Freedom Collaborative, Inc.

CSOs from the East and Horn of Africa Anti-Trafficking (EHAAT) Network gathered in Kampala, Uganda, earlier this month for a workshop focusing on long-term sustainability. The event was facilitated by Freedom Collaborative and supported by the Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme, which is coordinated by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and funded by the EU and Germany. Over three days, participants worked to develop a comprehensive strategy for securing resources to address core priorities. Key objectives included translating strategic goals into actionable funding needs, identifying impactful success stories, and drafting a six-month action plan for resource mobilization. The workshop fostered collaboration, with CSO representatives sharing insights and examples, ensuring collective ownership of the strategy and a unified vision for the network’s future. On the final day, participants concentrated on developing a concrete six-month action plan which detailed specific activities, responsibilities, and timelines, ensuring accountability and progress-tracking. The plan outlines milestones for engaging stakeholders, launching fundraising campaigns, and evaluating success, and follow-up meetings will be held to gather feedback, review progress, and refine the strategy as needed. Read more in our latest newsletter: https://lnkd.in/em8eZvz4

The CIVICUS Monitor’s newly published annual report, which rates civic space conditions in 198 countries, highlights the challenges and dangers faced by civil society groups in repressed and closed regions of the world, as they work to combat human rights abuses and protect vulnerable populations. It emphasizes their urgent need for the international connections and partnerships that offer access to assistance and resources that would not otherwise be available to them. More than 70 per cent of the global population now lives under repressive conditions, including 30 per cent in countries where civic space is completely closed. In East Africa, Ethiopia has been downgraded from repressed to closed, due to serious violations of human rights, while Kenya has been downgraded from obstructed to repressed following the government’s brutal crackdown against cost-of-living related protests. Meanwhile, the arbitrary detention of and use of excessive force against peaceful protesters, and the detention and prosecution of human rights defenders, were the main civic space violations documented in Asia and the Pacific. Read more in this week’s newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eFrNSprU

A raid on a well-known Cambodian scam compound has resulted in few arrests, with officials claiming it to be a legitimate workplace and endorsing its continued operation. Yet groups monitoring Cambodia’s online scam industry have been aware of fraud operations located at the site for at least two years, and numerous rescue requests have been received from people held there, according to Cambodia CTIP.   Although the raid came a day after a South Korean news outlet published an investigative report identifying the compound, known as Mango Park, as a cyberscam hub, and a National Police spokesman confirmed the operation was conducted to “check if foreign employees at the location were being tortured”, local police claimed no evidence of torture or detention were found. This incident sends a message that even highly visible sites can continue to operate, and that the Cambodian Government will continue to protect them even under international pressure, Cambodia CTIP notes. This reassurance may embolden operators, reinforcing their sense of security and potentially fueling further expansion of these operations across the country. Read more in our latest newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gjnNvjGv

Millions of dollars are donated each year for anti-trafficking work, but how much is reaching survivors, at-risk groups, and frontline organizations, and how much is spent on intermediaries and bureaucracies? Is this funding helping empower survivors and address the systemic challenges that enable exploitation? Or does it sometimes have harmful consequences for those it’s supposed to benefit? Register below to join our webinar on “Money Matters: Analysing the impacts of anti-trafficking funding”, in partnership with the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women (GAATW), on 11 December at 9am EST / 3pm CET / 9pm ICT. This is a timely and critical conversation about the availability and impact of anti-trafficking funding. Speakers will present new research published in Anti-Trafficking Review and reflect on the experiences of frontline service providers. Please join us! https://lnkd.in/eTmRGh8J

The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) has published key recommendations for the incoming U.S. administration, outlining ways in which it can combat forced labour, human trafficking and modern slavery during its tenure – the most comprehensive set of anti-trafficking recommendations the new administration will receive from civil society, ATEST says.   Along with agency-specific recommendations, the guidance includes cross-cutting opportunities for action, including institutionalizing the inclusion of survivors in federal anti-trafficking programs, articulating the business case for ending trafficking, ensuring that goods tainted by forced labour are not imported into the U.S., ensuring that no federal tax dollars are spent on products tainted by trafficking, expanding the use of data-driven decision making, focusing on both labour and sex trafficking, and preventing exploitation before it starts by addressing root causes.   As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the UN Palermo Protocol, the new administration has the chance to reaffirm America’s commitment to ending all forms of forced labour and human trafficking through strategic policy improvements and investments in a whole-of-government approach. Read more in our latest newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eS8k2HV7

