Speak Free

Thursday May 20, 2021

Migrant domestic workers demand an end to kafala system in Lebanon

“Employers literally control our freedom. Many of them are abusive with no one holding them accountable.” – Tsigereda Brihanu is a former domestic worker and activist Undeterred by the worsening economic crisis in Lebanon, migrant domestic workers continue to unite and campaign for an end to the exploitative kafala system in the country that traps these workers in exploitation, abuse and domestic servitude. The effects of COVID-19 and a collapsing local currency is only increasing the urgent need for migrant domestic workers to be afforded their rights in line with international standar

Law & Policy

Thursday May 13, 2021

Freedom United voices concerns over Ontario’s Anti-Trafficking Bill 251

Freedom United is concerned about Bill 251, the Combating Human Trafficking Act 2021, currently being proposed in Ontario, Canada. Below is our submission to the government. May 13, 2021 Dear Legislative Assembly of Ontario, On behalf of Freedom United, an international anti-trafficking NGO home to the world’s largest anti-slavery community, I am writing to the Ontario government to voice our concerns about Bill 251, Combating Human Trafficking Act 2021 in its current form. While addressing human trafficking and supporting trafficking survivors in Ontario are indeed important and neces

Supply Chain

Wednesday May 12, 2021

Winning a campaign before it even begins – the power of preemptive persuasion

We have just made an impact even before our supporters had a chance to get involved! More often than not, campaigning is the only way to effect behavioral change. Ultimately, however, we hope to also change values so that the need for campaigns disappears altogether. And we're seeing it in action! Our movement fighting modern slavery is growing and conveys so much power that sometimes just the thought of a campaign is enough to make change happen. Here's a peek at an example of a campaign we were ready to launch but didn't have to, thanks to the strength of our community. The Wayfair case: s

Environment

Tuesday April 20, 2021

So you’ve watched Seaspiracy — now what?

Boycotting fish may look like a simple answer, but it is too narrow a response to be an effective solution to the issues raised in the film Audiences across the world have been rightfully shocked by Seaspiracy, Netflix’s new documentary from British director Ali Tabrizi, which highlights gross environmental and human rights abuses — including human trafficking — occurring in the global fishing industry. From the killings of whales, dolphins, and sharks, scores of plastic fishing nets polluting the ocean, illegal fishing, the failure of certification stamps to guarantee

Forced Labor

Wednesday March 31, 2021

Six months after US import block against FGV, still no remediation for forced labor

For immediate release [Download as pdf for media contacts] Washington, D.C.— On March 31, 2021, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released its second report on “Findings on the Progress of FGV’s Action Plan 2020.” The Fair Labor Association is affiliated with FGV Holdings Berhad in order to monitor the company’s progress on addressing labor rights and exploitation, including forced labor. Based on this latest update from FLA, it is clear that FGV has been slow to implement meaningful reforms to improve labor conditions for workers on palm plantations and has strikingly failed to est

Forced Labor

Tuesday March 30, 2021

Acting against state imposed forced labor

Freedom United's Executive Director, Joanna Ewart-James, spoke at the UN Global Compact Network U.K.’s Business & Human Rights Summit 2021 where she explored how some forced labor systems are organized by governments, embedding forced labor into our economic systems and creating a dependency on exploitation. Systems of state-imposed forced labor mean businesses can't just rely on governments to respect human rights – businesses themselves must interrogate their supply chains and take responsibility for rights abuses. If you missed the event, you can read Joanna Ewart-James' presentati

Forced Labor

Tuesday March 23, 2021

Joint civil society monitoring finds systemic forced labor in Turkmenistan cotton harvest

A new joint report by leading independent Turkmen human rights groups exposes systemic forced labor during the 2020 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan, said the Cotton Campaign, a coalition of organizations including Freedom United. The report, Review of the Use of Forced Labor in Turkmenistan During the 2020 Cotton Harvest, was released today by Turkmen.news and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, both members of the Cotton Campaign coalition. The report is based on evidence documented by trained civil society monitors and local sources of information in four of Turkmenistan’s five regio

Law & Policy

Monday March 22, 2021

EU Parliament backs corporate accountability, but law can be strengthened

On March 10, 2021, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new EU law — 504 in favor, 79 against, and 112 abstentions — by adopting Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) legislative report by MEP Lara Wolters on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability. This is an important step forward as this now tasks the European Commission to come up with a draft proposal, which is expected mid-2021, that should require businesses to conduct due diligence in order to prevent and address human rights and environmental risks and impacts within their own op

Forced Labor

Tuesday March 9, 2021

Recommendations to U.S. Customs and Border regarding tainted palm oil

March 9, 2021 Today, as the petitioners in the FGV Holdings Berhad case that led to the block of the company’s palm oil imports into the US, Global Labor Justice- International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) Rainforest Action Network, SumofUs, as well as our partner Freedom United share recommendations for effective enforcement of the block. In the letter to U.S. Customs and Border, linked below, we have laid out what we think should be required of FGV to successfully demonstrate that their palm oil is not being produced using forced labor and in violation of Section 1307 of the Tariff Act

Law & Policy

Friday February 12, 2021

Q&A from Freedom United’s online event ‘Taking the trafficking out of sex work’

On February 3, Freedom United hosted an online event with an expert panel of speakers exploring how to build resilience to sex trafficking. We're grateful to our panelists, Professor Nick Mai from the University of Newcastle, Esta Steyn from Be Slavery Free, Nadia Whittome MP, Charlotte from the English Collective of Prostitutes, Mariah Grant from Sex Workers Project and Megan Hector from DecrimNow, for taking part in this important discussion. We were impressed by everyone who joined in the discussion and with over 200 people tuning in live, we received many questions! So, we’re answering