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Tuesday August 23, 2022

A non-carceral approach to trafficking: Unpacking California’s Safer Streets for All Act

By Jamison Liang, Freedom United and Leigh LaChapelle, Cast The Safer Streets for All Act was signed into law on July 1, 2022 and will come into effect in January 2023. Freedom United and our partner Cast were proud to back the Safer Streets for All Act (SB 357), an essential bill just signed into law in California that will stop survivors of trafficking and sex workers from facing a criminal record simply for walking on the street. It does so by repealing Section 653.22 of California’s penal code — a harmful, archaic law that criminalizes loitering for the intent to engage in

U.S. begins blocking solar materials produced in Uyghur Region

Environment

Thursday August 18, 2022

Anti-slavery and a human rights-centered just transition

The climate crisis is here, and people are feeling the consequences now: water shortages across Europe; wildfires in Spain, Portugal, England, and California; devastating floods in South Korea; and the Horn of Africa continues to face the worst drought in over 40 years. This crisis and climate-induced events over the last decade have prompted emergency measures, bills, and increasing talk of a “just transition” – the social changes needed to move to a low-carbon economy. In October we highlighted how climate inaction is undermining anti-slavery efforts. The consequence of inaction is

Forced Labor

Thursday August 11, 2022

A tainted World Cup: justice for migrant workers now

In just over 100 days, the World Cup kicks off in Qatar. The tournament has been marred by a constant stream of forced labor allegations and the exploitation of Qatar’s two million migrant workers. Tasked with building the vast infrastructure and working in hotels and hospitality required to bring the world one of the biggest sporting events, this low-paid workforce is key to ensuring that the World Cup in Qatar is a glittering operation for the estimated one million visitors. Meanwhile, these workers are paid low wages, housed in cramped and dirty living conditions, prevented from

Anti-slavery activists

Friday August 5, 2022

“The whole country is modern slavery” – an interview with Ji Hyun Park

Few manage to escape North Korea's horrific totalitarian regime. But, under impossible circumstances, Ji Hyun Park escaped twice, enduring a decade-long journey to freedom. The systematic violence and fear inflicted by North Korea's government on its people is well-known thanks to the bravery of defectors like Park who risked their lives fleeing North Korea. Ji Hyun Park is a celebrated author, activist and campaigner for North Korean human rights based in the U.K. She works to raise awareness of the systemic human rights abuses in the country including forced labor, arbitrary detention

A child trafficking survivor’s plea to the U.K. government

Prevention

Tuesday August 2, 2022

Supporting LGBTQ+ survivors

This blog post is reposted from Freedom Network USA. You can find the original post here. How to support LGBTQ+ youth trafficking survivors? LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately vulnerable to trafficking due to homophobia and transphobia. Many LGBTQ+ youth grow up in unsupportive households, which can cause a traumatic upbringing. Some youth are kicked out of their house or are forced to run away when they come out. This can lead to increased vulnerability due to trauma and/or a lack of housing. Support more LGBTQ+ welcoming or centered shelters When LGBTQ+ youth are kicked out of

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