Freedom Collaborative and the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women (GAATW) invite you to join our webinar on “Money Matters: Analysing the impacts of anti-trafficking funding” on 11 December at 9am EST, 3pm CET, 9pm ICT. Millions of dollars are donated each year for anti-trafficking work, but how much is reaching survivors, at-risk groups, and frontline organizations, and how much is spent on intermediaries and bureaucracies? Is this funding helping empower survivors and address the systemic challenges that enable exploitation? Or does it sometimes have harmful consequences for those it’s supposed to benefit? Please register below to join us for this timely and critical conversation about the availability and impact of anti-trafficking funding. Speakers will present new research published in Anti-Trafficking Review and reflect on the experiences of frontline service providers. https://lnkd.in/eTmRGh8J

A panel convened by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand has urged stronger international support for local news outlets and NGOs combating human trafficking for forced criminality in Southeast Asia. The panel, who are all members of Freedom Collaborative’s Trafficking for Forced Criminality Response Working Group, called for increased funding, technical support, and global collaboration to protect journalists and activists. They also emphasized the need for multi-stakeholder partnerships, secure information-sharing, and targeted international action, including sanctions against complicit actors, to combat trafficking and protect press freedom. Over 120,000 individuals are estimated to have been trafficked into online scamming operations in Myanmar, with similar numbers of cases reported in Cambodia and Laos, where they are forced to participate in fraudulent schemes, and face harsh punishments if they fail to comply. Activists, journalists, NGOs, and victims’ families play a vital role in exposing these abuses and advocating for victims’ safe repatriation, but they face significant risks, including surveillance, arrest, and retaliation. Read more in our latest newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eiu3xMeE

Cambodian non-profit Chab Dai has published two new case studies detailing its process of shifting to a survivor-centered model over the past year, the challenges involved, and the positive impact so far. Recognizing that their previous approach missed opportunities for survivors to inform policies, the team was inspired by survivor engagement programs in other countries, and in particular by the U.S. State Department’s 2022 TIP report, which urged responders to treat survivors as subject experts on human trafficking. With support from Cambodia CTIP and Freedom Collaborative, the case studies detail Chab Dai’s three-phase Survivor Engagement program, which gives survivors the training and platform they need to confidently share their experiences and insights, while respecting their healing process. The project includes the Survivor Care Forum, which brings together survivors and their families for healing-focused workshops, shared learning, and community-building; the Survivor Learning Group, which offers specialized training in advocacy work; and the Survivor Leadership Group, in which survivors participate in forums and policy dialogue, taking active roles in shaping the national response to trafficking. This new approach is already having an impact: in a landmark achievement, members of the Survivor Leadership Group recently contributed directly to government policy, providing insights at the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) forum. Read more in our latest newsletter. https://lnkd.in/egJ_QGSU

Freedom Collaborative is seeking donations for the creation and implementation of a secure intelligence-sharing platform – similar to a whistleblower mechanism – that allows survivors of forced criminality to safely share their experiences and information. The platform will be designed to strategically channel this information in ways that maximize safety, impact, and the potential for actionable outcomes. Recently, during a working group meeting, a partner organization noted a significant shift in the behavior of survivors leaving scamming compounds, and their increasing eagerness to share crucial information gathered inside – including photos, videos, location coordinates, ID cards, maps, blueprints, personal accounts, and other documentation. Survivors are aware that sharing this knowledge with international stakeholders is essential for meaningful action and systemic change, but many are uncertain about where or how it can be safely disseminated. This insight aligned with a recurring theme in discussions with partners in financial investigations and the private sector: the urgent need for direct access to credible information to enable relevant actors to intervene effectively. In response, with guidance from trusted contacts across sectors, we have conceptualized a platform through which survivors who have escaped compounds in countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia can safely share their knowledge and pursue justice. While our organization traditionally relies on grant funding to support our initiatives, we are now actively seeking individual donations to expedite the launch of this platform – not in three, six, or twelve months, but as soon as possible. This project is designed to be action-oriented and is ready for immediate implementation. Please consider contributing; any amount will be helpful: https://lnkd.in/d8PHEcS8 And please read our previous case study about how our work has already supported the informal sharing of intelligence that we now aim to turn into a scalable mechanism: https://lnkd.in/d9vN3Kg8

Join us in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, November 20, for a discussion on Trafficking for Forced Criminality in Cyberscam Compounds, with a focus on key recommendations from civil society. 📅 Date: November 20, 6-8 PM 📍 Location: Hogan Lovells, Columbia Square, 555 Thirteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20004 Hosted by Freedom Collaborative, this event will discuss the complexities of human trafficking for online scamming and organized fraud in Southeast Asia and other regions. Featuring insights from our working group of CSOs and grassroots responders, we’ll provide updates on current developments and challenges, and share actionable strategies to tackle this issue head-on. RSVP to join: https://lu.ma/7rsnohab