The Freedom Keys Research Project aims to generate innovative ideas for ending modern slavery, and to test the effectiveness of those ideas. As part of that research, we wanted to validate the hypothesis that most anti-slavery/anti-trafficking organisations give inadequate attention to the roles played by perpetrators. An online survey distributed to anti-slavery/anti-trafficking organisations globally provided data on specific aspects of strategic planning, including the four pillars framework, theories of change, and attitudes to perpetrators. This report describes the survey, summarises the 147 responses, and discusses some implications of those results. Of prime significance, we found that …

▪ Only 41% of anti-slavery organisations use the Four Pillars Framework as a central guiding principle of their work, even though it is the primary approach to anti-slavery work promoted by the UN and the USA government.

▪ For those organisations whose programs are guided by the Four Pillars Framework, Prevention is the most important influence and Prosecution the least.

▪ Only 26% of anti-slavery organisations have a documented theory of change that mentions perpetrators.

▪ Only 27% of organisations have programs that address the motivations and drivers of perpetrators.

▪ Regardless of the lack of conceptual thinking and interest in perpetrators, 57% of organisations actually do engage directly with perpetrators.

Overall, we conclude that many organisations do not have a thought through position with regard to perpetrators, and although they find themselves dealing with perpetrators, they do so without any prior theoretical framework, organisational interest, or intentional organisational capacity.

To read the full report click here.