The Cause
A largely unknown, but serious problem
Today, millions of lives around the world are in the grip of injustice.
More children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade: Millions toil in bondage, their work and even their bodies the property of an owner.
Trafficking in humans generates profits in excess of 12 billion dollars a year for those who, by force and deception, sell human lives into slavery and sexual bondage. More than 2 million children are trapped in forced prostitution. The AIDS pandemic continues to rage, and the oppression of trafficking victims in the global sex trade contributes to the disease’s spread.
In many countries around the world, pedophiles find that they can sexually violate children with impunity. And though police should be protectors, in many nations, their presence is a source of insecurity for the poor. Suspects can be held interminably before trials, imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. The land rights of women are violated on a massive scale worldwide, but with particular ferocity in Africa, leaving widows and other women in vulnerable positions unable to care for themselves or their children. Around the world, women suffer the double indignity of rape and seeing their perpetrators face no consequences for crimes of sexual violence.
Often lacking access to their own justice systems and unable to protect themselves or their families from those more powerful, it is overwhelmingly the poor who bear the burden of these abuses.
Statistics
There are 27 million people enslaved in our world today compared to the 11 million who lived during the 400 years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade Human Trafficking is a 13-19 billion dollar industry.
The selling of people is the 2nd largest (and fastest growing) criminal industry in the world.
There are an estimated 17,500 people trafficked into the U.S. each year.
70% of modern day slaves are female and 50% are children.
Every 30 seconds a girl is sold into sex trafficking.
Addressing the problem effectively
International Justice Mission: IJM
IJM seeks to make public justice systems work for victims of abuse and oppression who urgently need the protection of the law.
Collaborative Casework Model
IJM investigators, lawyers and social workers intervene in individual cases of abuse in partnership with state and local authorities. By pushing individual cases of abuse through the justice system from the investigative stage to the prosecutorial stage, IJM determines the specific source of corruption, lack of resources, or lack of good will in the system denying victims the protection of their legal systems. In collaboration with local authorities, IJM addresses these specific points of brokenness to meet the urgent needs of victims of injustice.
In all of its casework, IJM has a four-fold purpose:
- Victim Relief
IJM’s first priority in its casework is immediate relief for the victim of the abuse being committed. - Perpetrator Accountability
IJM seeks to hold perpetrators accountable for their abuse in their local justice systems. Accountability changes the fear equation: When would-be perpetrators are rightly afraid of the consequences of their abuse, the vulnerable do not need to fear them. - Victim Aftercare
IJM aftercare staff and trusted local aftercare partners work to ensure that victims of oppression are equipped to rebuild their lives and respond to the complex emotional and physical needs that are often the result of abuse. - Structural Change
IJM seeks to prevent abuse from being committed against others at risk by strengthening the community factors and local judicial systems that will deter potential oppressors.
Learn More
IJM Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet (pdf)
Forced Labor Slavery Fact Sheet (pdf)
Illegal Detention Fact Sheet (pdf)
Land Seizure Fact Sheet (pdf)
Unprosecuted Rape Fact Sheet (pdf)
Local Resources
Starting Points, Chippewa Falls, WI
Additional Resources
www.hagarinternational.org
www.stopthetraffik.org
www.csp2justiceseekers.com
Support the Cause
www.isanctuary.org - Clients in Mumbai, India, and they make jewelry.
www.madebysurvivors.com The Emancipation Network sells items made by our clients, such as the bags from Cambodia, but all the products are made by people rescued from slavery, not just our clients.