Freedom Award winner JEEVIKA! This is the first in a four part series of blog posts, profiling all four 2010 awardees: JEEVIKA, Tina Frundt, Roger Plant, and (yours truly) Anne Keehn. Here's...
Editor's note: A few months ago, Marti MacGibbon sent us a copy of her memoir, 'Never Give in to Fear.' In one section of the book, she recounts her experience being trafficked from the U.S. to Tokyo, where she was forced into the sex trade. After a long road to...
Here is a photo our web guru Andrew Taylor snapped the other day. If I am not mistaken, this could be some subliminal advertising for the FTS blog! Or just some random graffiti... We love getting photos from YOU! Take a creative photo of the word "Free," send it to...
In our research, Free The Slaves (FTS) has observed communities formerly in ruins because of slavery and trafficking, stand up and begin to experience freedom. With freedom, exponential improvements in social and economic development along with women’s empowerment...