Meet the Heroes

A Policeman in Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Sattaru Umapathi has rescued victims, prosecuted traffickers, and worked extensively with local NGOs.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Kailash Satyarthi has freed an estimated 83,000 children from forced and bonded labor since the 1980s.

Magistrate Chauhan has worked through an incredible backlog of cases in administering the ITPA as part of Mumbai’s specialized court.

Ms. Siddamma engages in grassroots community organizing in Tamil Nadu with the Irula caste, freeing many from bonded labor and generational slavery.

After witnessing the after-effects of a 1988 fire, Amod Kanth created the NGO Prayas, an organization for disenfranchised and distressed children in India.

Bhanuja Sharan Lal is the director of an NGO in Northern India, where he organizes communities, helps child labor survivors receive education, and assists rescues.

Sunitha Krishnan, herself a survivor of sexual violence, co-founded the organization Prajwala to help create a pipeline out of the sex trade.

A District Court Judge in Nepal, Tek Narayan Kunwar has pioneered the implementation of the Nepalese anti-trafficking law, while maintaining a victim centered approach.

The Esther Benjamin’s Memorial Foundation Rescue Team have liberated many Nepali girls from circus slavery in South Asia.

Charimaya Tamang, a victim of sex trafficking, became the first to file a complaint with the district police.

Sunita Danuwar has made the remarkable transformation from trafficking victim to one of Nepal’s leading social activists.

As a journalist in Tajikistan, Adiba Umarova was able to re-open a cold case which led to the arrest of a trafficking ringleader.

Mohammed Tariqul Islam is an advocate for victims of human trafficking whose work has helped increase the Bangladesh government’s capacity to investigate and prosecute traffickers.

Md. Al-Amin is a trafficking survivor and manager at the BRAC Migration Welfare Centre, where he has assisted over 34,000 trafficking survivors and migrants in Bangladesh.

While working on her PhD Thesis, Alice Nah saw the plight of migrant workers in Malaysia.

The late Irene Fernandez was a well-known activist and advocate in Malaysia, supporting the rights of women, and the rights of Migrant workers, for decades.

A victim of labor trafficking, Prum has spread awareness of this issue through his paintings.

A French NGO worker, Pierre Legros and a trafficking victim, Somaly Mam, founded one of the most influential sex trafficking NGOs in Asia.

From despair to hope—Pierre Tami in Cambodia helps to regain dignity for the abused, vulnerable and jobless through social empowerment.

In 2004, Guy Jacobson, a lawyer, and Adi Ezroni, an Israeli Actress, founded the Redlight Children Campaign to combat child sex trafficking.

Mech Dara is a Cambodian journalist whose reporting on increased incidents of human trafficking connected to online scam operations were some of the first in-depth investigative pieces on the subject.

A domestic worker from Indonesia, Nirmala Bonat suffered at the hands of her employers, until she brought them to court.

The Principal of a large Islamic School in Indonesia, Kyai Husein Muhammad ran an extensive media campaign against human trafficking.

In 2000, Wahyu Susilo began championing the cause he still stands for: the rights of the estimated 4.5 million Indonesians who work overseas.

A television personality, Dewi Hughes became the spokesperson for a Campaign to Eliminate the Trafficking of Indonesian Women and Children.

After a horrific ordeal at the hands of a fraudulent recruitment company in Iraq, Elly Anita joined the NGO Migrant Care.

Maizidah Salas is a leading voice for migrant worker rights in Indonesia.

A high-ranking Police Officer in the South of Mongolia, Major Tumenbayar has been crucial to the fight against cross-border human trafficking.

The founder of the Mongolian Gender Equality Center, Ganbayasgakh Geleg has been helping victims of trafficking since 2002.

Peter Nguyen Van Hung came to Taiwan first in 1988 as a missionary, and now fights for Vietnamese women and workers who have been trafficked.

Thailand exports a large amount of the world’s seafood, and Sompong Srakaew has set out to make sure they do this without using slave labor.

Ms. Apinya is the Deputy Director of the Stella Maris Seafarer’s Center, an NGO in Thailand.

A Lawyer for an Australian charity, Van Ngoc Tan works in Vietnam and China to free victims of forced labor and sex trafficking.

As the Ambassador from Colombia to Japan, the Honorable Francisco Sierra was able to address a unique problem: people who were being trafficked from Colombia to Japan.

After she completed several successful Senate terms, Nancy Kassebaum accompanied her husband to Japan, where he served as the United States Ambassador.

Ippei Torii, the Secretary General of the Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, has provided assistance to thousands of workers.

Ibusuki has sought justice on behalf of countless foreign workers by providing legal representation for those who are taking action against former employees for labor law violations.

Kim Jong-chul is the founder and former Director of the Advocates for Public Interest Law.

Founder and president of an NGO, Susan Ople provides assistance to Filipino workers who have moved overseas for work.

Despite juggling an average case-load of 300 criminal cases, Prosecutor Darlene Pajarito has still managed to bring traffickers to justice.

Samson “Sam” Inocencio has devoted over 20 years to fighting human trafficking with the International Justice Mission (IJM) Philippines.

A leading advocate for increasing efforts to combat trafficking in Bhutan.

A driving force in increasing awareness of human trafficking in Hong Kong