Programs of the Break the Chain Campaign

On This Page: Pro Bono Holistic Services :: PROMISE Central :: Institute on Human Trafficking Training :: Advocacy and Public Policy :: Technical Assistance/Capacity-Building :: Media Outreach and Public Awareness :: Domestic Worker Affinity Group

Pro Bono Holistic Services

Break The Chain Campaign offers legal and social service assistance to trafficked, enslaved and exploited workers through in-house provisions and/or referrals to local Campaign member organizations. The Campaign’s staff performs client intake and assessment before placing cases with appropriate agencies or providing direct service provisions. Through the Campaign’s extensive network of pro bono lawyers and social service providers, the Campaign is able to serve a multilingual constituency with ongoing case management. Additionally, the Campaign, in collaboration with the Center for Multicultural Human Services, has recently embarked on a comprehensive program of services for victims of trafficking in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Southern and Central New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Eastern West Virginia.

PROMISE Central

The Campaign has also successfully launched PROMISE Central (Promoting Rights Of Migrants In Servitude & Enslavement), a “one-stop shop” on Sundays where domestic workers can meet to communicate and organize, gain education about US labor laws, and hone their skills to successfully challenge exploitative workplaces and violations to their rights. Currently, the workers of PROMISE Central are participating in computer classes and Spanish classes and will soon begin writing and performing a theatrical play about their harrowing experiences in the United States.

Institute on Human Trafficking Training

As a Freedom Network regional coordinator, the Campaign also provides in-depth training to local grassroots and community-based organizations on anti-trafficking initiatives and worker exploitation throughout the Northeast region. Currently, 10 trainings are scheduled for benefit-issuing agencies and law enforcement entities in Boston, Buffalo, central New Jersey, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Advocacy and Public Policy

The Campaign has undertaken strategic advocacy projects and is currently involved in drafting model legislation to afford domestic worker visa holders equal access to legal protections that are afforded other labor industry workers. The Campaign is also partnering with other domestic worker communities to address state and national legislation as well as working with other anti-trafficking organizations to comment on the United States Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and Reauthorization of 2004.

Technical Assistance/Capacity-Building

In conjunction with the International Organization of Adolescents (IOFA) in New York City, the Campaign is providing technical assistance and capacity-building to like-minded organizations in order to facilitate a wider dissemination of public education, trainings, and outreach materials. By transferring information and skills to organizations’ board, staff, and volunteers and their coalition members throughout the Northeast region, the Campaign and IOFA strive to increase the region’s ability to respond to cases of trafficking and slavery. The creation of coalitions and alliances among organizations will leverage resources, strengthen advocacy efforts and expand the reach of services to underserved populations.

Media Outreach and Public Awareness

The Campaign has strategically begun a public awareness campaign to educate the general public about slavery, trafficking and worker exploitation. It has successfully generating a large number of major news reports including Newsweek, US News & World Report, the Washington Post, and the New York Times as well as a number of radio and television shows. Appearances on local news programs has been an important aspect of the media strategy in order to reach non-English speaking workers who may have no other contact with the outside world, save for language-specific radio or television. The Campaign’s media strategy has allowed workers of all ethnicities to know they are not alone and where to find help.

Domestic Worker Affinity Group

Through a partnership with Global Rights, the Campaign hosted an international domestic worker conference in New York City to establish a network of national and international domestic worker groups in order to develop joint strategies for combating discrimination against and the exploitation of domestic workers. Many of the attendees of the conference were able to reconvene in April 2004 in Geneva.