Written by Lauren Buser. Media by Baylen Whitfield. [divide]
International Justice Mission is an organization that strives to bring justice to areas of the world where the government is corrupt and tragic crimes aren’t handled correctly. This non-profit organization helps stop violence in areas corrupted by human trafficking, slavery, oppression and many other violent struggles. International Justice Mission states they’re currently helping protect 21 million people from violence.
The Problem: Violence
Many developing countries don’t have a properly working government. Without a government, these countries have no law. The nightmare of riding a bus with a murderer is all too real for these people. Trafficking, oppression, and slavery are some of the many heinous crimes these people endure on a daily basis. International Justice Mission works in these countries to bring criminal cases to justice. IJM explains how they do it.
Who is International Justice Mission?
International Justice Mission is made up of lawyers, investigators and community activists. The organization simplifies their work into four main categories: rescue victims, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors and strengthen justice systems. Forced labor slavery is one of the many crimes IJM deals with. They start by finding a way to rescue the victims legally, because the governments of these countries are broken, this can be tasking. Once they have succeeded, they prosecute the slave owners and help rehabilitate the survivors. As if that isn’t enough, IJM mentors current government officials and help find ways to rebuild and sustain the government.
IJM helps stop forced labor slavery, sex trafficking, sexual violence, police brutality, property grabbing, and citizenship rights abuse. These are serious and vicious crimes that could continue without the help of this organization.
Get Involved
Many online organizations only ask for donations and/or volunteers. But IJM wants YOU to get involved! Advocating is a way to get normal people to come together to really make a difference. They want people who will refuse to stand by, who will raise their voice and speak up on behalf of others. An advocate is anybody just like you! IJM wants you to meet them in person. You can host your own event where a speaker will come and give detailed information on this amazing organization.
Fundraising is always a great way to help. IJM gives new ideas on how to do this. Create a custom page to fundraise with friends or a group, or dedicate your birthday. You can also GIVE! While giving money seems like a simple way of helping, it’s extremely important to organizations. These organizations tend to run on little funding, and this causes problems when it comes time to pay the professionals working for them. You can also give by joining their team.
You can also help by praying. Prayer is big to IJM and they feel it does wonders for their work. You can join online and become a prayer partner! This means you will receive emails week to week, concerning the most important prayer requests they have.
While many of these tasks seem simple, it takes many people to create such a change. Help International Justice Mission bring justice to countries all around the world. YOU can be the true superhero of today.
