Keep up the good work, iEYENEWS readers
January 1, 2023 News Digest
Happy New Year, iEYENEWS!
From “Miriam Karmali, Freedom United”
Your weekly news digest looks a little different today. We want to start this year by sharing how we made a difference in 2022 and why our united action is so important.
Last year wasn’t easy for many of us. In the midst of a global economic crisis, we saw governments around the world roll back protections for modern slavery survivors and try to stand in the way of progress.
But despite this, the Freedom United community achieved some big wins! We’re so proud of everything we managed to do together in a challenging human rights landscape.
So bring on 2023! Together, we’ll be able to continue tackling systemic injustices that perpetuate modern slavery around the world.
OUR 2022 WINS
| Protect trafficking victims & sex workers from criminalization CAMPAIGN WIN! On July 1, Governor Newsom signed the Safer Streets for All Act into law, making it easier for trafficking victims to seek help and enabling survivors convicted of loitering to clear their names. Thank you to Freedom United community members who joined our petition and called the Governor’s office. Read our field report. |
| Read our field report |
| University of Florida cuts ties with AramarkSuccess! We wrote to the President of the University of Florida in 2021 asking him to terminate and not renew its partnership with Aramark as part of our campaign for divestment from prison slavery – and he listened! The University of Florida ended its contract with exploitative food services company Aramark. 22,000+ in the Freedom United community helped pressure the University of Florida to divest from prison slavery. Read our letter here. |
| Sign the petition |
| U.K. passes bill to ban child marriage CAMPAIGN WIN! The bill to ban child marriage in England and Wales passed through parliament. Previously, 16 and 17-year olds were able to get married with parental or familial consent, a legal exception that left children vulnerable to being coerced into marriages against their will. We are so proud of our campaign lead and survivor advocate, Payzee Mahmod, and to the 254,000+ in the Freedom United community who took action to help make this happen. This is testament to our collective power. |
| Read our field report |
| Go Overseas takes action against orphanage trafficking Go Overseas, a company helping thousands of volunteers around the world travel abroad, implemented a new system on their site to flag the harms of volunteering in orphanages and the risks of orphanage trafficking as direct result of sustained action from the Freedom United community. We need to keep up the pressure in 2023 to see other tourism organizations follow suit. |
| Sign the petition |
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 | Miriam Karmali Freedom United |
