In much of the developing
world, people are not safe.

Restraining criminals and gathering evidence to hold them accountable is difficult. In the developed world, there are specific and rigorous police procedures to help justice systems build fair, strong cases against criminals.

In the developing world, police officers are given little training. While officers may receive military-like drill training, there is little advanced instruction in criminal investigation or evidence collection.

When a justice system is broken, police have little incentive to exert great effort. It’s often easiest for them to turn a blind eye, or dismiss victims who wish to file a complaint.

Some officers actually switch sides - working against the people instead of for them. They may expect payment before they’ll do their jobs, or even extort money from those they’re supposed to protect. When there is no accountability for corrupt officials in the system, the good officers who want to uphold the law and serve the community can become marginalized.

In many systems, one of the most crippling problems is a lack of hope. Because systems have been broken for so long, injustice becomes the norm, and people do not believe that change can happen. Government leadership may have little will to fix what is broken in the justice system. Poor people, along with those who advocate for them, look for work-arounds to the system, rather than solutions to the problems in the system.

Through our initial partnership with authorities in Cebu, IJM discovered specific instances where the system was failing to stop sex traffickers from exploiting and abusing minors.

Despite strong laws on the books, police and prosecutors seemed unable to successfully arrest, charge and convict perpetrators of the crime. But as IJM partnered with local authorities on case after case, the specific breakdowns that caused cases to fail became clear.

Police hadn’t received specialized instruction on how to conduct an effective anti-trafficking operation or gather evidence of trafficking crimes, so even if they attempted to enforce the law, they lacked the evidence they needed to convict offenders.

After rescue operations, child victims, accused traffickers and child abusers were all held in the same room while the investigation was conducted, giving criminals the opportunity to harass and coerce their victims before they talked to police – leaving many too afraid to testify against their abusers.

Even if traffickers were charged, prosecutors often misunderstood the Philippines’ new anti-trafficking law, and would fail to apply key provisions. As a result, traffickers were often mischarged or released on bail, where they could flee or even simply pick back up and reopen their businesses.

When IJM began working in the Philippines, cases against traffickers often took more than five years – and could take twice that long. Because convictions were so slow to come, it seemed like traffickers would never be held accountable. Many people did not believe that the justice system could actually stop these criminals.

But the IJM teams in the Philippines have partnered with local prosecutors and courts to prove that the system can actually work, securing the conviction of scores of traffickers and concluding recent cases in as little as seven or eight months.

The teams work to ensure that word spreads about these “proof points,” sharing about the victories with key stakeholders and making sure that media outlets are aware of the cases’ outcomes.