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That “dream job” abroad could be a trafficking trap. Criminal networks are using fake job ads on social media to lure people into online scam compounds, where passports are seized and victims are forced into cybercrime. www.usnews.com/news/us/arti...

A UK judge has found that the Home Office rejected a modern slavery survivor's asylum claim based on AI-generated document that never existed—& an immigration court upheld that rejection using the same fabricated evidence. The woman has not been told if she will be removed.

Home Office used “AI-hallucinated” evidence to deny asylum - FreedomUnited.org

A UK judge has found the Home Office rejected the asylum claim of a modern slavery survivor based on “AI-hallucinated” evidence.

ow.ly

A Washington D.C. court is hearing a lawsuit accusing Lindt of 2 decades of misleading consumers about child labor in its cocoa supply chain while marketing itself as an ethical brand. The case asks the court to stop what it calls unlawful conduct directed at consumers.

Lindt faces lawsuit over child labor claims in cocoa supply chain - FreedomUnited.org

Lindt faces a lawsuit over claims of misleading consumers about child labor in its cocoa supply chain, raising questions about its ethics.

ow.ly

Model Courtney Stodden, married off to a 51-year-old actor at 16, is urging California lawmakers to ban child marriage. California remains one of just four states with no minimum marriage age. If passed, AB 1267 would make California the 18th US state to outlaw the practice.

Survivor pressures ‘Seinfeld’ actor to back California child marriage ban - FreedomUnited.org

Courtney Stodden advocates for the California child marriage ban, calling for legal protections to prevent child marriage in the state.

ow.ly

Small businesses are taking Trump’s new tariffs to court, arguing that fighting forced labor doesn’t justify sidestepping legal requirements. apnews.com/article/tari...

Small businesses file lawsuits against Trump's new sweeping tariffs

Trump’s tariffs are headed to court — again. Two lawsuits filed by small businesses are challenging Trump’s sweeping tariffs announced Thursday that impose double digit levies on 60 trading partners.

apnews.com

Courtney Stodden is turning her story into a fight to end child marriage, urging California to set 18 as the minimum legal age to marry. Children deserve laws that protect them from forced marriage. variety.com/2026/tv/news... @variety.com

Courtney Stodden Is Fighting for Something Bigger Than Jason Alexander’s Apology

Courtney Stodden discusses “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander’s apology over a creepy comedy sketch when she was a minor and why child marriage must end.

variety.com

Several countries—including Cambodia, India, & Indonesia—have passed new forced labor import bans in recent months spurred by US threatening new tariffs tied to labor practices. Advocates say enforcement, not just passage, will determine if these laws actually help workers.

Forced labor import prohibition fever

US tariff threats have triggered a global rush to adopt forced labor import bans, with governments implementing or committing to new laws.

ow.ly

Social media influencer Andrew Tate & his brother Tristan were arrested in Miami on a UK extradition request. British prosecutors are bringing 38 new additional criminal charges against them, including trafficking for sexual exploitation & child pornography.

Andrew Tate and brother arrested on sex trafficking charges - FreedomUnited.org %

The Tate brothers' arrest in the US in relation to sex trafficking charges reignite discussions on justice for survivors.

ow.ly

19 people accused of running baby trafficking ring found guilty by an Indonesian court. The group, which recruited pregnant women & arranged false adoption documents, sold at least 34 babies to buyers in Indonesia & Singapore. 70-year-old ringleader faces 7 years in jail.

Group selling babies for $13,000 convicted in Indonesia - FreedomUnited.org

An Indonesian court has sentenced 19 individuals for their roles in a child trafficking network that targeted pregnant women.

ow.ly

‘When she turns eight they will take her’: rising number of Afghan girls being sold into child marriage.

‘When she turns eight they will take her’: rising number of Afghan girls being sold into child marriage

Afghanistan is seeing a resurgence in underage brides and mothers as desperate families sell their children in order to eat

theguardian.com

While courts emphasise the inhumane conditions for refugees and migrants in Libya, European governments are intensifying their efforts to prevent these people from fleeing the country.

Italian Court Confirms: Detention of Rescue Vessel Humanity 1 was Unlawful

Berlin, 14 July 2026 – Last week, SOS Humanity, as part of the Justice Fleet alliance, secured another legal victory when a court in Ortona ruled that the

pressenza.com

More than a dozen immigration detention facilities have gone over a year without inspection under revised ICE policies.

More than a dozen immigration detention facilities have gone over a year without inspection under revised ICE policies

Detention facilities are now inspected every year or every other year rather than twice a year, a CBS News analysis of inspection reports found.

cbsnews.com

Every child deserves to be safe online. Tech companies must ensure their platforms don't facilitate or profit from child sexual exploitation as this paves the for trafficking. Accountability, stronger safeguards, and survivor-centered action must be at the forefront. www.bbc.com/news/article...

India: Instagram running ads promoting child sexual abuse material, BBC finds

The ads use terms including “rape” and “child video” and link to content on the messaging app Telegram.

bbc.com

A German court has convicted an Iraqi couple of enslaving two Yazidi girls—one purchased at a Mosul slave market aged five and the other bought at age twelve. The man was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide & crimes against humanity. The younger girl remains missing.

