NGOs fighting slavery : CAST, End Slavery Now and Walk Free

After my last article about Anti-Slavery International, Polaris and Free the Slaves, I'd like to present three others NGOs working every day to abolish slavery in the world. Those NGOs are, by order of creation: the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), End Slavery Now and Walk Free.

The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking - 1998
The CAST is an American non-for-profit organization based in Los Angeles. It has been founded in 1998 by Dr. Kathryn McMahon, a professor at California State University, in the wake of the El Monte sweatshop case where 72 Thai garment workers were kept for 8 years in slavery and debt bondage. For more than 15 years now, its aim is to provide intensive case management, comprehensive services, and advocacy to survivors of slavery in the US.

With an annual budget of $2.5 million, CAST provides comprehensive long-term services through a three-pronged empowerment approach which includes social services, legal services, and outreach and training. The organization also operates the first shelter in the nation solely dedicated to serving victims of trafficking, and it launched a great campaign in LA to raise awareness about slavery. There are an estimated 60 000 people enslaved in the USA according to the last Global Slavery Index. Even if it looks paltry in comparison with some other countries, that's interesting to realize that slavery is fought everywhere and not only in the countries where its prevalence is more important. In that sense national organization like CAST are really complementary with international ones.

Home

CAST partners with NGOs and government agencies, locally and internationally, to build a powerful movement to end modern-day slavery. See a list of our coalition partners here. CAST reaches out to ...

http://www.castla.org/homepage

End Slavery Now - 2009
End Slavery Now (ESN) is also an American organization, founded in 2009 by Lauren Taylor. This latter envisioned a digital space that could empower every person willing to help end modern slavery and human trafficking. Thus, ESN was launched with 4 features : an action database, an organization directory, learning resources and a store. By providing information and tools to everyday abolitionists, ESN hoped to help antislavery organizations increase their efficiency. By 2013, only four years after its creation, ESN was added to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center's portfolio of modern antislavery work.

Last August, End Slavey Now launched a blog whom the aim is to show people how to join the anti-slavery movement. About 2 or 3 articles are posted every week by different authors: there are testimonies, personal writings, news about the fight against slavery worldwide... In addition, each month it spotlights volunteer opportunities from its antislavery partners (they are 31). Among the most important, ESN has established partnerships with Share Hope International, the Polaris Project and Walk Free Foundation.

Home | End Slavery Now

End Slavery Now is not responsible for the content of external or third party websites.

http://endslaverynow.org/

Walk Free Foundation - 2010
Contrarily to most of the biggest organizations fighting slavery, the Walk Free Foundation is not American but Australian. It has been founded in 2010 by Andrew Forrest, a mining magnate. That's saying he doesn't have the typical profile of a NGO founder, especially when we know the scandals companies like Rio Tinto or Nevsun have faced. In fact, Andrew Forrest decided to get involved in this cause after a daughter when to Nepal and was directly confronted to human trafficking.

The horror and revulsion and the terror on her little face will be stuck with [my wife] Nicola and I forever

Andrew Forrest, founder of Walk Free

One of the major work realized by Walk Free is its annual Global Slavery Index, whom the release is expected by the entire community related to the fight against slavery. The report, launched for the first time in 2013, isn't only a compilation of data showing how many people are enslaved in each country. There is also a deep investigative work analyzing laws, their effectiveness, the general trend... In only one year it became a reference and an excellent tool to raise awareness about slavery. 

Home - Walk Free

The world's largest faiths have signed a declaration to end slavery

http://www.walkfree.org/

Of course the presentation of these NGOs is far from being exhaustive, but I wish it could help to better understand who's fighting against slavery and how they do it.

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