It Starts With Freedom

Freedom is fundamental. Without it, hope, dignity, dreams and equality aren’t possible. That’s why Free the Slaves liberates entire families and villages. We help people escape brutal mistreatment so they can regain control of their lives and their futures.

Freedom Makes Everything Possible

A good education. A nourishing dinner. A clean drink of water. A visit to the doctor. A safe place to sleep. Equality for girls and women. They’re basic building blocks of life — things we take for granted because we’re free. But these fundamentals are denied to people in slavery. Traffickers force victims to endure inhuman conditions by blocking human essentials from reaching those in bondage.

Delivering the Freedom Dividend

The Free the Slaves mission is to tear down the barriers that separate the enslaved from dignified, fulfilling lives in freedom. When people break free under our community-based approach, their entire village or neighborhood becomes slavery-free and slavery-resistant. This systemic change brings a freedom dividend that delivers a better life for all. Better schools, nutrition, health, shelter, gender equality, public safety — they all start with freedom.

Freedom Begins With You

You have the power to shape the future, to do something that bends the arc of history toward justice, to be part of the 21st century’s Great Emancipation. United, we can create a powerful social movement that says slavery shall no longer exist. Earlier generations outlawed slavery, but they didn’t end it. It’s our responsibility to finish the job. That’s our goal, freedom for everyone, everywhere. Please make it your goal, too.

Action Step: Share our campaign video, Don’t Buy Into Slavery.

Action Step: Share our campaign video, Freedom Starts With You.

Blog: Health Starts with Freedom. Traffickers don’t care about the health of people they enslave. That’s why the work of Free the Slaves is so vital. We ensure that the people we liberate receive proper medical treatment in freedom.

Blog: Innovation Stars with Freedom.  Slavery stops innovation dead in its tracks. It keeps children out of school. It blocks entrepreneurs from access to credit. It steals a community’s wealth and labor and hope. Freedom brings creativity and positivity. This jumpstarts a village economy.

Blog: Nutrition Starts with Freedom. A nourishing breakfast, hearty lunch and wholesome dinner are distant dreams for people in slavery. They are typically fed just enough to stay alive to work another day. Donating to Free the Slaves is like putting food on the table for some of the world’s most deprived families.

Blog: Safety Starts with Freedom. By donating to Free the Slaves, you liberate people from bondage and put traffickers in jail. Our front-line activists guide police to farms, factories and mines on raids that liberate the enslaved and arrest slaveholders.

Blog: Shelter Starts with Freedom. Someplace warm and dry to sleep. It’s a basic necessity. But traffickers don’t care. They force the enslaved into ramshackle conditions fit for animals, not people. When people are free and can earn a living again, they invest in better food, clothing, health care and housing. That makes them less vulnerable to re-enslavement. Your support helps rebuild their lives.

Blog: Education Starts with Freedom. There are no classrooms at the mines, plantations, fish camps or sweatshops where children are enslaved. Their schooling stops the moment slavery starts. That’s why your support in liberating child slaves makes such a difference. Freedom changes the trajectory of a child’s life.

Blog: Equality Starts with Freedom. Inequality is one of the major root causes of modern slavery. Traffickers thrive when women’s rights aren’t respected, when gender-based violence is ignored, when girls are denied education, and when people of different races, tribes, nationalities or social status face systemic discrimination. Your support of Free the Slaves changes these dynamics.

Blog: Dreams Start With Freedom. People everywhere dream about a better future for their children. We all want them to have the education and opportunities necessary to lead fulfilling lives. Your support of Free the Slaves makes dreams possible. Our community-based programs inspire parents to stand up for child rights. They get their children rescued and back in school.

Blog: Dignity Starts With Freedom. Traffickers steal more than a person’s labor and wages, they attack a victim’s basic humanity. The slaveholder’s goal: force people to give up hope. Our message to those in slavery is simple: rewarding work and a fulfilling life are possible once again. By helping the enslaved understand and exercise their rights, we help people regain control and respect.

Blog: Savings Start With Freedom. Traffickers target people in financial trouble. When a medical crisis or other emergency strikes — like a fire, flood, drought, cyclone or earthquake — traffickers offer quick loans to desperate people who promise to “work it off.” When we liberate the enslaved, we help them establish savings and loan clubs. People can borrow from the club instead of from a trafficker.

Blog: Small Shop Ensures Lasting Freedom. It doesn’t look like much, just a small wooden grocery stall beside a busy road. But this microenterprise has kept Sunil Kumar free from slavery, now six years after his rescue.

Blog: From Stormy Waters to a Sunny Future. When they first arrived at the rescue shelter, you could see in their eyes that these children had endured the unimaginable.

Blog: I Am A Survivor. I dream of a world without slavery. I hope to see that world one day. I am writing to tell you my story because I hope it will prompt you to take action. There are so many people victimized by human trafficking just like I was.

Blog: 10 Freedoms That Start With You. Breaking someone out of bondage brings a “freedom dividend” — a wide range of social and economic benefits. People cannot improve their lives and pursue better opportunities if they’re trapped by traffickers. When people are free, everything becomes possible. And you can make it happen.