He dreamed of being like his hero Superman, but had no way out. Maarko was rescued through the efforts of IJM and his abusers have been prosecuted.

He prayed to God for safety and a chance to escape. After the local police freed him, he was able to go to school and play soccer again.

All around the world, slaves are taken by oppressors who believe that making money matters more than a person’s life. Driven by greed and overlooked by their local legal system, these oppressors steal human beings and intimidate them until they feel too small to fight back. We believe these slave owners shouldn’t be allowed to win.

International Justice Mission is an organized group of advocates, donors, investigators, social workers, lawyers and government leaders who are executing a proven plan that will stop the modern slave trade in its tracks.

We rescue slaves by disrupting the slave trade. At IJM, we work with local governments to rescue slaves and throw their oppressors in jail. Once the immediate crisis is managed, we disrupt the business model that fostered the slavery in the first place. Disrupting the model involves prosecuting slave owners and dramatically increasing the legal, financial and opportunity costs slave owners must pay to sustain a slave-labor model.

If we don’t disrupt the model, slave owners will expand their power and steal more lives. But the world is changing. Modern slavery can end in our lifetime. Our proven model works. Our only limitations are financial. With your help, we can throw slave owners and traffickers in jail, rescue those whose lives have been stolen and prove to the world every human life matters.