More freedom,
less slavery
2017 year in review
In 2017 we
rescued 761 people
Tap on each continent to see how many people were rescued.
added 15 Local Partners
started work in 9 new countries
educated 194,041 people on sexual slavery
saw our supporters do everything from donating their birthdays to summiting mountains in order to raise funds for freedom
You—the Rescue:Freedom community—continue to inspire me, and strengthen my belief that together we can end slavery. You are stepping up in profound ways to fight for freedom and hope. You are rescuing victims, empowering survivors, protecting the vulnerable, and changing lives. Thank you for making freedom possible.
Jeremy Vallerand
President & CEO
You + Us + Local Partners =
Amazing things in 2017!
Akello's Story
17-year-old Akello was trafficked
from Uganda to Thailand under the pretense of legitimate work. When she arrived, her passport was taken from her. She was told she had a large debt to repay for her travel, and selling herself was her only option for repayment. Her boss would take all the money she earned, and search her to ensure she wasn't hiding any. Her boss would threaten to harm her or move her to another country where conditions were less safe. She was able to escape her trafficker, and contacted our Local Partner for assistance. With their help, she was able to return to her home.
*Survivors name and photo have been changed for their protection.
Prisha’s Story
15-year-old *Prisha started living in one of our restoration homes in India two years ago. At first she was shy, stubborn, very closed off, and obviously hurting. She suffered from severe depression. She wouldn’t mingle with the other girls, stayed aloof in a corner, and would not participate in any activities. At times she became rebellious and refused to listen to staff. In most of the counseling sessions she would stay silent, unwilling to talk. In the time that she stayed in the restoration home, she received health care, an education, counseling, and other services.
Lately, she’s begun to open up, and will strike up a conversation with others. She’s showing interest in studying and loves math. She enjoys painting and playing sports now. And she’s opening up in counseling sessions.
Today, she believes she has value and is loved.
She is free.
*Survivors name and photo have been changed for their protection.
Analise's Story
"I felt useless and hopeless before I came here [restoration home]. Now, I have hope that I can do and become someone and pursue my dreams. I am getting an education, feel loved and secure, and being here has built up my self-confidence. I am learning industrial sewing now and want to be a fashion designer in the future."
Desperate, suicidal, and scared, Analise came to the restoration center begging for help to pay for university studies. “I’ll do everything I can to study hard!” She sought out therapy, and began to understand the effects of her abuse, which broke her at age 5 and continued for most of her life.
You’d hardly recognize Analise now. She's confident, responsible, and beaming with potential.
She weaves through traffic in a country where women rarely drive. She works as a car salesman while studying commercial engineering. Her dreams evidence a long journey of healing: to be a professional, marry a good man, and raise a family.
*Survivors name and photo have been changed for their protection.
BY THE BOOKS
Number of prevention and awareness programs: 33
Number of people reached through prevention: 5,162
Adults reached: 1,699
Teenagers reached: 2,787
Children reached: 676
Our local partner in Eastern Europe gives seminars in high schools on how to identify traffickers, how to avoid being a victim of trafficking, and what to do if you find yourself in a trafficking situation. *30% of this country’s workforce is employed in neighboring countries. Many young people will leave the country to look for work after graduating, and be targeted by traffickers in the airport.
We equip teachers in Romania with materials to teach their students what trafficking looks like, how to avoid being trafficked, and what to do if you are trafficked. One of the teachers who used our curriculum said: 'Thank you for the materials! They were extremely useful and I chose to not only use them with our high school kids, but also with the younger ones, since they need it as well. I also shared it in our parents conference, because we have moms in the community who leave to work abroad and are at risk of being trafficked."
Slavery can become generational if children of sexual slaves are denied education and told they don’t have options for their future. Our local partners offer schooling, emotional support, and vocational training to help them realize their full potential. Our Local Partner in Ethiopia even has a summer camp so they can be a part of children’s lives year round.
*Statistic is directly from our Local Partner
Over 200 law enforcement officers
attended a training by our Local Partner in Eastern Europe. The officers learned about the state of trafficking in their country, how to identify victims, and how to connect victims with organizations that can help. The Chairman of the Police Academy requested the Local Partner train police students in the future, because he believes sexual slavery is an important issue. One police officer said, "We as police officers should accept this problem as a national problem and not ignore it."
