It’s becoming clear that certain interventions work better than others in the fight to end modern slavery, according to a recent report from the Freedom Fund.

The Freedom Fund was founded to drive a more ambitious research agenda to identify — and invest in — the most effective frontline efforts to eradicate abuses such as sex trafficking and bonded labor. Over the past four years, the fund has supported more than 100 partner NGOs to deliver a broad range of interventions to combat slavery in contexts with a prevalent number of cases, such as Northern India, Southeastern Nepal, Ethiopia, and Thailand.

The group’s focus on quantitative measurement allows it to more successfully target its programs, according to Yuki Lo, Freedom Fund senior research and evaluation officer.

1. General "awareness raising" activities aren’t a smart investment. Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, commissioned for The Freedom Fund’s Ethiopia hotspot work, found that safer migration programming should be informed by an understanding of migrants’ perceptions of risk, and their motivations about whether and how to migrate.

2. "Rescue" without ongoing support is a bad idea. Lo encourages those in the antitrafficking sector to consider that a "rescue" may be a much slower process with a longer timeline for full recovery. Support services like drop-in centers, shelters, counseling, and job training can encourage "a more gradual and informed exit," Lo said.

3. There’s little progress without wider community involvement — and prevention efforts. Freedom Fund partners are working with young women in the textile sector, for example, to educate them in wage laws, the permissible number of overtime hours allowed, and stressing that verbal or physical harassment is not acceptable in the workplace.

Read the full article about eradicating modern slavery by Kelli Rogers at Devex International Development.