Research & Publications
Research is an integral component of Free the Slaves’ Theory of Change. Our Research Program aims to generate evidence that will:
Guide our Programming
Helping us to design and implement anti-slavery programs that are accurately informed, locally based, and properly targeted, and therefore more effective in addressing the realities of modern slavery that affect vulnerable individuals and communities in determined geographies
Sustain our Advocacy Efforts
This enables us to develop and launch advocacy campaigns that are built on accurate data and solid analyses, and therefore capable of directing attention toward critical issues and suggesting realistic solutions
Expand our Partnerships
With academic institutions doing research on modern slavery and with local non-governmental organizations working to end modern slavery in their geographies.
Enhance our Understanding
Understanding the communities and geographies where we work. This knowledge helps us to always be sensitive, responsible, respectful, and responsive, and to always be true to our guiding values and principles
Our Approach to Research
At Free the Slaves, we are committed to produce research that is:
Participatory
Adopting a Participatory Action Research methodology, we empower slavery-affected communities and survivors of modern slavery to actively participate in the production of knowledge through a series of targeted approaches, trainings, and activities.
Community-Centered
Throughout all the phases of our research (development, implementation, dissemination), we have the communities’ interests as our priority, the community’s rights as our compass, and the communities’ benefit as our objective. The same principles guide our research projects with survivors of modern slavery. We refrain from engaging in research projects that fail to account for how they can benefit communities and survivors.
Impact-Oriented
We believe that the value of our research lies in its impact. Therefore, data collection and data analysis are always followed by the formulation of targeted and actionable recommendations. We also rely on the evidence generated through research to shape our programs accordingly.
Context Specific
Ethical
Working closely with vulnerable individuals and communities who put their trust in us, we are profoundly committed to producing ethical and responsible research. In this regard, we have developed a Research Ethical Protocol and an Ethical Assessment Form that guide all our research.
Partnerships
Partnerships have always been a pillar of Free the Slaves’ work, and the Research Program is no exception. Believing that research can benefit immensely from cooperative efforts, Free the Slaves welcomes research partnerships with academic institutions, research centers, civil society, and non-governmental organizations. In this regard, we especially value cooperative research projects in which the unique expertise of each partner is allowed to shape and influence the project design, implementation, and dissemination. At Free the Slaves, we see community engagement and community participation as the main strength of our Research Program, and we are looking forward to working with partners who can complement our strength with theoretical and conceptual expertise.
At the very minimum, we are pursuing partnerships with institutions and organizations that share our same commitment to participatory, community- centered, and impact-oriented research.
If you are interested in exploring the possibility of a research partnership with us, please send us an email to: marta.furlan@freetheslaves.net
Research Agenda 2023-2024
The Research Agenda is a living document that Free the Slaves will update on a regular basis to reflect the progress of its ongoing and upcoming research projects.
Dissemination through 2024
Dissemination through 2024
Ongoing
Estimated Publish Date in 2024
Upcoming
Estimated Publish Date in 2024
Upcoming
Estimated Publish Date in 2024
Publications
Click the study title to learn more and get the download link.
Climate Change – Environmental Degradation & Modern Slavery
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Peru - Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities in the Peruvian Amazon
Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities of the Peruvian Amazon contains findings from research by FTS and ONOTZI, a Peruvian indigenous rights organization. The research examines the linkages between illegal extractivism, human trafficking risk, and environmental degredation in the Peruvian Amazon. The research points to the ways that human trafficking is driven by illegal mining and logging, and drug trafficking. Indigenous persons live in conditions that place them at a high risk of human trafficking. The research identifies diverse forms of modern slavery manifesting in communities. Adults work in conditions characteristic of forced labor and human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Forced child marriages are normalized, and adolescents are also trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation. The report calls on the Peruvian state to implement a range of recommendations that address the root causes of human trafficking among indigenous communities and safeguards their human rights.
English Full Report
English Executive Summary
Informe completo en español
Resumen ejecutivo en español
Ashaninka Executive Summary
Ashaninka Full Report
Congo - Congo’s Mining Slaves: Enslavement at South Kivu Mining Sites
This Free the Slaves field investigation documents the types, nature, and scale of slavery at major mining sites in the South Kivu province. It also analyzes the factors that make Congolese workers vulnerable to enslavement and recommends solutions.
Ghana - Child Rights in Mining: Pilot Project Results & Lessons Learned
Gold mining is one of Ghana’s major industries—gold exports are one of the country’s biggest sources of income. But at many mining sites, children are exploited as workers. The Child Rights in Mining pilot project addressed the lack of awareness and protection of child rights, which cause hazardous child labor practices and sexual violence against children. Using illustrated drawings based on the lives of local residents, the project educated parents on the rights of children and how to protect them.
