Slavery's Last
Stronghold
Join the Abolition Institute in Ending
Slavery in Mauritania
The Abolition Institute was inspired by a groundbreaking CNN report “Slavery’s Last Stronghold” documenting the horrors of race and descent based slavery in the West African nation of Mauritania. Mauritania did not criminalize slavery until 2007 and laws against the practice have seldom been enforced. However, journalists, human rights advocates, United Nations officials and academic leaders have long documented the inhuman practice of slavery in Mauritania.
Slavery in
Mauritania
​Conditions for slaves in Mauritania are brutal, with women and children facing the worst abuse. As in the United States before the abolition of slavery, women are frequently raped by their masters and their children can be taken from them at any time.
Children born to slave women become slaves for their entire lives. Families are separated as a way of isolating slaves, reducing the likelihood of escape, and keeping them dependent on their masters. Brave advocates fighting against slavery in Mauritania have suffered repression and violence for decades.
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About the
Abolition Institute
In the spirit of the abolitionists from around the world who have fought slavery since ancient times, the Abolition Institute was formed to end the practice in Mauritania forever.
It has successfully won over $5 million in funding to fight slavery in Mauritania and its region, generated worldwide media attention to the abuses of the country’s slavery system, and worked in close partnership with courageous grassroots activists in Mauritania.
Your Donation's Impact
A donation of just $50 will cover the legal fees for filing four anti-slavery cases to help free those held in bondage. Learn more here.