Speak free

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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

Freedom United event 'Taking the trafficking out of sex work'

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

Robert Kraft: A case study in caution for the anti-trafficking sector

Law & Policy

Wednesday February 10, 2021

Robert Kraft: A case study in caution for the anti-trafficking sector

Jamison Liang

Nearly two years ago, Robert Kraft made national media headlines. The owner of the New England Patriots had apparently been linked to a massive, multimillion-dollar sex trafficking ring spanning from Florida to New York, where authorities claimed immigrant Chinese women working in massage parlors were trafficked, brought to the United States under false promises of legitimate spa jobs, only to be forced to provide sexual services to customers on the side. The media and a curious public descended on Orchids of Asia Day Spa, a small massage shop tucked away in a strip mall in Jupiter,

Other slavery

Monday February 1, 2021

Calling on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to divest from prison slavery

Are you an HBCU student, alumni, or staff member looking to take action? Add your name below to call on your university to divest from prison slavery! We are calling on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to divest from Aramark Company, a food service company that holds contracts with corrections departments across the United States and has well-documented links to reports of forced labor within prisons. On July 21, 2020, we wrote to HBCU colleges that have contracts with the company calling on them to divest from Aramark. This

Activists

Friday January 22, 2021

Welcoming campaigner Payzee Mahmod to the Board of Directors

Freedom United is delighted to welcome Payzee to its Board of Directors, effective January 13, 2021. Payzee Mahmod is already familiar to many of our supporters as she leads Freedom United’s campaign to help end forced or coerced child marriage by criminalizing marriage under the age of 18. In the UK under 18s can get married with the permission of their parents which facilitates parental coercion. Payzee Mahmod is a powerful speaker and advocate, a campaigner against child marriage and FGM, who is currently serving with IKWRO – Iranian and Kurdish Womens Rights Organisation and as