International Justice Mission Mobilizes Supporters to Pass Child Trafficking Law

By Doug Keillor

DC screening of "At the End of Slavery." Photo courtesey of Katherine Fan/International Justice Mission.

Approximately 1.2 million children worldwide are victims of child trafficking each year. Children are trafficked primarily for purposes of domestic labor and sexual exploitation. Although the majority of countries where child trafficking occurs have outlawed the practice, they often lack the necessary resources and training to successfully enforce their laws. This gap in enforcement has moved the International Justice Mission (IJM) to launch a new campaign to raise public awareness and advocate the passage of the U.S. Child Protection Compact Act of 2009 (CPCA).

The CPCA would provide additional tools for the U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) to specifically address child trafficking. The CPCA, if passed, would provide a total of $50 million in grants to countries that have laws in place to fight child trafficking, but lack the capacity and resources required to succeed. Grants may be given directly to national or local governments, as well as to non-governmental organizations with expertise in combating child trafficking. G/TIP would then establish a compact with the recipient organization to create goals and monitor their success with anti-trafficking efforts. “Those funds will be a significant ‘carrot’ to encourage countries to adopt national plans to protect children and prosecute perpetrators, and the ‘compact’ will get them to formally agree to particular strategies,” noted Holly Burkhalter, IJM’s Vice President of Government Relations.

IJM currently partners with local governments where child trafficking is a significant problem, such as India and the Philippines. IJM helps train law enforcement officers to identify and investigate child trafficking, and provides after-care for rescued victims. As G/TIP Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca noted, “IJM is a very important partner [in combating trafficking].”

In its 12 years of existence, IJM has developed a broad network of supporters, from individuals to civic and faith-based organizations. IJM is mobilizing that network to increase awareness of human trafficking and encourage the passage of the CPCA.

Recently, their supporters have been hosting “house parties” to view a new documentary, At the End of Slavery: The Battle for Justice in our Time. The film, produced by IJM, is narrated by actor Danny Glover and features various governmental and non-governmental experts who explain potential solutions to human trafficking. The “house party” participants receive postcards to sign and send to their congressional representatives, urging for the passage of the CPCA. This is the first time IJM has performed this type of outreach, and Burkhalter said they hope their 100-200 hosts can reach out to thousands of viewers.

At the September 30th premier of At the End of Slavery in Washington, DC, Ambassador CdeBaca showed the famous drawing of the Brookes slave ship that abolitionists used to educate and motivate British and American abolitionists in the 18th and 19th centuries. CdeBaca said he hopes films like At the End of Slavery will have the same impact of raising community awareness and mobilizing supporters to take action against international child trafficking.