Nepal - Understanding Vulnerabilities and Strengthening Responses
Nepal’s 2015 earthquake killed thousands, left large parts of the country in ruins, and sparked a sharp rise in human trafficking. This action-research project documented the post-earthquake experience in Nepal, and provided essential action-step recommendations to ensure that desperate and vulnerable people aren’t enslaved in the aftermath of natural disasters around the globe.
Children & Modern Slavery
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Ghana - Trafficking's Footprint: Two-Phase Baseline Studies of Child Trafficking in 34 Communities in 6 Districts in Ghana
Child trafficking is widespread in Ghana – for fishing, mining, farming, domestic servitude and prostitution. Researchers uncover the prevalence and drivers of child trafficking in this report, and identify promising interventions designed to liberate victims, support survivors, and prevent future enslavement.
Haiti - Haiti's Model Communities: Ending Restavek Child Domestic Servitude
Restavèk is a traditional system in which Haitian children are sent to live with other families and work as domestic servants. The expectation is for the host family to provide schooling, food, and shelter. Yet many children are abused and enslaved in their new homes. The Model Communities project is based on the premise that building community consensus against >restavèk is a strong strategy to prevent and reverse the flow of children into domestic servitude.
Ghana - Child Rights in Mining: Pilot Project Results & Lessons Learned
India - Recovering Childhoods: Combating Child Trafficking in Northern India
Women & Modern Slavery
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Congo - Wives in Slavery: Forced Marriage in the Congo
Civil Society & Modern Slavery
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SE Asia - Learning From NGO's Approaches to Modern Slavery
FTS’ recent report “Learning from NGOs’ Approaches to Modern Slavery in Southeast Asia” highlights findings learning from 64 surveys with representatives of organizations addressing modern slavery in Southeast Asia. Read more below to understand how organizations are defining modern slavery, the approaches that are being adopted, and the activities implemented to address severe exploitation. The report also highlights some of the existing gaps affecting the response and provides recommendations for improved multi-stakeholder action against modern slavery.
Operationalizing the Movement Behind SDG 8.7
MENA - Modern Slavery in the Middle East & North Africa
Covid-19 – Health Emergencies & Modern Slavery
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Senegal and Kenya - Building Resilience Against Exploitation in Senegal and Kenya in the Context of Covid-19
This study highlights how systemic factors that contribute to resilience against exploitation are being impacted by Covid-19 in urban centers within Senegal and Kenya. The research provides evidence toward effective targeting, adaptation and implementation of anti-slavery interventions in the wake of Covid-19. It offers suggestions on how to limit negative impacts arising from the pandemic and where to direct policy, practice and funding attention for ongoing benefit. Research conducted and published in 2021 in partnership with the University of Nottingham Rights Lab.
Summary English
Kenya Report English
Senegal Report English, French
Comparative Report English, French
Indigenous Communities & Modern Slavery
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Peru - Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities in the Peruvian Amazon
Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities of the Peruvian Amazon contains findings from research by FTS and ONOTZI, a Peruvian indigenous rights organization. The research examines the linkages between illegal extractivism, human trafficking risk, and climate change in the Peruvian Amazon. The research points to the ways that human trafficking is driven by illegal mining and logging, and drug trafficking. Indigenous persons live in conditions that place them at a high risk of human trafficking. The research identifies diverse forms of modern slavery manifesting in communities. Adults work in conditions characteristic of forced labor and human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Forced child marriages are normalized, and adolescents are also trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation. The report calls on the Peruvian state to implement a range of recommendations that address the root causes of human trafficking among indigenous communities and safeguards their human rights.
English Full Report
English Executive Summary
Informe completo en español
Resumen ejecutivo en español
Ashaninka Executive Summary
Ashaninka Full Report
Informal Economies & Modern Slavery
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Peru - Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities in the Peruvian Amazon
Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities of the Peruvian Amazon contains findings from research by FTS and ONOTZI, a Peruvian indigenous rights organization. The research examines the linkages between illegal extractivism, human trafficking risk, and climate change in the Peruvian Amazon. The research points to the ways that human trafficking is driven by illegal mining and logging, and drug trafficking. Indigenous persons live in conditions that place them at a high risk of human trafficking. The research identifies diverse forms of modern slavery manifesting in communities. Adults work in conditions characteristic of forced labor and human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Forced child marriages are normalized, and adolescents are also trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation. The report calls on the Peruvian state to implement a range of recommendations that address the root causes of human trafficking among indigenous communities and safeguards their human rights.
English Full Report
English Executive Summary
Informe completo en español
Resumen ejecutivo en español
Ashaninka Executive Summary
Ashaninka Full Report
Congo - Congo’s Mining Slaves: Enslavement at South Kivu Mining Sites
This Free the Slaves field investigation documents the types, nature, and scale of slavery at major mining sites in the South Kivu province. It also analyzes the factors that make Congolese workers vulnerable to enslavement and recommends solutions.
