Our Values
Respect – We prioritize accuracy over sensationalism, rather we embrace complexity and nuance respecting survivors’ perspectives and the rights of those affected by or vulnerable to modern slavery
Empowerment – We believe that the best solution is empowerment and that the anti-slavery movement should be survivor-led
Action – We must bring together global voices as one to create power for sustainable change
Community – Collaborating in strong partnership with our supporters and in coalitions is central to our impact
Transparency – We value integrity and prioritize exposing the root causes of exploitation.
Our values are headlines that reflect a shared understanding of the following beliefs to which all staff members subscribe:
– Ending slavery requires systems change that demands mass action from the bottom up for a society that successfully secures a sustainable end to modern slavery.
– 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 to change through our My Story, My Dignity campaign and hold ourselves to account through our Content Guidelines.
– 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.
– 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.
– Our staff lacks lived experience of modern slavery, we recognise our privilege and the limits of our understanding. That’s why we consult and encourage advocates with lived experience to use Freedom United’s platform to spread their message.
– Our small team is relatively identity-diverse. Our Board of Directors is loosely reflective of US demographics, we’re actively considering diversity and lived experience in its development. We recognise that we are not immune to 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.
In the words of our current Executive Director:
“We believe in the support of allies for a successful movement but it is hard to think of another community with so many leaders that lack lived experience of what they are advocating to redress. I see myself as holding the seat temporarily and hope that by creating change in the meantime, the space will be expanded so that more survivor-advocates takes their rightful places leading the fight to success in creating a world in which slavery no longer thrives.”
We invite our community to hold us accountable to these values and welcome opportunities to improve how we work as an organization. Get in touch at [email protected]
This page was last updated November 27, 2024 and is regularly reviewed.