FreedomUnited.org

Mural of famous civil rights leader on a building in Atlanta

Thursday March 19, 2026

Preparing for the World Cup: protect the people, not just the games

Rebekah Enoch

In 2026, the world will come to Atlanta, Georgia as it hosts matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For many residents, it’s an exciting moment—a chance to showcase our city on the global stage. But large international events don’t just bring tourists and celebration. They can also bring serious risks, including labor exploitation, housing displacement, and human trafficking. The question now is whether Atlanta is fully prepared to protect vulnerable workers and communities from these risks. The City recently published a Human

Shadow of figures holding hands projected on a brick wall with barbed wire

Forced Labor

Wednesday December 24, 2025

Why rapid growth in detention is a threat to ending forced labor

Lyla Cohen

Across the United States, over 200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers operate largely out of the public eye, holding individuals awaiting trial and subjecting them to allegedly illegal forced labor. While, in our current political climate, undocumented immigration is a polarizing topic, forced labor should never be. Despite this, in detention centers across the nation, abusive conditions continue to perpetuate modern forms of slavery. The United States (US) has long proclaimed itself a lodestar of civil liberty, but inside ICE facilities migrants are forcefully

Law & Policy

Thursday October 9, 2025

TIP report release reveals serious perils for America’s anti-trafficking efforts

Alliance To End Slavery & Trafficking

The most important takeaway from last week’s publication of the 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report isn’t what’s inside the document, but the circumstances of its release. The future of the report itself is in peril, as is the office that produces it. 2025 TIP report release The TIP Report is the world’s premiere reference resource on forced labor and sex trafficking, evaluating anti-trafficking efforts by more than 150 governments and providing concrete recommendations for improvement. For decades, the State Department has gathered diplomats from foreign countries, survivors

Activists

Tuesday October 7, 2025

Opinion: A life in the shadows of North Carolina fields

Yesenia Cuello

Yesenia Cuello is a co-founder and the executive director of NC FIELD, a community-based organization that helps marginalized communities overcome barriers to resources. This article is syndicated by Beacon Media. I was 14 the first time I worked in a tobacco field alongside my family. We entered a field we couldn’t see the end of. We slit holes in black trash bags to wear over our clothes, keeping us dry from the dew. The spray from the tractors across the road made our noses itch and our eyes water. We ignored what we were told was “vitamins for the plants” being sprayed. The

Search and rescue volunteers for MMIW Search and Hope Alliance

Anti-slavery activists

Friday August 8, 2025

Beyond awareness: confronting the MMIP-trafficking nexus

Brandie Dieterle Raddadi

Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) and human trafficking are interwoven crises fueled by the same structural violence — and they must be addressed together through Indigenous-led, systemic solutions. So, to acknowledge this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9, we are unpacking this harrowing and ongoing interconnected crisis: the disproportionate number of MMIP, especially women, girls, and Two-Spirit individuals, who are victims of human trafficking. MMIP are often not isolated tragedies, but similar to the

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