Freedom Network USA |
Announcing Freedom Network USA’s New Co-Executive Director
The Freedom Network USA Board of Directors is thrilled to announce the promotion of Karen Romero to Co-Executive Director of the FNUSA. She will serve in partnership with Jean Bruggeman, who has served as Executive Director for the past 10…
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Freedom Network USA |
FNUSA Denounces the Erasure of LGBTQ+ and Immigrant Survivors in the 2025 TIP Report
After months of advocacy from anti-trafficking organizations and Congress, the US Department of State finally released the 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on September 30, 2025, three months after its legal deadline had passed. While the report includes most…
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Freedom Network USA |
FNUSA’s Statement on DOJ Cutting Off Funding for Services for 5,000+ Survivors
Today, on October 1, 2025, the US Department of Justice allowed over 100 trafficking victim services grants to expire without new grants in place to fill the gap. For FY25, Congress appropriated $88,000,000 to the DOJ to provide victim services,…
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Freedom Network USA |
Why FNUSA Prioritizes Non-Carceral Approaches to Addressing Human Trafficking
At FNUSA, we are committed to building a transformative approach to human trafficking, grounded in anti-racism and anti-oppression. In recent years, we have grappled with the impacts of the anti-trafficking movement being so closely tied to law enforcement, as survivors…
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Freedom Network USA |
FNUSA Condemns Attempts to Restrict Immigrant Survivors’ Access to Critical Legal Services
This week, on August 18, 2025, the Office of Justice Programs at the US Department of Justice sent a notice to some of its grantees that implies a portion of its grantees can no longer provide certain legal services to…
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Freedom Network USA |
Public Safety Starts with a Place to Call Home
Housing is one of our most basic human needs. Yet our government’s response to the absence of housing is to criminalize and displace the people who lack it, instead of addressing why they do not have it in the first…
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Freedom Network USA |
The Debt Bondage Repair Act: How We Can Help Survivors Access Credit Repair
The 2022 Debt Bondage Repair Act (DBRA) created a brand new process for survivors of trafficking to petition to remove negative credit histories related to their trafficking experience from their credit reports. The law laid the groundwork for survivors to…
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Freedom Network USA |
FNUSA Opposes Harmful Reconciliation Bill that Strips Protections for Survivors and Enables Trafficking
Last month, the House of Representatives passed a massive reconciliation bill designed to decimate immigrants’ rights, cut access to lifesaving social safety net protections for millions, dismantle Trafficking Victims’ Protection Act protections for unaccompanied children, and quietly strip immigrant trafficking…
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Freedom Network USA |
Freedom Network USA Announces Four-Day Work Week Trial
Freedom Network USA is excited to announce the implementation of a four-day work week trial beginning June 1, 2025. As an organization committed to creating a workplace that is equitable, people-first, and promotes intentional productivity, we are taking this step…
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Freedom Network USA |
FNUSA’s Statement on Funding Cuts to Lifesaving Victim Services Programs
This week, the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs cancelled numerous grants that serve survivors of crime without notice. These programs are essential to ensuring victims of trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and hate crimes can access…
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Freedom Network USA |
Where We’re Headed: How Federal Policy Changes are Threatening Survivors Lives
Almost three months into the second Trump Administration, one thing is very clear: survivors are not a priority for this government. Policy changes, drastic cuts to lifesaving programs, and threats to anti-trafficking services since the beginning of the Administration have…
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Chris Ash |
Guest Blog: How Conflating Sex Work and Sex Trafficking Harms Sex Workers
One thing to keep in mind is that while sex work and human trafficking in commercial sex are two different things, individual people may have experienced both at different points in their lives. I’ve been in abusive relationships and I’ve…
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Chris Ash |
Guest Blog: How Conflating Sex Work and Sex Trafficking Harms Trafficking Survivors
In every other form of human trafficking, it is clear that while some labor practices are harmful, not all of them rise to the level of human trafficking. In those cases, we work to create laws that foster safer working…
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Freedom Network USA |
The State of Human Trafficking Services One Month into the Second Trump Administration
The first month of the new Administration has brought immense challenges to providing human trafficking survivors with lifesaving support and preventing exploitation. Survivors depend on a wide array of federally funded services both during and after exploitation. Access to food,…
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Freedom Network USA |
FNUSA Condemns Pause on Federal Funding Leaving Survivors Without Lifesaving Services
Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) is the nation’s largest coalition of trafficking survivors, social service providers, and attorneys working directly with trafficking survivors. FNUSA’s 53 service provider members served over 6000 survivors last year alone. We unequivocally condemn the Trump Administration’s…
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Freedom Network USA |
Barriers to Mental Health Services for Trafficking Survivors
Access to mental health services in the US is already challenging for most people, but these challenges are especially daunting for survivors of human trafficking. These obstacles to care are compounded by complex trauma experienced, systemic issues in healthcare access,…
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Freedom Network USA |
Prevention as Preemption: Primary Prevention as a Framework to Constructively Fight Trafficking
Preventative actions are of vital importance to our anti-trafficking efforts because they not only confront immediate risks, but also establish long-term solutions that eliminate vulnerabilities while also strengthening resilience for the future. Current US trafficking policy focuses primarily on secondary…
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Freedom Network USA |
FNUSA Recommendations Highlighted in the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report
On June 24, 2024, the US Department of State (DOS) released its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report which evaluates the efforts of 188 countries to meet a set of minimum standards to address human trafficking. The standards analyze each…
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Freedom Network USA |
Membership Application Pause
Freedom Network USA typically opens our membership applications from July – September each year. The application process includes a written application form, interviews with each applicant, a thorough review of value alignment, a feedback period from our existing membership, and…
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Freedom Network USA |
New T Visa Regulation Includes FNUSA Recommendations that Protect Survivors
New T Visa Regulation Includes FNUSA Recommendations that Protect Survivors On April 30, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security released the long-awaited Final T Visa Rule. For many years, FNUSA has advocated for the regulation to include more protections for…
