ABOUT INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual

exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals

work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators

and to promote functioning public justice systems.

Manna ’s Stor y - INDIA

When 14-year-old Manna* ran away

from her abusive home, she met a

woman who offered her a job selling

fabric. She accepted the position,

and the woman provided her a place

to sleep for the night. When Manna

awoke in the morning, the woman

was gone, and Manna discovered

that she was in a brothel. For the

next two years, she was held in the

brothel and raped by customers for

the profit of the brothel owners.

She was freed when IJM investigators

discovered her captivity and

alerted local authorities, working

with them to release her and three

other young girls from the brothel.

The brothel owners each received

five-year sentences for their crimes,

and Manna was brought to an aftercare

home to heal in security.

Sex Trafficking

Sex trafficking is a growing global enterprise driven by deception, coercion and force.

Traffickers transport or detain their victims for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.

This trade in rape for profit thrives in the absence of robust law enforcement to

ensure the protection of the law for vulnerable children and women.

The Facts

• After drug dealing, human trafficking (both sex trafficking and

trafficking for forced labor) is tied with the illegal arms industry as the

second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest

growing. (U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services)

• Worldwide, there are nearly two million children in

the commercial sex trade. (UNICEF)

• There are an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 children, women and men

trafficked across international borders annually. (U.S. Department of State)

• Approximately 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women and

girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. (U.S. Department of State)

• The total market value of illicit human trafficking is

estimated to be in excess of $32 billion. (U.N.)

• Sex trafficking is an engine of the global AIDS epidemic.

(U.S. Department of State)

IJM’s Res ponse

International Justice Mission’s first priority in its anti-trafficking casework is to secure

the protection of the law for trafficked women and children forced into commercial

sexual activity. IJM investigators spend hundreds of hours gathering and documenting

undercover evidence of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Using this evidence, IJM staff

members then partner with local authorities to rescue victims from situations of ongoing

abuse and ensure that they have access to aftercare services to meet their vital needs. IJM

lawyers work alongside local authorities to secure the conviction and sentencing of traffickers

and other perpetrators.

Sex trafficking will endure as long as it remains a profitable criminal enterprise. By freeing

victims and prosecuting their perpetrators, IJM operations increase the risk and decrease

the profitability of trafficking for those who would commit this crime. IJM works to

combat sex trafficking in Bolivia, India, Cambodia and the Philippines. IJM investigations

have resulted in freedom for more than 1,000 girls and women held by force in the

commercial sex trade.