Human Thread Foundation

Four letters, one knuckle each, on a man imprisoned in Romania for selling women.

The tattoo came before the conviction, and it is still there. Whatever the court decided he was, he had already decided.

That gap is the subject. At Mioveni Prison, our founder Lisa Kristine interviewed men serving sentences for trafficking women into prostitution, and what struck us was not evasion. It was sincerity. They were not constructing defenses. They were describing lives they understood perfectly well, in which they had done nothing wrong. Partners. Providers. Men who had been generous with women who had little.

Force never came up. Nobody needed it. What they described instead was a sequence: be adored, then be needed, then be obeyed, then be paid. Each stage makes the next one reasonable. By the end, the woman is doing something she can explain to herself, and the man is receiving money he can explain to anyone.

Lisa asked one of them what he would want if his daughter ended up in prostitution. He thought about it. Then he said it would be up to her.

That answer is the method working correctly. He was not being callous. He genuinely could not locate the coercion in what he had done, because the coercion had been distributed across months of ordinary intimacy, and no single day of it looked like a crime. This is why the Loverboy method resists prosecution. There is no moment to point at. There is only a slope.

Trafficked from North Africa into Europe, she was pregnant as a result of her exploitation. This was taken in a safe house. She is pausing over the scent of a clean garment.

Her pregnancy is evidence. Men paid for access to her, more than once, and every person who profited from that arrangement described it as something she had agreed to.

September 23 is the International Day Against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Women and Children. The date marks a law Argentina passed in 1913, the first anywhere against the sexual exploitation of children. It worked by fixing on age, because with a child nobody can pretend there was a choice. A hundred and thirteen years later, we are still arguing about the adults.

Photograph by Lisa Kristine. With thanks to the Galileo Foundation.

Shine a light 🕯️

Our founder, Lisa Kristine, has traveled far and wide to document modern slavery unfolding before our eyes. She promised to shine a light on the suffering millions of people endure wherever she went.

Meet Bilhana*. Her story unfolds in the vibrant streets of Kathmandu, a tale of love turned betrayal. Deceived by someone she trusted, Bilhana found herself ensnared in the sinister world of forced prostitution.

The dimly lit basement, posing as a restaurant, became her new reality. Numbered cubicles, shrouded in darkness, housed stories of shattered innocence. Verbal and physical abuse became her daily torment as she was forced to entertain clients, the promise of love replaced by a nightmare.

Trapped in this exploitative underworld, Bilhana longed for escape. The narrow stairs leading back to the world she once knew seemed a distant hope. No back doors, no windows for freedom – she, like many others, was ensnared with no means of breaking free.

Bilhana's story reflects the heartbreaking reality of forced prostitution, a brutal form of modern slavery. It's a stark reminder that this pervasive issue exists not only in distant lands but within the boundaries of our communities.

Visit our website to learn more and join the fight to end this heinous crime. Together, let's raise awareness and break the chains that bind individuals like Bilhana.

* Bilhana is a fictional character created for awareness-raising purposes.

Child labor - let's talk about it!

Child labor is a tricky term as not all labor done by children should be considered as exploitative and account to modern slavery. That is why the International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labor as "work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development." It must therefore be "mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children" and interfere with their education.

Depending on each country, the child's age, and the type and condition of work, a particular form of "work" may or may not be considered "child labor." When we talk about child labor as a form of modern slavery, we imply what is called "the worst forms of child labor."

As defined by Article 3 of ILO Convention No. 182, these types of child labor refer to:

• "all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bo***ge and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;

• the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of po*******hy or for pornographic performances;

• the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;

• work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children."

One further distinction is made when we talk about "hazardous child labor," one of the worst forms of child labor - and one photographed by our Founder Lisa Kristine.

Many of the everyday products we depend on—whether clothing, electronics, or food—are linked to modern slavery. While we often commend hard work, it's crucial to recognize that, for millions of people, this "hard work" means exploitation. Forced labor, debt bo***ge, and child exploitation are rampant within global supply chains, often hidden from view.

Our demand for affordable goods contributes to this exploitation, driving vulnerable populations into conditions that strip them of their rights and dignity. The hard work we often celebrate is, for many, a life of coerced labor with no escape.

As consumers, we are all connected to this system. By educating ourselves, supporting companies that prioritize ethical practices, and advocating for greater transparency, we can help ensure that all work is dignified and free from exploitation. Together, we can push for a world where hard work is a source of pride and fair treatment, not abuse.

Shine a light 🕯️

Our founder, Lisa Kristine, has traveled far and wide to document modern slavery unfolding before our eyes. She promised to shine a light on the suffering millions of people endure wherever she went.

