Who we are - FreedomUnited.org

How we work

Our anti-slavery mission can only be accomplished with your help

195 Countries joined
95 Worldwide campaigns
113 Global partners

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

We are the world’s largest community dedicated to ending human trafficking & modern slavery.

We mobilise a united community to create power for change by making the public stakeholders in ending modern slavery as allies to survivor advocates.

We equip millions of supporters with awareness, education & ways to take action that drive real change.

March 2020: We joined over 100 people from the many Lift the Ban partner organizations to celebrate how far the campaign has come in urging the UK to grant people seeking asylum the right to work.
May 2017: Freedom United and partners present nearly 190,000 signatures calling on investors to drop the mining firm Nevsun Resources over its use of forced labor in Eritrea. The protest took place outside their Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
Jan 2020: Freedom United gathers roundtable discussion in New York to discuss the ILO Forced Labour Protocol. Pictured: The Permanent Representative of France, H.E. Nicolas de Rivière, and the Deputy Permanent Representative of Côte d’Ivoire, H.E. Tiemoko Moriko, along with our Advocacy Officer, Herrana Addisu.
March 2019: A survivor campaigns outside the UK Home Office in London calling for better protections for all victims of trafficking and modern slavery.

Why we use the term
modern slavery

Our values

Action

We must bring together global voices as one to create power for sustainable change

Empowerment

We believe that the anti-slavery movement should be survivor-led

Community

Collaborating in strong partnerships and coalitions is central to our impact

Respect

We prioritize accuracy over sensationalism, rather we embrace complexity and nuance

Transparency

We share what we know and collaborate wherever we can

Our beliefs

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.