Break the Chain Campaign
Break The Chain Campaign seeks to prevent and address the abuse and exploitation of migrant women workers through holistic direct services, leadership training, community engagement and survivor-driven outreach and training.
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The Institute Policy Studies started Break the Chain Campaign (BTCC) in 1997 after an expose in the Washington City Paper by IPS Fellow Martha Honey (entitled "Capital Slaves"), which chronicled the lives of women living in virtual slavery while working as domestic servants for officials of the World Bank and other international agencies.
Upon discovering the extent of exploitation of migrant women workers in the D.C. metropolitan area, the BTCC project expanded beyond reporting to better serve and empower these women. The project has provided legal, moral, economic and other support for hundreds of these migrant domestic workers, from dozens of countries, for over a decade. The project also helped raise awareness of the problem of exploitation of domestic workers in the World Bank and other agencies, and was a key advocate for new policies in these agencies.
Today, the project is a leader in the Freedom Network – a national network of anti-trafficking organizations, which greatly contributed to the creation of current legislation protecting the rights of victims of human trafficking, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and its reauthorization in 2008. We are also a key partner with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, bringing the domestic worker rights lens to trafficking work, and vice versa.
Currently, we focus on research, writing, policy advocacy, and training, all based on our 14 years of direct service experience and our commitment to a rights-based approach.
Recent Work
Blog
A Step Forward for Guestworkers in the United States
February 23, 2012 - Earlier this month, the Department of Labor announced new protections for guestworkers with a temporary work permit. By Tiffany Williams
Op-Ed
Those Bad Old Days Are Still with Us
February 6, 2012 - "The Help" is drawing attention to today's domestic workers. By Tiffany Williams, published in YubaNet and The (Easton, MD) Star Democrat and Progressive Charlestown (RI)
Blog
Protecting Guest Workers in the United States
December 30, 2011 - Hershey's chocolate packing plant is in at the center of a dispute related to a "summer work travel visa" with little opportunity beyond mere survival. By Tiffany Williams
Blog
A Wish for the Holidays: Children's Voices Ringing through the Halls of Congress
December 13, 2011 - 5,000 letters from children across the country symbolize the need to address the flaws of the immigration and deportation systems. By Celia Garcia Perez
Media Advisory
Health Care Workers Demand That Congress Generate Jobs, Not Health Care Cuts, in 'Take Back the Capitol' Week
December 7, 2011 - Underemployed workers, jobless people, health care workers, and protesters marched to K Street, where they confronted corporate CEOs and lobbyists for some of the country’s largest companies, which have avoided paying their fair share of taxes for years.
Magazine Article
The Power of Poetry
November 4, 2011 - Poets resist anti-immigration laws with defiance, beauty, and social media. By Sarah Browning
Tiffany Williams