Speak Free

Wednesday February 16, 2022

What will it take to outlaw slavery in the U.S.?

"I spent 25 years in slavery. It was traumatizing, it was painful, physically and mentally. I felt sub-human, demeaned, socially dead.” – Curtis Ray Davis II, Executive Director of Decarcerate Louisiana, and formerly incarcerated A staggeringly disproportionate number of Black Americans are part of the estimated 2 million people incarcerated in the United States right now. All of them are caught in a legal system of slavery. Despite its stated objective to abolish slavery in 1865, under the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution slavery and involuntary servitude remain legal as punis

Forced Labor

Friday January 28, 2022

Palihapitiya and the IOC: Not caring and neutrality in the face of injustice

The Beijing Winter Olympics is one week away but instead of a buildup of celebratory anticipation, those who are not on the protest line seem not so much excited as grimly determined to get through the Games unscathed. Athletes, governments, and sponsors and even the International Olympics Committee (IOC) are proceeding cautiously, keeping their heads down and preparing for the worst. "Not the joyous party that we had wished it to be…" It was a different picture ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Back then, the IOC had high hopes based on promises made by China that the games woul

Slavery-Free Goods

Thursday December 9, 2021

Not another gift guide: What products to avoid this Christmas

At this time of year, many of our supporters find themselves in a tight spot trying to celebrate the season whilst not contributing to forced labor systems. It’s quite a task because the truth is that the products of modern slavery are all around us. That’s why we created this a first-of-its kind interactive modern slavery map highlighting today’s most pressing cases of modern slavery and how our community can take action. With conscious consumption on the rise, lists abound with “ethical” and “sustainable” gift suggestions for friends and family. While we don’t have a list of

Law & Policy

Thursday November 11, 2021

Freedom United responds to Australia’s Draft Online Safety (Basic Online Safety Expectations) Determination

Freedom United is concerned about Australia's Draft Online Safety (Basic Online Safety Expectations). Below is our submission to the government consultation. November 11, 2021 Dear Director, Online Safety Reform and Research Section: I am writing from Freedom United, an international anti-trafficking NGO, with regards to the Draft Online Safety (Basic Online Safety Expectations) Determination 2021 consultation. While we believe in the importance of preventing and addressing online harms, including human trafficking, we are concerned about the potential for misuse of reporting mechani

Law & Policy

Tuesday October 26, 2021

Sign on: Survivors voices inclusivity letter

With permission from the survivor-led, grassroots organizers of this open letter, Freedom United is sharing the text of the letter below. Freedom United has signed this letter and we encourage our global community to sign in support.

Anti-slavery activists

Friday August 20, 2021

Climate inaction is undermining anti-slavery efforts

Allan Gray

Read our joint letter to world leaders urgently calling on them to recognize the link between climate-induced migration and modern slavery – and take action to mitigate risks. The report heard around the world The world has been united in horror following the “code red for humanity” declared in the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This declaration follows months of news about wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, Turkey, and Greece; stories of the harrowing reality of deadly floods in China, Belgium, Germany, Nigeria, and Costa Rica, as well as record-bre

Human trafficking

Friday August 6, 2021

Indigenous peoples and the anti-trafficking sector’s blind spot

This blog was last updated in August 2023. There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people around the world. Today, indigenous peoples are counted among the populations made most vulnerable to human trafficking. Indigenous communities are usually overlooked when it comes to institutional reporting and data collection on forced labor and trafficking due to problematic definitions of trafficking coupled with the usually remote living arrangements of indigenous communities and their relationships with state authorities. However, in some cases, inflation of incidence is misattrib

Human trafficking

Thursday July 8, 2021

How accurate is the 2021 TIP report?

The 2021 influential U.S. Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report was published last week and we’re sharing our own perspective on this year’s rankings. The TIP report is an important tool to engage world governments on the issue of trafficking, aiming to hold countries accountable for their actions to address, or indeed exacerbate human trafficking. Freedom United’s advocacy and campaigning tell us that not everything is as it seems in this year’s report. But which countries have been rightfully called out for their poor efforts to tackle trafficking and which countries unjustly

Forced Labor

Friday June 25, 2021

Our message to Congress to abolish slavery

Freedom United joins a national coalition launching the #EndTheException campaign fighting to abolish constitutional slavery and involuntary servitude in all forms, for all people. Together with over 70 national organizations, we sent a joint letter to Congress, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, endorsing the recently introduced Abolition Amendment and urging immediate passage. The joint resolution (SJ Res 21, HJ Res 53) which reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude may be imposed as punishment for a crime,” was introduced last w

Forced Labor

Tuesday June 22, 2021

Ending slavery in the 13th Amendment

Ahead of Juneteenth, Merkley, Williams Propose Constitutional Amendment to Close Slavery Loophole in 13th Amendment Indisputably racist exception permitting slavery as punishment for crime has fueled systemic racism in criminal justice for over 150 years Washington, D.C. June 18 – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) have introduced the Abolition Amendment, which would strike the ‘Slavery Clause’ of the 13th Amendment that allows slavery to continue in the United States. Congress passed legislation to establish Juneteenth as a federal holida