International Justice Mission

International Justice Mission (IJM) was founded in 1997 in Washington, DC, USA. As a global organization that protects people in poverty from violence. IJM partners with local authorities in 21 program offices in 14 countries to combat trafficking and slavery, violence against women and children and police abuse of power. Since IJM started working in the Philippines in 2000, the government has made rapid strides to stop traffickers from exploiting children in the commercial sex trade—closing bars that sell minors for sex and bringing pimps to justice. Studies have shown the number of minors available for purchase on streets and in bars once notorious for sex trafficking has plummeted between 75% and 86% in the cities where IJM has worked. Currently, IJM works with the government to stop Online Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Philippines. IJM rescues victims by helping Filipino authorities and foreign law enforcement agencies to identify and remove children from online sexual exploitation of children. IJM brings criminals to justice by helping police investigate and gather evidence so that traffickers and criminals facilitating online sexual exploitation are restrained. IJM lawyers help prosecutors press charges and build strong cases using all available evidence. IJM restores survivors by creating individualized care plans for survivors and working closely with a range of aftercare partners. IJM social workers help place survivors in aftercare homes where they can return to school, take vocational classes, and receive ongoing therapy. In addition to providing direct client care, IJM develops best practices and pioneering new tools for shelters handling cybersex trafficking cases. IJM strengthens justice systems by providing hands-on mentoring for law enforcement, judges and social services. The Philippines has strong anti-trafficking laws, and IJM helps to train authorities on how to implement them against this new crime.