In the arid outskirts of a small Indian village, where the dust rises with each step and the sun beats down mercilessly, lives a young boy named Arav. At just five years old, Arav's world is defined not by play or schooling, but by labor. His parents, caught in a relentless cycle of debt, work under conditions that are harsh and unforgiving. As a result, Arav spends his days not in a classroom, but alongside his family in the fields, where they toil from dawn until dusk to meet the demanding quotas set by their employer.

The concept of "debt bo***ge" has ensnared Arav's family, forcing them to work for little or no pay under the threat of violence or even harsher penalties. This form of modern slavery means that even the youngest members of the family, like Arav, are not spared. With his parents unable to earn enough to repay the ever-growing debt, Arav's childhood is sacrificed for additional labor that might lighten the family’s burden.

Arav's days are long and filled with difficult tasks that are unsuitable for someone his age. He often helps with gathering crops and other physically demanding chores, which leaves him exhausted and with little time or energy to play or learn. Despite his young age, the seriousness in his eyes reflects an awareness of his family’s desperate circumstances.

The vulnerability of children like Arav to exploitation in such settings is a grim reality. Without access to education and trapped in a cycle of poverty and labor, these children face immense obstacles to changing their futures. Arav’s situation highlights the urgent need for intervention to address child labor and forced labor. It calls for the enforcement of labor laws that protect children and ensure that families are not exploited through manipulative debt schemes.

*Arav is a fictional character created for awareness-raising purposes.

Shine a light 🕯️

Our founder, Lisa Kristine, has traveled far and wide to document modern slavery unfolding before our eyes. She promised to shine a light on the suffering millions of people endure wherever she went.

In the arid expanses of Rajasthan, India, Savita dreamed of a simple life supporting her family. However, when a severe drought devastated their village, she found herself desperate for work to prevent her family from falling into poverty. Seizing an opportunity, Savita accepted an offer from a man promising well-paying work in the city, hoping it would secure her family's future.

Upon arrival, Savita discovered she had been deceived. She was confined to a garment factory, a far cry from the promised job. The factory was more like a prison, with barred windows and locked doors, and the work was grueling. Forced to operate sewing machines for long hours under strict supervision, Savita and her co-workers faced harsh penalties for any mistakes. They were also burdened by an ever-increasing “debt” for their travel and accommodation, a tactic to keep them bound to the factory.

Isolated from her family, Savita found strength in her memories of home and her resolve to escape and return. Her ordeal highlights the harsh realities of modern slavery under the guise of employment, emphasizing the need for stronger labor protections and vigilant enforcement to protect workers.

Savita's story serves as a reminder of the importance of safeguarding workers' rights and dignity, urging support for efforts that ensure employment is a means of betterment, not exploitation. Through stories like hers, we are called to action to help prevent such abuses and advocate for the fair treatment of all workers.

*Note: Savita is a fictional character created for awareness-raising purposes.

Shine a light 🕯️

Our founder, Lisa Kristine, has traveled far and wide to document modern slavery unfolding before our eyes. She promised to shine a light on the suffering millions of people endure wherever she went.

This is Aakriti*. She is seven years old and was born in Bengaluru (Bangalore) in India into a poor family. Her father left when she was a baby, leaving her mother in charge of her and her two older sisters. Being illiterate, it was difficult for Aakriti’s mother to make enough money to support her family.

So, Aakriti and her sisters had to help. At only four years old, Aakriti was forced to beg for money in the streets of Bangalore for hours on end. Sometimes, she spent up to 14 hours wandering through the streets in search of people’s empathy and change. She will probably never learn how to read and write, diminishing any dreams she has for the future.

Verbal and physical abuse are on Aakriti’s daily agenda. Upon returning her collected money to her mother, she is often abused for not bringing back enough. Then, her mother uses the money to satisfy her alcohol addiction, and Aakriti goes hungry once again.

Stories like Aakriti’s present a common experience for children in India and around the world. Forced begging is a common form of modern slavery. Head to our website to learn more!

* Aakriti is a fictional character created for awareness-raising purposes.

This June 20 is World Refugee Day. This year marks 75 years since the world made a promise: that people forced to flee have the right to seek safety.

That promise is being broken every day — not just at borders, but in the places refugees and migrants end up when official channels are closed to them. Migrant workers are three times more likely to end up in forced labour than local workers. The more dangerous and irregular the journey, the more that risk compounds.

Lisa has photographed people on those journeys — migrants riding freight trains, moving through the margins of the world with nothing to protect them. What her camera captures is what statistics cannot: the specific human cost of a system that forces people into invisibility, and what happens to people when they become invisible.

Displacement doesn't end exploitation. Too often, it's where exploitation begins.