Africa
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Congo - Congo’s Mining Slaves: Enslavement at South Kivu Mining Sites
This Free the Slaves field investigation documents the types, nature, and scale of slavery at major mining sites in the South Kivu province. It also analyzes the factors that make Congolese workers vulnerable to enslavement and recommends solutions.
Ghana - Child Rights in Mining: Pilot Project Results & Lessons Learned
Gold mining is one of Ghana’s major industries—gold exports are one of the country’s biggest sources of income. But at many mining sites, children are exploited as workers. The Child Rights in Mining pilot project addressed the lack of awareness and protection of child rights, which cause hazardous child labor practices and sexual violence against children. Using illustrated drawings based on the lives of local residents, the project educated parents on the rights of children and how to protect them.
Congo - Wives in Slavery: Forced Marriage in the Congo
Every person has the right to freely choose his or her spouse. But for many women and girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marriage is coerced and a form of slavery. This exposè examines the causes and impacts of forced marriage in the Congo through the stories of women and girls who have experienced it firsthand.
Ghana - Trafficking's Footprint: Two-Phase Baseline Studies of Child Trafficking in 34 Communities in 6 Districts in Ghana
Senegal and Kenya - Building Resilience Against Exploitation in Senegal and Kenya in the Context of Covid-19
This study highlights how systemic factors that contribute to resilience against exploitation are being impacted by Covid-19 in urban centers within Senegal and Kenya. The research provides evidence toward effective targeting, adaptation and implementation of anti-slavery interventions in the wake of Covid-19. It offers suggestions on how to limit negative impacts arising from the pandemic and where to direct policy, practice and funding attention for ongoing benefit. Research conducted and published in 2021 in partnership with the University of Nottingham Rights Lab.
Summary English
Kenya Report English
Senegal Report English, French
Comparative Report English, French
Asia
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India - Recovering Childhoods: Combating Child Trafficking in Northern India
Nepal - Understanding Vulnerabilities & Strengthening Response
Nepal’s 2015 earthquake killed thousands, left large parts of the country in ruins, and sparked a sharp rise in human trafficking. This action-research project documented the post-earthquake experience in Nepal, and provided essential action-step recommendations to ensure that desperate and vulnerable people aren’t enslaved in the aftermath of natural disasters around the globe.
SE Asia - Learning From NGO's Approaches to Modern Slavery in South-East Asia
FTS’ recent report “Learning from NGOs’ Approaches to Modern Slavery in Southeast Asia” highlights findings learning from 64 surveys with representatives of organizations addressing modern slavery in Southeast Asia. Read more below to understand how organizations are defining modern slavery, the approaches that are being adopted, and the activities implemented to address severe exploitation. The report also highlights some of the existing gaps affecting the response and provides recommendations for improved multi-stakeholder action against modern slavery.
Latin America
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Peru - Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities in the Peruvian Amazon
Between Neglect and Exploitation: Four Case Studies in Indigenous Communities of the Peruvian Amazon contains findings from research by FTS and ONOTZI, a Peruvian indigenous rights organization. The research examines the linkages between illegal extractivism, human trafficking risk, and climate change in the Peruvian Amazon. The research points to the ways that human trafficking is driven by illegal mining and logging, and drug trafficking. Indigenous persons live in conditions that place them at a high risk of human trafficking. The research identifies diverse forms of modern slavery manifesting in communities. Adults work in conditions characteristic of forced labor and human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Forced child marriages are normalized, and adolescents are also trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation. The report calls on the Peruvian state to implement a range of recommendations that address the root causes of human trafficking among indigenous communities and safeguards their human rights.
English Full Report
English Executive Summary
Informe completo en español
Resumen ejecutivo en español
Ashaninka Executive Summary
Ashaninka Full Report
MENA
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MENA - Modern Slavery in the Middle East & North Africa
Caribbean
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Haiti - Haiti's Moden Communities: Ending Restavek Child Domestic Servitude
Free the Slaves stands as a beacon of rigorous, ethical, and community-centered research in the fight against modern slavery. Our multifaceted Research Program is designed to inform not just our actions but also our advocacy and partnerships. By adopting a participatory approach that respects the unique conditions and challenges of each community, we generate actionable insights to combat slavery more effectively.
Additional Resources
Click for PDF
United Nations – Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime Nations
Click for PDF
United Nations – Abolishing Slavery and its Contemporary Forms
Click for PDF
ILO – Anti-Trafficking Laws, Policies, and Practices
Click for PDF
Click for PDF
European Union – Directive on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims
Click for PDF
US Justice Department – National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking
Click for PDF
United States of America – National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking
Click for PDF
United States of America – Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000
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