The Road to Freedom 2016 Speaking Tour
Matt Friedman and his wife Sylvia Yu Friedman are on a mission. From June to August of this year, they are running a 70-day, 27 city, 100 presentation road tour across the USA to discuss the issue of modern day slavery. Throughout their journey, they will be delivering a positive and empowering message to companies, associations, faith-based groups and schools, to raise awareness and to seek their support in the fight against modern day slavery. Follow Matt and Sylvia on this epic journey.
The Problem
We are losing the fight against human slavery. Every five seconds, another man, woman, or child is forced into slavery. With nearly 46 million slaves around the world, there are more people trapped and exploited today than any other time in history. During the past several years, our collective, global response to this problem has helped an average of 0.12 percent of the victims annually. That means nearly 99.9 percent of the victims are left waiting. Put another way, every day 19,400 people enter slavery. In the same time period, only 137 people are saved. Until something changes, this trend will increase unabated.
To bring about a tangible change, a second-generation abolitionist movement is needed in which individuals and nations all come together to address the crisis. This approach has worked before (150 years ago in the USA) and can work again today. To make this happen, we need a positive, assertive campaign to reach people with the information they need to understand the issue and to offer a “call to action” that is in line with what they have to offer.
Our road trip is our small contribution to this process.
Every 5 seconds
Every five seconds, another person enters slavery somewhere in the world. It is estimated that there are over 35 million people in slavery today – more than any other time in history. One minute it might be a fifteen year old girl forced into prostitution, or a young boy forced onto a fishing boat to work 18 hours a day for years without coming to port. To make sense of this crime against humanity, Matt and Sylvia Friedman will offer a comprehensive update on human slavery. Matt and Sylvia’s talk will explore the changing human trafficking paradigm; the relationship between human trafficking and slavery; global trends and patterns; new, emerging responses; evolving funding trends; what is working/not working; the role of the private sector; and what is really needed to win the fight. The presentation will offer a glimpse behind the curtain of this terrible human rights abuse – one that is much closer to home than we might expect.
Sylvia Yu Friedman & Matthew Friedman 