The Freedom Story

August 25th, 2022 -  This year’s Trafficking in Persons Report expressly calls out corruption for its linkage to trafficking, going so far as to cite a UNODC report that argues trafficking in persons could not happen on a large scale if it weren’t for corruption. In this final segment reviewing the report, we’ll discuss in more detail how corruption facilitates trafficking and some of the Report’s key recommendations. Listen to learn more.

Find the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report here: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

August 18th, 2022 -  This year’s TIP Report highlights the looming threat of climate change and its links to vulnerability to human trafficking. Climate change-related disasters disproportionately impact people who are already vulnerable to trafficking, and as environmental conditions get worse, more people will be impacted. It's estimated that human trafficking has the potential to increase by 20-30% at the hand of humanitarian disasters causing lost livelihoods and disrupted families. Listen to learn more.

Find the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report here: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

August 11th, 2022 -  We're back and recovered to good health! Let's get caught up on our podcasts! Today, we’re zooming in on this year's TIP Report's Special Focus on how governments can act as traffickers. Several states have been called out for demonstrating a pattern of using their power to compel their own citizens into sex trafficking or forced labor. State engagement in trafficking more directly links a country to a Tier 3 ranking. Listen to learn more.

Find the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report here: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

August 4th, 2022 -  We're back and recovered to good health! Let's get caught up on our podcasts! One of the special focus areas in this year's Trafficking in Persons Report is China’s Belt and Road Initiative (or B.R.I.) and the prevalence of forced labor in its projects, not just in China but also in other countries participating in the BRI. We’ll take a look at what the Belt and Road Initiative is and why it’s of concern to US foreign policy. Then we’ll talk about what the special focus says about its links to forced labor – as well as what it doesn’t say. Listen to learn more.

Find the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report here: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

July 28th, 2022 -  The 2022 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report was released last week and we thought it might be helpful if we shared some of the key takeaways from the report with you. We introduce some of the main themes plus some of the most important Thailand-specific takeaways. Listen to learn more.

Find the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report here: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

July 21st, 2022 -  The latest in the news about human trafficking is a great illustration of the breadth of extremes this crime touches. Recent revelations about an Olympic athlete’s background as a child trafficking victim come concurrently with news reports about a large network of Rohingya girl victims trafficked from Bangladesh to India. As the former gains intense media attention, the hope is that it might shine a light on the plight of so many others who suffer similarly. Listen to learn more.

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

July 14th, 2022 -  As people move from rural areas to cities in the hopes of escaping climate-related disasters and finding more stable jobs and income, it is expected that the influx of people can strain cities’ infrastructures and resources. If cities are unprepared to handle the influx, it can lead to strife, conflict, violence, and crime–a situation likely to be ripe for traffickers to exploit. Urban fragility, therefore, is something to pay close attention to, to think holistically about how to protect people from trafficking and exploitation. Listen to learn more.

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

July 7th, 2022 -  Thailand is starting to open up to tourism and larger, in-person events as the COVID situation improves. While there is still concern about community spread, the government has been able to relax border regulations and ease restrictions on public activities, thus allowing us to resume many of our in-person activities. We've got a lot going on in the evolving situation! Listen to learn more.

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

June 30th, 2022 - One of the most common questions people have about our programs is how we select our scholarship students. People wonder how we know that the students in our program are at risk of trafficking and exploitation. It’s a great question, and one of the most important and most difficult parts of what we do. Listen to learn more.

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.

June 23rd, 2022 - Anti-trafficking intervention and aftercare services tend to be almost exclusively centered on the victims, which seems natural, understandable, and correct. What this overlooks, however, is the impact on their families–the people whose father, mother, sister, brother, or child has gone missing, and who may not know where to turn for help. These people are often overlooked and sidelined, though the trauma they experience, too, is very real. Listen to learn more.

Welcome to The Freedom Story podcast where we bring you our weekly updates, in audio version. For more information, please visit www.thefreedomstory.org.