German court convicts Iraqi couple of enslaving Yazidi girls - FreedomUnited.org

An Iraqi couple in Germany is convicted of enslaving Yazidi girls while part of ISIS. The court sentenced the husband to life in prison.

ow.ly

Incarcerated men in an Arkansas prison say they are forced to work for free, workers bitten by snakes sent back to the fields with ibuprofen and barred from eating the food they plant. Refusal can mean solitary confinement. The 13th Amendment makes it all legal.

Arkansas prison built on former slave plantation still using slave labor - FreedomUnited.org

Incarcerated men at Cummins Unit in Arkansas are being forced to work for free under degrading and dehumanizing conditions.

ow.ly

A UK High Court has ruled the government acted unlawfully by cutting safeguards under the “one-in, one-out” policy. The ruling carries particular weight given that most initially rejected trafficking claims were later overturned on appeal.

UK's changes to protections in asylum scheme ruled unlawful- FreedomUnited.org

A UK High Court has ruled part of the UK-France migration deal unlawful, restoring trafficking survivors' right to a fair review.

ow.ly

A five-day Interpol operation across 59 countries led to the arrest of over 1,000 suspected traffickers. The raids targeted networks involved in sexual exploitation, forced labor, forced criminality, and forced begging.

Global raid exposes over 1000 traffickers- FreedomUnited.org

A global crackdown spanning 59 countries has exposed over 1,000 traffickers in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

ow.ly

Libya's rival authorities have united for the first time in years—on a campaign of mass arrests, detentions, and deportations of migrants. State-fueled rumors of permanent migrant "settlement" sparked anti-migrant protests and street violence.

Libya ramps up anti-migrant rhetoric and abuses - FreedomUnited.org

Libyan authorities weaponize anti-migrant rhetoric for mass deportations and detention as EU expands cooperation.

ow.ly

Private detention contractor GEO Group has settled a California workplace safety case confirming detained migrants are entitled to labor protections. The ruling marked the first time the state treated detainees as workers.

GEO Group forced to pay immigrant detainees for abuses - FreedomUnited.org

California just ruled detained immigrants are workers. GEO Group and ICE are fighting back behind closed doors.

ow.ly

While America Celebrates Its 250th Birthday, 33 States Still Allow Child Marriage! lawstreet.co/internationa...

While America Celebrates Its 250th Birthday, 33 States Still Allow Child Marriage

Sara Tasneem was married at 15 in a hotel room in Los Angeles. Today, she is one of America's most prominent child marriage abolitionists. As the US celebrates 250 years of independence, only 17 of it...

lawstreet.co

4 courts. 460+ judges. All saying the same thing: mass detention is unlawful. This matters for everyone fighting forced labor in US detention centers — a system that only exists because people are locked up in the first place. www.politico.com/news/2026/06...

Twelve workers, including minors, have been rescued from a factory in India where they were allegedly held against their will for over a year—beaten, guarded by pit bulls, & forced to work 20-hour days. A brave worker's escape over a boundary wall brought the operation down.

A brave escape leads to 12 rescued from slavery in India - FreedomUnited.org

An investigation into a factory in India led to the rescue of twelve workers, including minors, trapped in slavery.

ow.ly

Freedom United's Joanna Ewart-James sat down with researcher Dr. Maayan Niezna to discuss a new study on non-citizen workers caught in Israel-Palestine conflict. Their conversation reveals how war accelerates labor exploitation—& what it exposes about labor politics.

War, work, and who gets left behind: Israel and Palestine

Research explains how non-citizen labor pays the price amongst tensions in the context of the war in Israel and Palestine

ow.ly

The UK Home Secretary has introduced a new immigration and asylum bill which strips protections for modern slavery survivors, fast-tracks deportation of refused families, and replaces independent appeals judges with government appointees. Read more :

New UK asylum bill undermines modern slavery protections - FreedomUnited.org

A new UK bill could weaken protections for modern slavery survivors while speeding up deportations and limiting appeals.

ow.ly

From Congo’s cobalt mines to factories around the world, exploitation remains embedded in the products that generate unimaginable wealth. Urge Tesla to cut ties with forced child labor in their cobalt supply chain ow.ly/rwPC50Zk5nk

At Ghana's Christiansborg Castle, the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade were reenacted—not to relive the past, but to demand accountability. History's legacy still shapes inequality today. Remembering must lead to action, not silence. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/...

Why Accra slavery reparatory justice meeting matters

From apology to action: the renewed push for slavery reparations amid questions over delivery.

aljazeera.com

Joanna Ewart-James from @freedomunitedhq.bsky.social kindly invited me to a conversation about labour exploitation in Israel/Palestine following the war, based on my recent research (link below). The recording is available here: www.freedomunited.org/war-work-isr...

War, work, and who gets left behind: Israel and Palestine

Research explains how non-citizen labor pays the price amongst tensions in the context of the war in Israel and Palestine

freedomunited.org

Beaten and starved: Shock in India as police rescue men from bonded labour www.bbc.com/news/article...

Muzaffarnagar: Shock in India after police rescue men held as bonded labour in Uttar Pradesh

Bonded labour was outlawed in India in 1975, but it still continues in villages and small towns.

bbc.com

Pride has always been about liberation. 🏳️‍🌈 But LGBTQ+ people are still criminalized in dozens of countries & face discrimination everywhere. This fuels marginalization & increases the risk of trafficking. Thank you Jose for your voice and your work. #pridemonth