A woman seeks freedom, the fights slavery
Thanks to a CNN documentary about Freedom For All's work, Francisca Awah, an enslaved domestic worker in Kuwait, reached out to us for help in August 2015.
““Hello, good day, am a female of age 32 from Cameroon but a maid in Kuwait. Please am a modern day slave and I wish to be freed and go back to my country… I need to pay off my master before I go.
“Many of us are here, but can’t communicate because communication is restricted and most of the girls [had their phones] seized by their masters, some are not allowed to own phones. We are being treated more [like] animals and prisoners never allowed to go out of the house. Please help us…””
Freedom For All came to her rescue. We flew Francisca home to Cameroon, where she lives with her young son.
Upon her return, Francisca Awah founded the Committee Against Human Trafficking and Rights Abuse (COMATHRA). Staffed by a group of fellow advocates, COMATHRA works to defend women and fight back against human trafficking. They take down local recruiters’ false advertisements and replace them with educational flyers.
They speak at schools and churches to raise awareness about the dangers of traveling to the Middle East for work.
Ultimately, COMATHRA hopes to create a network of women across West Africa that will fight for this cause.
