In a landmark vote that may set a global example for getting tough with traffickers, Brazilian lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment this week that allows authorities to confiscate land owned by slaveholders.

FTS supporters helped make this happen, by joining the 61,000 people who signed a global petition urging Brazil to take this trailblazing step.

The move will create a powerful anti-slavery enforcement tool, by targeting “one of the most sacred values of the country’s elite — the sacred right to property,” according to Xavier Plassat of the Pastoral Land Commission, one of FTS’ frontline partner groups in Brazil.

Work on the final wording of the law and the rules to implement it are now underway. The amendment still requires final passage, but observers say the biggest hurdle has been passed with Tuesday’s historic vote by the Brazilian House.

You can learn more in a story by the Associated Press.