International Justice Mission
| International Justice Mission | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Established | 1997 |
| President | Gary Haugen |
| Staff |
VP and COO: Gary Veurink |
| Budget | US$24.6 Million (annually, FY2010) |
| Location | HQ: Washington, DC Field offices: Guatemala, Bolivia, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, India |
| Website | ijm.org |
International Justice Mission (IJM) is a U.S.-based non-profit human rights organization [1] that operates in countries all over the world to rescue victims of individual human rights abuse. IJM works to combat human trafficking including the commercial sexual exploitation of children, forced labor slavery, illegal detention, police brutality and illegal land seizure. Based on referrals of abuse received from relief and development organizations, IJM conducts professional investigations of the abuses and mobilizes intervention on behalf of the victims. Though it is a faith-based organization IJM assists victims regardless of their religion. The fourfold purpose of IJM is victim relief, perpetrator accountability, victim aftercare, and structural transformation.[2]
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[edit] History
IJM was founded in 1997 by Gary Haugen, who currently serves as the president and CEO of the organization. Previously, he worked in the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice, was director of the United Nations genocide investigation in Rwanda in 1994.
The organization grew out of a group of Christian lawyers who desired to provide legal assistance to impoverished victims of violent abuse.
Haugen and the work of IJM have been featured on “Dateline NBC,”[3] “The Oprah Winfrey Show,”[2] [4] FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, NPR,[5] Forbes Magazine,[6] Need Magazine,[7] Christianity Today,[8] and in the New York Times Magazine.[9] Haguen was also featured in Harvard Magazine[10] and in the University of Chicago School of Law's magazine, "From The Record"[11]
The organization's headquarters are in Washington, D.C. and it has partner offices in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and in the United Kingdom. As of 2012, IJM has field offices in Guatemala, Bolivia, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines[12] Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, India, and casework alliances in Ecuador and Peru.
[edit] Purpose
The purpose of this organization is to restore to victims of oppression their lives, their liberty, their dignity, and the fruits of their labor. It is also designed to prevent the enslavement and suffering of future generations. IJM outlines its purpose with four points:[2]
- Victim relief: to alleviate the suffering of the victims who have been brought to IJM’s attention.
- Perpetrator accountability: to use local justice systems to prosecute offenders, thus dissuading would-be future perpetrators because of the enforced consequences.
- Victim aftercare: to prepare the victims to rebuild their lives and to provide the care necessary for healing from the complex emotional and physical results of abuse through IJM employees and trustworthy local partner organizations.
- Structural transformation: to work with nationals and their governments to identify deficient areas in judicial systems and repair these areas so that long-term changes supporting the end of abuse and slavery occur. As of 2009, 90% of IJM’s 335 staff members are nationals of the countries they work in.
[edit] Results
In 2010, IJM's Project Lantern reviewed[13] its programs in Cebu, Phillipines, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation[14] and concluded that there were 79% fewer minors in the sex trade in Cebu than before the program started, over 200 minors were rescued, over 700 law enforcement officials were trained, and over 100 traffickers were charged. In 2011, IJM stated that they had worked with local authorities to free over 2500 bonded laborers in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh since 2001.[15]
[edit] Financial information
IJM’s financial goal is to use its resources to provide the most relief possible for victims of oppression. IJM has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. The annual financial reports and the independent auditor’s reports for the previous four years can be found on IJM’s website.
Only 20% of IJM’s funding comes from government grants. The rest is donated by individuals, churches, and foundations, [2] including $5m from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.[14] IJM is the leader of three coalition groups that collectively received an $8m grant from the Google Foundation in 2011 to fight slavery in India and develop advocacy programs in the United States.[16]
[edit] Criticism
IJM’s work of rescuing victims from brothels has encountered criticism, as some brothels also have non-trafficked workers that view sex work as the only means of supporting their families, due to lack of other opportunities, and return to the brothels. Some sex-worker advocates believe that the police involvement stimulated by IJM creates worse conditions for the women who want to be employed in the brothels.[17]
IJM does have a protocol for their foreign police partners which includes these requirements: that the police protect the sex workers from the media, that the police assure the sex workers that they are not being arrested, and that organizations that provide social services to sex workers not be implicated in police enforcement operations.
The International Union of Sex Workers criticises their practices as being founded in morality, which does not distinguish between consensual sex work and slavery, and that crackdowns drive prostitution further underground.[18]
[edit] References
- ^ "International Justice Mission". Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. http://www.ecfa.org/MemberProfile.aspx?ID=6097.
- ^ a b c http://www.ijm.org/
- ^ "Children For Sale," An episode of "Dateline NBC", January 9, 2005
- ^ "Child Sex Trafficking, The Facts," An episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
- ^ Cambodian Cop Targets Sex Tourists", An episode of "Weekend Edition Sunday," by Michael Sullivan, May 20, 2007
- ^ Hitting Slavery Where It Hurts, in Forbes Magazine, January 12, 2004
- ^ "Kids: Child Sex Trafficking," An article in Need Magazine, Winter, 2006
- ^ "On A Justice Mission: The Christian Vision Project," An article in Christianity Today by Gary Haugen
- ^ The Girls Next Door by Peter Landesman, New York Times Magazine, January 24, 2004
- ^ "A Calling For Justice," An article in Harvard Magazine by David McKay Wilson, March/April 2005
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://osg.gov.ph/default.asp?id=40&mnu=40&ACT=5&content=48
- ^ "Project Lantern Results and Summary". International Justice Mission. 2011. http://www.slideshare.net/IJMHQ/project-lantern-resultssummary?from=embed.
- ^ a b "International Justice Mission Receives $5 Million Grant to Fight Sex Trafficking". Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. March 14, 2006. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/international-justice-mission-hiv-aids-060314.aspx.
- ^ "645 bonded labourers rescued this year". IBN. December 5, 2011. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/645-bonded-labourers-rescued-this-year/208168-60-120.html.
- ^ "Google joins fight against slavery". CNN. December 14, 2011. http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/14/google-joins-fight-against-slavery/.
- ^ Jones, Maggie (November 2003). "Thailand's Brothel Busters". Mother Jones. http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2003/11/ma_570_01.html.
- ^ http://www.iusw.org/2012/01/google-and-its-anti-sex-work-stance/