Changing the conversation
We want people to know that how we talk about things influences individual behavior and how we operate as a society. When we call sex buyers "johns" we normalize the criminal act of buying sex. We’re not okay with that, so we created this video to start the conversation around #perpsnotjohns. You blew us away with your willingness to tackle a hard topic—this video was viewed over 100,000 times thanks to you!
Our Local Partners are superheroes in our eyes.
They are involved in every part of our work from rescue to prevention.
Check out where our Local Partners are located around the world.
Want to learn more about Local Partners? Check out the Local Partner page on our website.
Local Partners are the key to unlocking a life of freedom for slavery survivors.
Take a look at what Local Partners do each day to help survivors recover from their trauma, and start a new free life.
Tap on each room of the house to see what our Local Partners do each day to help survivors recover from trauma, and start a new life.
When you take action, your impact travels the world to change lives.
Freedom Hikers: First year of doing Freedom Hikers. Their original goal was $5,000 and they kept increasing their goal as they kept surpassing it. Total raised: $19,424.
Climb for Captives: This was the 9th annual C4C. They raised $68,974
Freedom February with newlife church. They raised $31,761
One of the highlights of our year was spending time with you in Seattle, Washington D.C., L.A., and Nashville for our freedom dinners.
Take a look through our mega-fun event photos!
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Money has the power to enslave people, but it also has the power to set them free.
We’ve seen your donations change lives, so we’re committed to
using every dollar to its fullest potential.
Use of funds
Source of funds
Where we spent it
During the 2017 holiday season, a generous donor offered to match every donation given up to $150,000. Because of your generosity, the full
$150,000 match was met!
We had our biggest Giving Tuesday yet, and raised
$26,862 in a single day!
“Rescue:Freedom seeks not only to be a leader in the work of restoring lives broken by sexual slavery, but also an outstanding example of charitable financial practices. We strive for complete transparency and efficiency. You can donate with the confidence that your funds will be stewarded carefully to have maximum impact in the fight for freedom.”
Del Chittim
COO
Money has the power to enslave people, but it also has the power to set them free.
We’ve seen your donations change lives, so we’re committed to
using every dollar to its fullest potential.
Use of funds
Money has the power to enslave people, but it also has the power to set them free.
We’ve seen your donations change lives, so we’re committed to
using every dollar to its fullest potential.
Source of funds
Money has the power to enslave people, but it also has the power to set them free.
We’ve seen your donations change lives, so we’re committed to
using every dollar to its fullest potential.
Where we spent it
2017 was a whole lotta new for us.
Our team in Kirkland, Washington kicked it into hyperdrive to bring on new Local Partners, start work in new countries, create new relationships with supporters, churches, and businesses, and gave the Rescue:Freedom brand a facelift—whew!
fueled by approximately 6,264 cups of coffee
increased frequency of epic office pranks
Our team grew from 5 to 8
Our Board of Directors
is like our North Star. Their collective genius on business, humanitarian work, and life keep us heading in the right direction.
Meet the new kids
hello
my name is
Tap to see more information
Job title:
Project Manager
On staff at RF since:
October 2017
Nickname:
Jackie Chan
Favorite thing about working at RF:
Engaging and learning from our Local Partners around the world!
Go-to coffee order:
Decaf americano or peppermint mocha at Christmas time!
First childhood pet:
A dog named Tikki.
hello
my name is
Tap to see more information
Job title:
Operations and Finance Coordinator
Joined the Team:
December 2017
Nickname:
Pam Beasly
Favorite thing about working at RF:
We work hard and laugh hard.
Go-to coffee order:
Iced Mocha
First childhood pet:
A kitten named Molly.
hello
my name is
Tap to see more information
Job title:
Director of Communications
On staff at RF since:
January 2017
Nickname:
Cal
Favorite thing about working at RF:
Sharing the stories of incredible survivors to our incredible supporters.
Go-to coffee order:
Iced vanilla latte
First childhood pet:
Muffy, my guinea pig
This is BIG news…
Starting now, 100% of every donation goes to ending slavery!
We’ve always worked our hardest to ensure every dollar is used to its fullest potential. Recently, all of our overhead costs have been covered by generous private donors. This means that 100% of your donation goes directly to changing lives around the world. This way, when you donate, you know exactly where your money goes.
GIVE 100%
