Blog #12 nternational Justice Mission to Open Third Philippine Field Office to Combat Human Trafficking

The International Justice Mission is a human right agency that works to rescue victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. They are planning to open their third field office in Pampanga, the Philippines in June. This will make 15 field offices worldwide. They hope to reduce the availability of children for sex in this region by 40 percent by 2015. Pampanga is believed to be a haven for human traffickers and child pornography. IJM is using a collaborative casework model which involves providing support to local authorities to help in the rescue of victims and support in perpetrator accountability. This model being used by IJM also involves partnering with local government and non-government agencies to provide aftercare for victims and ensuring that the police, courts, and social services effectively protect vulnerable individuals. In the metro Cebu, the Philippines, IJM's efforts to fight human trafficking resulted in a 79 percent decrease in the availability of children in the commercial sex industry. IJM helped 2,473 men, women, and children in 2011, and they also conducted their largest rescue in Chennai, India where they partnered with the government to rescue 514 bonded worker from a brick kiln. More than 11,000 victims of forced labor slavery and sex trafficking have been helped by IJM since 2005.

This goes to show that when people come together and are determined to make a difference, a difference can be made. Eleven thousand people may not seem like a very large number when you look at the total number of people who are victims of human trafficking, but saving just one life is something to celebrate. Getting more people involved and willing to fight human trafficking can help to save so many more individuals from exploitation or death. The collaborative model being used by IJM has seen great success and other human rights agencies around the world could benefit from using this type of model and save many more people around the world. I believe Albert Einstein was correct in his statement, "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing".

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/international-justice-mission-to-open-third-philippine-field-office-to-combat-human-trafficking-2012-04-12