The Right to Belong

What if the greatest crisis of our time is not migration and displacement, but the systems that decide who is worthy of safety, freedom and belonging?

Across the world, women and children are living through the devastating consequences of war, occupation, persecution, ecological collapse and political instability. Forced from their homes and separated from their communities, millions are searching for safety. Along these fractured journeys, many become vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery.

At the heart of this conversation is a simple truth: every human being has self-determination. Before nations, passports, borders, race, religion or politics, we already belong to one another and to the living world.

As Audre Lorde reminds us, "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own."

More than 60 million forcibly displaced and stateless women and girls are at heightened risk of gender-based violence, according to the UN refugee agency.

No border, government, market or ideology should diminish a person's inherent dignity, agency or right to live free from violence, coercion and fear.

Yet we are living through an era in which power is increasingly concentrated and humanity is increasingly conditional. In Australia, debates about immigration, identity and belonging challenge the promise of a multicultural democracy. Globally, the continuing scrutiny of the Epstein network has exposed how wealth, influence and institutions can shield abuse and delay accountability.

These are different realities, but they ask the same enduring questions: Who is protected? Who is believed? Whose freedom is considered expendable?

Join us at the table with Sally Irwin, founder and CEO of The Freedom Hub, for an intimate evening exploring the intersections of gender, displacement, migration, modern slavery and the systems that shape women's lives in Australia and beyond.

Together we will ask:

Who belongs?

Who decides?

What does innate freedom mean when a woman's body, movement or future is controlled by others?

How do we build communities where safety is not a privilege, but a shared responsibility?

This is not a conversation about charity.

It is a conversation about courage. About dismantling the conditions that make exploitation possible. About reclaiming a future where every woman and every child can live in freedom, dignity and belonging.

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 This special supper is supporting The Freedom Hub, restoring freedom to those who’ve survived the unimaginable, Australia’s only life-long recovery hub for survivors of modern slavery.

ABOUT

Sally Irwin (OAM) is the founder and CEO of The Freedom Hub, an Australian organisation dedicated to supporting survivors of modern slavery and advocating for a future free from human exploitation.

With more than 16 years of experience working alongside survivors in Australia and Europe, Sally founded The Freedom Hub in 2014 to help people rebuild their lives after exploitation, raise awareness of modern slavery, and inspire businesses and communities to become part of the solution. Her work is grounded in the belief that every person deserves to live with safety, dignity and freedom.