Follow us here to stay up to date on human trafficking policy, hear about training opportunities and events, and learn more about what’s happening in the anti-trafficking field.
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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Freedom Network Community |
Climate Change Harms Indigenous Communities.
This Earth Day, we reflect on how both human trafficking and environmental racism harm Indigenous communities, specifically women. We can see this intersection clearly in oil pipeline construction, such as Line 3, which is currently being built in Minnesota on…
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Freedom Network Community |
Chauvin’s Conviction is Not Justice.
A note from our Executive Director: Justice for George Floyd is not found in a conviction. We knew that the outcome, no matter what would be painful. It is, at least, an acknowledgment of the terrible harm committed against…
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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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Freedom Network Community |
Anti-Racism Work is Essential in the Anti-Trafficking Movement
A special thank you to Jatnna Gomez from the University of Maryland SAFE Center for her input. For Freedom Network USA, Black History Month is a time to celebrate Black Excellence and continue focusing on how the anti-trafficking field can…
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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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Freedom Network Community |
Interview with Kate Mogulescu About Landmark Decision
The following is an interview with one of our members Kate Mogulescu who was involved in a landmark decision to free a human trafficking survivor under a new New York State Law. *Thank you to Patrice Smith for giving us…
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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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Freedom Network Community |
FNUSA Starts Emergency Survivor Relief Fund
In May 2020, Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) established a fund to help human trafficking survivors in the time of COVID. The FNUSA Human Trafficking Survivor Relief Fund provides emergency financial assistance to survivors who have been negatively impacted by…
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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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Jean Bruggeman |
Freedom Network USA Stands in Solidarity
Freedom Network USA stands in solidarity with human rights activists around the world. Black Lives Matter. We are outraged and angered by the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others. Systemic racism, oppression, and discrimination…
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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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Jean Bruggeman |
COVID-19 Response and Resources for Survivors and Providers
Freedom Network USA is committed to assisting direct service providers, advocacy organizations, and allies to respond as effectively and safely as possible to the shifting landscape as the US responds to the coronavirus. Like many of you, FNUSA is continuing…
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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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amanda |
Freedom Network USA Opposes HUD’s Proposed “Mixed- Status” Rule
On June 21, 2019 Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) submitted comments to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) strongly opposing the proposed rule that would prohibit “mixed-status” families from living in public and other subsidized housing. This proposed rule…