Micheline, a native of Haiti, became a slave after being orphaned at the age of five. She was subjected to nine years of brutal beatings and exhausting chores by her extended family before she was trafficked to Connecticut. Micheline was only able to escape and begin rebuilding her life as a young woman. Today she lives in Massachusetts and hgas started speaking out about her years in servitude throughout New England. She has testified before the Massachusetts State Assembly and addressed the International Women’s Day Conference alongside Swanee Hunt, former US Ambassador to Austria. Micheline has also been featured in several radio and television shows, including New England Cable News, as well as the Boston Metro and The Hartford Courant.

A native of southern Sudan, Francis was abducted at the age of 7 and enslaved for ten years. Today he lives in Kansas and works on the staff of the American Anti-Slavery Group. He has worked tirelessly to spread awareness about modern slavery in speeches across the country and with his critically acclaimed autobiography, Escape from Slavery. He has headed a panel on slavery at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, testified before a Senate Committee in Washington, D.C., been asked to meet President Bush at the White House, and been invited to carry the Winter Olympic Torch. Francis has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and Essence Magazine, in addition to several radio and television shows.

At age 23, Beatrice answered a job advertisement from a local agency looking for housemaids. Instead, she found herself being trafficked from her native Sri Lanka to Lebanon, where she was forced to endure several months of brutal physical abuse. Desperate to escape, Beatrice finally jumped off a fourth-floor balcony to her freedom. Beatrice’s amazing story is published in her autobiography In Contempt of Fate. She has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, been interviewed by several radio and television programs, and been profiled in The Boston Herald.

A refugee of southern Sudan, Simon Deng was abducted and sold into slavery at the age of nine. Today he travels the country, inspiring audiences with his passionate plea for action on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of victims of Sudanese slavery and genocide. He has addressed students at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia University and been profiled in the Christian Science Monitor. One student testified thus to his powerful presence as a speaker: “You could hear a pin drop in the room, it was so quiet. Everyone gave him the attention that he deserved.”

After her village in southern Sudan was raided by government-backed militia forces, Abuk Bak was forcefully uprooted and sold into slavery to an Arab man who took her to the North. He subjected her to daily beatings and repeated threats and attempted sexual assault at knifepoint. It was ten years before Abuk was finally able to summon the courage to escape. In 2000 she was granted UN Refugee Status, enabling her to move to New York. She eventually relocated to Boston in order to play an active role in AASG’s Speakers Bureau, educating audiences across the country about the frightening reality of modern slavery and the genocide in Sudan. Abuk has appeared on PBS, been featured in Ladies Home Journal and profiled by The New York Times.

Mr. Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa is currently the Foreign Secretary for the underground anti-slavery group, SOS Slaves. Yessa was born into the ruling class in Mauritania and spent much of his childhood surrounded by slaves. They were not only his servants but also his playmates. At the age of sixteen, Yessa studied the French Revolution and became captivated by the idea that 'all men are created free and equal'. Today, Yessa lives in exile in Paris heading up the international efforts of SOS Slaves.

A refugee from the Darfur region of Sudan, Mohamed is the chairman of the Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy (DCFD). In the early 1990s, Mohamed's village was attacked by the Sudanese government-backed Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed. The raiders decimated his village and Mohamed's relatives and neighbors were shot, raped, and burnt alive. Today, Mohamed works with other refugees and speaks out against the genocide in Sudan. Mohamed has spoken at Duke, George Washington University, and alongside Gloria Steinem at a rally in front of the UN.