Who we are and what drives us

Our work is only possible through the generosity of our supporters. Your support helps us tackle the causes of modern slavery and create a society where everyone is free.

Our vision is a world free of modern slavery and human trafficking

We educate and empower our community on the realities of modern slavery and mobilise to create systemic change. We do this by making key stakeholders our allies in the fight against modern slavery.

Survivor advocates are vital to ending modern slavery. Through our My Story, My Dignity Pledge we have committed to ensuring that the images and language used to tell the stories of people with lived experiences of modern slavery are accurate and dignified.

Our vision is a world free of modern slavery and human trafficking

We educate and empower our community on the realities of modern slavery and mobilise to create systemic change. We do this by making key stakeholders our allies in the fight against modern slavery.

Survivor advocates are vital to ending modern slavery. Through our My Story, My Dignity Pledge we have committed to ensuring that the images and language used to tell the stories of people with lived experiences of modern slavery are accurate and dignified.

Theory of change.

Freedom United’s platform enables the public to understand their connection to modern slavery and what it looks like. By mobilizing the Freedom United community in coordinated campaigns, Freedom United builds momentum behind calls for change, and powers anti-slavery efforts, generating the will for action that helps prevent modern slavery, so building greater resilience.

  • Inputs

    • Our people
    • Technology
    • Partners
    • Funding
  • Activities

    • Campaigns
    • New digest
    • Advocacy
    • Social content
  • Outputs

    • Mass petitions
    • Email campaigns
    • Engaged supporters
    • Effective allies
  • Outcomes

    • Policy change
    • More awareness
    • Mass action
    • Influential partners
  • Impact

    • Preventing slavery
    • Effective policies
    • Supported survivors
    • Holding society accountable

Our impact.

Support from our community and donors helps us address the root causes of modern slavery. Read our campaign reports and learn how you are helping us dismantle modern slavery.

Learn about our impact

Why we use the term modern slavery

We use the umbrella term modern slavery for extreme forms of exploitation that constitute forced labor, forced marriage, debt bondage, bonded labor, trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation.

 

Our Executive Director explains that ‘modern slavery’ is vague but powerful rallying call. In an interview with Beyond Slavery and Trafficking she explains that using the term must be made with care.

Our contribution .

We believe that a world free of modern slavery can only exist when everyone recognises the contemporary forms of slavery and sets clear expectations that exploitation is not tolerable. Only then will we see a future in which modern slavery no longer thrives.

  • Changemakers need power to successfully tackle the underlying causes of slavery and to challenge systems.

  • Together our power shifts policies and social values for good holding to account business, society and government to tackle modern slavery at the root – in a strategy in prevention.

  • Through the Freedom United platform, our community of survivor advocates and millions of allies unite their voices creating power behind action driving real change.

  • We secure changes that stop millions from falling victim in the first place.

  • We provide a global mass response to create social standards that prioritizes ending extreme exploitation.

  • We are building a world resilient to extreme exploitation.

Our people.

Freedom United is much bigger than the team of staff members, we’re a community. Our role is to give ways for you to be involved and use your voice to end human trafficking and modern slavery. Together we drive real change.

Meet our team

What we believe.

  • 1. Mass action

    Ending slavery requires widescale systems and values change that demands mass action from the bottom up for a society that’s intolerant to exploitation and successfully secures a sustainable end to modern slavery.

  • 2. Empowerment

    Efforts to end modern slavery and human trafficking have been undermined by a victim-oriented approach that fails to draw on the power of survivors or create space for their leadership. We seek change through our My Story, My Dignity campaign and hold ourselves to account through our Content Guidelines.

  • 3. Systemic change

    Systemic racism and discrimination contribute to the existence of modern slavery through governmental systems, in particular immigration policies and in criminal justice, in society’s tolerance of the exploitation of discriminated people and within the movement to end modern slavery. We recognize that racism and prejudice exist within our community and we will not tolerate it.

  • 4. Collaborative

    Our role in the fight to end modern slavery is to mobilise action and direct it to power the movement. We do not deliver services or work directly with affected communities. Therefore we consult widely bringing local knowledge and expertise through partnerships with activists and organisations to inform our work.

  • 5. Consultative

    Our staff recognises its privilege and the benefit that lived experience brings to our understanding of what change is needed. That’s why we consult and encourage advocates with lived experience to use Freedom United’s platform to spread their message.

  • 6. Identity diverse

    Our small team and Board of Directors are relatively identity-diverse. We’re actively considering diversity and lived experience in recruitment. We recognise the benefits of unjust privilege, particularly western privilege and white privilege. We seek to be interrogating, open and progressive in our thinking to act in a way that supports our vision of equality.

Our partners.

We are proud to work with people and organizations around the world. Working in collaboration means we benefit from their expertise and they benefit from the power of our community. Wherever possible, Freedom United build coalitions of organisations so that our message is coordinated and our impact maximised. In this way, we have the influence necessary to challenge the systems that allows slavery to thrive

  • Abolition Institute

    The Abolition Institute was inspired by the ground-breaking CNN expose "Slavery’s Last Stronghold" by John Sutter and the efforts of Mauritanians, residing both inside (...)

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    After Exploitation

    After Exploitation is a not-for-profit organisation using varied data sources, including Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, to track the hidden outcomes of (...)

  • Amend the 13th

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