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Forced Labor
Wednesday October 2, 2019

Speak Free: EU must step up to end slavery in Libya

The world was shocked when news of slave markets in Libya broke two years ago, but since then cases of modern slavery in Libya have evolved considerably. And they are all linked back to migrant detention centers and the money and power fueling their existence. The European Union has a critical role to play in ending human trafficking and forced labor tied to Libya's migrant detention centers. It must stop supporting the Libyan Coastguard to intercept boats in the Mediterranean Sea and returning innocent migrants and asylum seekers to these horrendous facilities. We're backing the growing

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freedom united Forced Labor
Thursday May 16, 2019

Persisting (and Resisting) to Raise Awareness of Prison Slavery

Katina French

As social media manager at Freedom United, most of my work takes place online. It’s rare that I get to meet supporters and partners in real life and to hear why they chose to work against modern slavery. This week, I helped coordinate a Red Sand Project event in Nashville. We also received promotional support from Women’s March Tennessee. The event was highlighting our campaign calling on private prison company CoreCivic to address allegations of forced labor in their facilities. CoreCivic – one of the country’s largest private prison companies – issued a last-minute

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baby jane allas Domestic Slavery
Friday May 3, 2019

Fired for Having Cancer: Our Exclusive Interview with Baby Jane Allas and Jessica Cutrera

 Imagine being fired for having cancer. It’s shocking, but it’s exactly what happened to Baby Jane Allas. The single mother came to Hong Kong to be a domestic worker in 2017, hoping to support her five children and mother back in the Philippines. Yet her employer acted like Baby Jane was her property, treating her like a servant she owned. Baby Jane was made to sleep in a cabinet under the stairs and was not given a weekly day off a required by Hong Kong law. On top of this, her employed rationed

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Activists
Tuesday December 11, 2018

Crossing Paths and Calling for Change with Nadia Murad

This week the world has seen the amazing strength and courage of Nadia Murad as she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018. She works tirelessly to rouse the world to take action on behalf of thousands of Yazidi women and girls still being bought and sold every day. It has been my honor to have had my own journey as a modern abolitionist cross paths with someone as remarkable and inspiring as Nadia Murad. In 2016, our team at Freedom United began taking over the advocacy work begun by the Walk Free Foundation. I was proud to be partnering with organizations who truly

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Fiori Giovanni Activists
Friday May 3, 2019

The scars of persecution: My personal journey

Fiori Giovanni was born in Eritrea and escaped an arranged childhood marriage at just 12 years old. At 15, she fled the Eritrean army and made a harrowing journey across Libya and the Mediterranean sea, alone. This is her story: Modern slavery is a 21st-century evil that is a daily reality for millions of people around the world. For those currently enslaved, it’s a life full of terror, pain, suffering and hopelessness. And those who escape, face a long internal struggle to heal from the grief and trauma that is always present in our lives. I say ‘our’ lives because I know this

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