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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Haley Epping |
Supporting LGBTQ+ Survivors
How to support LGBTQ+ youth trafficking survivors? LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately vulnerable to trafficking due to homophobia and transphobia. Many LGBTQ+ youth grow up in unsupportive households, which can cause a traumatic upbringing. Some youth are kicked out of their…
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Haley Epping |
Transphobia and Human Trafficking
When we talk about the fundamental causes of trafficking, we often focus on how people’s identities can make them vulnerable. However, we must make it clear that their identity does not make them inherently more susceptible to trafficking. Instead, the…
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Haley Epping |
Impact of Arrest and Conviction Histories on Trafficking Survivors
Written by K.B. White Human trafficking survivors are often arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for crimes that their traffickers forced them to commit. As a result, survivors are marked by criminal records that create barriers to housing, employment, education, and even…
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Haley Epping |
Trafficking in Rural America
Rural Areas Create Vulnerabilities Rural areas are known for having fewer people and a thick country landscape. While envisioning a rural community, human trafficking may not come to mind for most. However, many factors present vulnerabilities for trafficking survivors in…
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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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Haley Epping |
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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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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Haley Epping |
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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Haley Epping |
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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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…