Supported projects

AMSTERDAM / MAE SOT - A message on Instagram: "Hi darling. I’ve been thinking about you a lot today… Are you thinking of me too?" It's a typical scam. But these scammers are victims themselves, often lured by false promises and imprisoned in scam centres in Southeast Asia.

BRUSSELS - Humiliating language, a common mobile phone number, an age that does not match the photo shown: one in three Brussels sex profiles on Quartier Rouge and Redlights show signs that something is not right.

CAYAMBE – An investigation into Ecuador's flower trade reveals severe exploitation of workers and indigenous communities encircled by the plantations - and how European customers are misled about the true conditions behind the pesticide-laden blooms they are buying.

MARBELLA - Male influencers push hyper-masculinity, wealth and flashy lifestyles as the path to success. Their polished marketing hides crude truths: empty promises that mislead followers and harmful ideas about gender and power.

SOUS / PARIS – This investigation examines the challenges faced by Berber women as market pressures and climate change threaten the sustainability of argan oil cooperatives in Morocco.

MOYOBAMBA - This investigation traces the global supply chain of sacha inchi, an Amazonian seed also known as ‘the Inca’s gold’, to expose the mechanisms of modern-day biopiracy.

AALSMEER / NAIVASHA/ TABACUNDO – This cross-border investigation reveals the hidden economic, social and ecological asymmetries of roses, which symbolise love in the north but often represent exploitation in the south.

BUCHAREST / ROME / DHAKA – The investigation reveals Romania’s chaotic labour migration system pushes legal workers into illegality, creating conditions akin to modern slavery. Interviews and data show a network of recruiters, companies, and officials profiting from migrants' vulnerability while ...

MADRID / PARIS / BRUSSELS - This cross-border investigation examines how labour activities are organised within prisons across Europe and sheds light on the broader relationship between incarceration, exploitation and rehabilitation.

BRUSSELS - This investigation revealed that farm owners who intimidate and exploit migrant workers are receiving millions in agricultural subsidies. Nearly thirty CAP payments were traced to farms that had breached workers’ rights, were under criminal investigation or had already been convicted of ...

BUCHAREST / MADRID / KYIV - From cyberbullying and cyberharassment, exposure to harmful content and hate speech, to online child sexual abuse and exploitation, statistics show that all are on the rise, and digital safety for the youngest citizens has become a global concern.

ISTANBUL / LONDON - This true crime environmental series unravels a dangerous trail behind a boy's body found in recycled plastic, through witnesses, whistleblowers and hidden global scandals.

TIRANA / WEINSTADT / PRAGUE - This project brings together journalists from Albania, Germany, and the Czech Republic to investigate how Europe can balance the growing demand for renewable energy with the urgent need to protect its rivers.

PRAGUE - This investigation uncovers a secretive porn empire’s dominance, hidden ownership, lawsuits, financial evasions, industry threats, and struggles with new regulation.

WARSAW / AMSTERDAM / ANTWERP - Europe’s growing labour shortages in sectors like agriculture, logistics, transport, and hospitality are increasingly being filled by a new and highly vulnerable group – migrant workers from Central Asia. Many travel via Poland and end up, through opaque and ...

IJMUIDEN/ FRASERBURGH/ DUNVEGAN/ HVIDE SANDE – The European fishing industry is becoming increasingly reliant on migrant labour from outside the EU. However, due to the difficulty of regulating international waters, as well as a lack of knowledge and oversight regarding labour laws, these migrant ...

AMSTERDAM / BRUSSEL / STOCKHOLM - The European approach to legislation on sex work is a complex patchwork of contrasting policies, each of which claims to prioritise the welfare of workers, but often falls short in practice.

HUELVA – This cross-border investigation exposes the hidden flaws in the European berry market. Tracing the path of the strawberry from field to supermarket, this team of journalists travelled from Huelva to Larache, via Toulouse, to reveal the real human and political origins of what we eat, as ...

COPENHAGEN - Seeking asylum is not a crime. Yet in Denmark, rejected asylum seekers who refuse to cooperate with their deportation are imprisoned at the Ellebæk deportation centre, where they are forced to work for assemble luxury products for multinational and Danish companies.

SANTIAGO DE CHILE – Over the last few years, stories have been published on the irregular adoptions that took place in Chile during the years of the Pinochet dictatorship. But the trafficking of children from Chile did not begin and end with the dictatorship. It still goes on today. This cross ...

MYANMAR – In Southeast Asia, entire cities devoted to online fraud are emerging along the borders of Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. While this phenomenon is relatively well-known in China and the United States, it remains largely unrecognised in Europe. 

BERLIN – This investigation focuses on the winners and losers in the online sex work revolution, where people can buy digital subscriptions to explicit content. A pioneer of this model is OnlyFans, a booming platform whose users spent $6.6 billion in 2023 alone.

AMSTERDAM - What happens when one of the millions of migrant workers living and working in the Netherlands - often in dangerous jobs - is permanently injured in an accident at work? This investigation sheds light on workplace accidents among migrant workers in the Netherlands.

MEXICO CITY - This investigation reveals the scary scale of industrial pollution in Mexico caused by the activities of Volkswagen, BASF, and Bayer, Germany-based companies. Legal loopholes and lax oversight allow their facilities to continue discharging toxic waste.

PRAGUE - One in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15 – a total of 62 million women in Europe. The Istanbul Convention, a treaty aimed at preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, should help with the situation.

BRATISLAVA/PRAGUE - This investigation reveals how Ukrainian women searching for accommodation are open to exploitation in online spaces.

DELHI - India’s garment industry, valued at around 100 billion USD, employs 51 million people formally and another 68 million informally. As a key producer for Western nations and the second-largest textile exporter globally, the industry relies heavily on women, who make up over 70% of the ...

LADNUN / PADUA — This investigation documents that at least 100 Indians paid up to €20,000 to reach northern Italy, living in overcrowded old houses, and being exploited as warehouse workers by cooperatives serving large retailers.

KALIMANTAN – This investigation reveals how EU-banned pesticides are being dumped in Indonesia, devastating Borneo's ecosystem, and local livelihood.

TUSCANY / ISLAMABAD - Most associate the Italian wine country - such as Tuscany, the Langhe and the Prosecco hills -with scenic vineyards where some of the world's most-renowned wine is made but, for many living and working under the Italian sun, the reality is far from idyllic.