The abolition of slavery has been one of history's most important moral imperatives, and people of faith have always been at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement. The challenge today is no different than it was in the past. Slavery is illegal, but people are still in bondage. It is our duty to set them free. Life's basic essentials are denied to those in slavery. That's why our work to liberate the enslaved is so urgent. The communities we assist flourish in freedom, with better schools, nutrition, health care, small business development, and gender equality. 

A good education. A nourishing dinner. A clean drink of water. A visit to the doctor. A safe place to sleep. Equality for girls and women. They’re basic building blocks of life — things we take for granted because we’re free. But these fundamentals are denied to people in slavery. Traffickers force victims to endure inhuman conditions by blocking human essentials from reaching those in bondage.

We liberate people and change the conditions that enslaved them. When people break free under our community-based approach, their entire village or neighborhood becomes slavery-free and slavery-resistant. This systemic change brings a freedom dividend that delivers a better life for all. Better schools, nutrition, health, shelter, gender equality, public safety — they all start with freedom. 

You have the power to shape the future, to do something that bends the arc of history toward justice, to be part of the 21st century’s Great Emancipation. United, we can create a powerful social movement that says slavery shall no longer exist. Earlier generations outlawed slavery, but they didn’t end it. It’s our responsibility to finish the job.

No one knows how many slaves are in the world. The one thing lacking in the world of anti-human trafficking work is good data. We just don’t have it. Every time an organization comes out with an estimate on how many slaves there are, their methodology is questioned and their numbers are proven to be false. The fact is, no one can give an exact number but people need a number in order to care. Nobody can really say how many people are slaves, because the number changes every day. But what we do know for sure, is that there are people out in the world in bondage, and we need to help them. Slaves during the Civil War gave the Union the strength to win the war, and now we need to give that strength back to them.