IJM Update from Washington D.C.

• Last night (July 28), IJM Cambodia and local police conducted a successful rescue operation at a remote brothel: 20 girls and young women were removed from the building in the coordinated operation, and all perpetrators were arrested. The brothel owner, formerly an officer in the Khmer Rouge, initially attempted to escape by jumping from a second floor balcony over a brick wall, but was pursued by police and ultimately found hiding in a shed. The brothel was particularly cruel; the girls and women there were never free to leave alone and were sent to service customers at local casinos each night. One of the girls said to IJM staff, “Now we’re out of hell and going to paradise!” The victims are receiving care from IJM social workers as they share their stories with local authorities. IJM will ensure that each victim is equipped with the aftercare services she needs in collaboration with local partners. The accused perpetrators are in police custody.

• After nine years of perseverance, IJM Manila has secured the conviction of the man who brutally assaulted IJM client Alina* when she was 11. On July 24, 2009, the perpetrator, Alina’s uncle, was convicted of rape by sexual assault, which carries a sentence of 6 to 12 years in prison. In 2006, IJM Manila also prevailed in an administrative case filed with the Philippine National Police in which Alina’s uncle, formerly a Chief of Police, was dismissed from the police service for conduct unbecoming an officer for the assault. Alina has inspired the Manila team with her courage and perseverance over the past nine years and now serves as a peer mentor in the field office’s S.T.A.R.s (Standing Together to Advocate Rights) Program – you can read more of Alina’s story here: http://www.ijm.org/main/ijmfromthefield-october2008 .

• Last night (July 28), one of IJM’s South Asia teams conducted an operation in collaboration with local police at a brothel – the operation, a result of IJM investigative work, brought freedom to seven trafficking victims. Six suspected perpetrators were taken into police custody duing the rescue operation. The freed women and girls are being cared for by IJM social workers as they share their stories with authorities.