The Issue:  In May 2009, India's federal police announced that around 1.2 million children are believed to be involved in prostitution in India.

  Including women in this number increases the weight of this atrocity to over 2.3 million.  Sex trafficking in India, particularly in the city of Mumbai,

 has been declared a 'significnat problem'.  200,000 persons are believed to be trafficked into, within, or through the country annually.  Each year, somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 Bangladeshi women are trafficked to India, as are an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Nepali women for the

 purposes of prostitution.  India is also a popular destination for sex tourists from Europe and the United States.  

 

Impact:  An investment of $40,000 toward the work in Mumbai, will contribute to the rescue of

   18 victims of trafficking and their placement in aftercare,

   34 arrests of perpetrators of abuse, and the continual transformation of Mumbai through relentless and successful movement of cases through the local justice system.

 

Moreover, thousands of other vulnerable women and children will be protected as IJM effectively restrains the hand of specific oppressors.  By bringing individual perpetrators to justice, IJM effectively protects those who would have otherwise suffered under the abuse of these perpetrators. 

 

Even more powerfully, pursuing perpetrator accountability also creates a strong deterrent effect for future abuse: Most perpetrators of injustice against the poor do so because they believe they will not be held accountable for their actions.  Even a small number of convictions can have a large impact on reducing oppression.   

 

  - Undercover investigations

  - Rescue raids 

  - Restorative aftercare

  - Perpetrator prosecution 

 

  - Baseline study

  - Training for police and courts

  - Mobilizing community to end slavery

 

  - Victims of sex trafficking rescued and restored

  - Sex traffickers and predators arrested and convicted 

  - Potential aggressors deterred

 

IJM 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.