FREEDOM FIRM USA
Rescue, Restoration, Justice
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Freedom Firm investigators have discovered children being sexually exploited for profit in hundreds of locations across numerous states in India. Extreme poverty, lack of education, generational prostitution, religious sanction, and little or no law enforcement are all major factors contributing to child prostitution in India. These are some of India’s most vulnerable youth; poor, uneducated, often betrayed by family, lured by promised jobs or marriages and ultimately sold to be sexual slaves. Without rescue, these young girls are unlikely to ever know a life of freedom. Even after rescue the obstacles they face are many. Freedom Firm intervenes in their exploitation through conducting rescues; pursues legal action to increase accountability for perpetrators and protection for victims; and helps survivors along their journey of healing and equipping for their future.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Rescue
Freedom Firm deploys undercover investigators who follow leads and monitor high prostitution areas, locating underage victims of sex trafficking.
Using a variety of methods, investigators identify the minor victims as well as the brothel keepers, pimps, and traffickers, document the crime, and then submit this information to the police. With assistance from Freedom Firm, the police raid the brothels and rescue the girls, who are then placed in aftercare. The police arrest the perpetrators and file criminal complaints against them.
Restoration
After rescue, each girl is placed in a local government observation home pending an inquiry into her background and family condition. Freedom Firm’s Regional Aftercare Program has a team of social workers who closely follow each rescued girl as she moves through the government process and beyond. The social workers provide ongoing counseling and facilitate medical care, education, certified training programs, and life-skills education to provide each girl with tools and support for a life outside of prostitution. Freedom Firm social workers not only facilitate each girl’s healing and growth, but also seek to equip her practically for a future of self-sufficiency and independence. These programs help to bring about a newfound sense of self-worth and self-confidence, helping girls reclaim their identity and make healthy choices for their future.
Justice
Freedom Firm is fervently fighting to create systemic change in India through the consistent application of the laws against trafficking. Our advocates monitor each case closely, help prepare counsel and witnesses, and assist at trial. We pursue each case through the judicial process until a verdict is reached. Rescued girls testify against their perpetrators and help bring them to the final step of achieving justice. This justice not only brings healing to the victims but it also acts as a deterrent, in that it increases the cost of trafficking, which is an important step in eliminating child prostitution in India.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of investigations performed to find minors in prostitution
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Rescue
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of women and girls rescued (removed from forced prostitution)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Rescue
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
*Ideally this metric will decrease as exploitation of minors is deterred, however we are still in stages of the work overall where more rescues is generally representative of great impact.
Number of criminal cases filed against perpetrators
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Justice
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of Life Skills sessions conducted for survivors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Restoration
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
It is Freedom Firm's ultimate goal to eliminate the practice of sex trafficking and child prostitution in India. Since our foundation Freedom Firm has worked to Rescue over 750 young girls enslaved in the commercial sex trade.
The goals for the year 2022 include:
Continued identification and rescue of minors from exploitation in regions throughout India
Legal criminal filing on each new rescue, continued follow up on well over 200 active legal cases
Aftercare services (immediate and ongoing) for over 200 girls
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Freedom Firm is a non-profit organization dedicated to the liberation of children enslaved in commercial sexual exploitation, their effective rehabilitation, and to seek justice against those who have profited from their misery.
Rescue: Freedom Firm’s three pronged solution to the problem of child sex trafficking starts at rescue by removing girls from the control of traffickers. The investigations team goes undercover in red-light areas, identifying victims, documenting their presence with hidden cameras, and taking the information to the police. They initiate and lead the police on raiding the brothel and freeing the girls. After the raid, they work to file the criminal charges against the perpetrators, so that they can be prosecuted in courts.
Justice: The second part of the solution works to prosecute traffickers and brothel keepers. The legal team assists public prosecutors at each stage of the criminal trial. They oppose bail, initiate brothel closures, and file petitions to the high courts and the child welfare committee. They support the rescued girls in testifying against their abusers, helping bring them to justice. These cases and convictions and the hundreds of legal steps in between are powerful deterrents against trafficking minors.
Restoration: The third prong is the restoration program. This includes immediate support during and after rescue, medical support, home evaluation, counselling and life skills courses. The restoration team has developed a curriculum that fits the girls’ culture and realistic possibilities for her future. Freedom Firm social workers continue to follow up with girls long after rescue and work to bridge gaps for them to have successful reintegration into society.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Freedom Firm is small but well distributed in offices throughout India. Our staff primarily consists of Indian nationals who know the culture and are able to identify and care for rescued girls effectively. Additionally, they are familiar with the Indian judicial system and are able to assist on cases that go to trial. Our mobile operations allow us to look for minors trapped in the commercial sex trade in cities where other larger organizations may not be able to travel. Freedom Firm benefits from the learnings, experience, connections and perseverance developed through combatting sexual exploitation of Indian minors since 2006. Finally, the combined approach of rescue, restoration, and justice is effective in both stopping current crimes and also reducing and eventually eliminating future crimes.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since our founding Freedom Firm has:
Rescued over 750 girls from the commercial sex trade.
Maintained contact through social workers and staff and continue to work with and support over 200 of these girls today - many girls have moved on to marriages or jobs or returned to their families and villages.
Over 200 legal cases are working their way through the Indian judicial system, many are still active, and we have seen 11 convictions to date.
Expanded to 6 office locations and conducted investigations in 9 states, positioning us to follow leads effectively.
Had involvement in over 50 brothel closures.
Seen increased police initiation and action in pursuing sex-trafficking crimes independently in areas we have worked the longest.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We serve female victims of sex trafficking in India, primarily under age 18.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We are continually honing our support programs for survivors to fit the direct needs of the girls, their varied processes of reintegration, and the cultural context they are in/from. The information our social workers gain from interaction and feedback has directly informed our current curriculum of life skills courses that we offer to girls.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
FREEDOM FIRM USA
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Roger Rumer
Retired Business Executive
Term: 2019 - 2022
Margie Gardner
Freedom Firm Secretary / CFO Grace Evangelical Church
Brian Rightler
Gaynelle Shepherd
Freedom Firm Vice Chairman / Physical Therapist
Reuben Arulanandam
Solutions Delivery Lead, Neilsen
Anne Walters
In-Home Caretaker
Amy Swanson
Homemaker
Raghu Velaga
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data