Melinda Smith |
New Report Released on Collaborating with Sex Worker Safety Advocates
Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) and the National Survivor Network (NSN) are excited to share a new set of guidelines, “Re-Centering Sex Worker Safety in Anti-Trafficking Work: Perspectives from the Field.” These guidelines were created to help anti-trafficking organizations reduce the…
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Melinda Smith |
Survivor Reentry Project takes Intake Pause
FNUSA’s Survivor Reentry Project has grown substantially over the past two years. Our staff and pro bono partners are working harder than ever to assess, represent, and ultimately clear criminal records resulting from a trafficking experience. We are committed to…
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Melinda Smith |
Survivor Reentry Project Intake Pause for 2023
FNUSA’s Survivor Reentry Project has grown substantially over the past two years. Our staff and pro bono partners are working harder than ever to assess, represent, and ultimately clear criminal records resulting from a trafficking experience. We are committed to…
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Melinda Smith |
Join Us: Working Together Against Human Trafficking
Sunday, July 30th is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and this year’s theme is to leave no one behind. As people and organizations working to end human trafficking daily, this rings true for us. You may have recently seen…
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Melinda Smith |
FNUSA Recommendations Highlighted in the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report
On June 15, 2023, the US Department of State (DOS) released its 2023 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report evaluating the efforts of countries around the world to prevent human trafficking, protect survivors, and prosecute traffickers. Each year, this report includes…
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Melinda Smith |
FNUSA’s Response to The New York Times’ Article on Child Labor
Children deserve to be safe in their homes and communities. Every day, children embark on dangerous journeys to flee violence and abuse to find safety in the US. Some travel with their families and are separated at the border. Others…
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Melinda Smith |
Freedom Network USA’s Response to Pieper Lewis’ Sentencing
Freedom Network USA is appalled by the sentence handed down to a child human trafficking survivor this week. Multiple media sources have shared the story of Pieper Lewis, a traumatized minor who experienced multiple forms of abuse and exploitation during…
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Melinda Smith |
The Foster Care System and Human Trafficking
May is National Foster Care Month! As professionals working to combat human trafficking, it is essential to recognize the intersections between the foster care system and human trafficking. A flawed child welfare system perpetuates deep-seated cracks which vulnerable adolescents inevitably…
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Melinda Smith |
Standing with our AAPI Community
Freedom Network USA, today and every day, stands with our AAPI friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family members. In Georgia, Asian women working in Asian-owned massage and spa businesses were targeted in a display of racialized, gendered violence, which has left…
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Melinda Smith |
Human Trafficking and the Super Bowl
It’s that time of year again…..Super Bowl weekend. Every year as the big game approaches, people turn their attention to sex trafficking. Local and national media outlets suggest that large sporting events are linked to spikes in human trafficking. On…
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Melinda Smith |
Response to the Insurrection at the Capitol
A note from our Executive Director: This week has laid bare, again and in ways that more people are forced to recognize, the deep and abiding racism of America. The reaction to a white riot attempting to take control of…
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Melinda Smith |
FNUSA Welcomes First Cohort of Speaker’s Bureau
We are thrilled to announce the first cohort of the Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) Speakers Bureau. The bureau includes a vetted group of trainers that are available to provide comprehensive live and web-based trainings on the topic of human trafficking.…
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Melinda Smith |
Response to the 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report
The US is no longer an international leader in responding to human trafficking. Today, Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) releases an official response to the 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report. Every year the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons…
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Melinda Smith |
Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) Responds to COVID-19: Recommendations for Funders and Congress
Human trafficking is in part, a financial crime. Survivors often exit the trafficking situation with debt, not financial resources, interrupted education, little documented employment history, little or negative credit history, and criminal records as a result of their victimization. Survivors…
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Melinda Smith |
Lynette M. Parker and Ruth Silver Taube Awarded 2020 Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award
We are thrilled to announce the recipients for the 2020 Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award, Lynette M. Parker and Ruth Silver Taube of Santa Clara University School of Law. The Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award seeks to recognize individuals who have…
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Melinda Smith |
OVC Drops Restriction on Criminal Record Relief Representation in FY2020 Grants
Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) released their human trafficking program grant solicitations with a notable change. The office has dropped the funding restriction on criminal record relief representation for FY2020 grants.…
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Melinda Smith |
Serving Survivors: A brief chat during Domestic Violence Awareness Month
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Freedom Network USA staff sat down to talk with Sulan Chang from Mosaic Family Services earlier this month about her work with survivors. What is the one thing people should know during Domestic Violence…
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Melinda Smith |
FNUSA Applauds Call on the Department of Justice to Restore Vacatur Funding for Survivors
Freedom Network USA applauds the House Judiciary Committee’s letter to Attorney General Barr demanding justification for the cruel and unreasonable restriction on legal services for survivors of human trafficking. When the Department of Justice first introduced a bar on using…
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Melinda Smith |
FNUSA Welcomes New Board Member, Wendy Rhein
FNUSA is pleased to welcome new board member, Wendy Rhein. She is currently the Regional Managing Director for UNICEF USA in Washington DC. With more than twenty years of development, communications, strategic planning and organizational management experience, Wendy has extensive…
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Melinda Smith |
FNUSA Releases White Paper on Standards of Care for the Anti-Trafficking Field
Today, Freedom Network USA is proud to share its latest white paper entitled, Standards of Care for the US Anti-Trafficking Field. Standards of Care establish basic guidelines to ensure consistent service provision regardless of the geographic area in which services are…