writer: stephanie kinnunen
In cooperation with international justice mission
photographer: ted haddock
of international justice mission
* In order to protect the individuals we serve, we have hidden some of the faces of sex abuse victims, those whose lives are at risk. To further conceal the identities of victims and safeguard ongoing International Justice Mission (IJM) casework, we have used pseudonyms for particular individuals mentioned here as well as omitting some of their locations, though the stories themselves are real. Actual names and casework are on file with IJM. All images are the copyright of International Justice Mission. |
Undercover video stills of girls in forced prostitution. |
During a brothel raid to rescue minor victims of forced prostitution in South Asia, this girl, who was quite ill, was so scared that she hid on her bed under a blanket. The girls are sometimes locked in rooms that are only about two feet wider than the mattress as to allow the customers to enter and exit.
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—UNICEF
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Lyna is 11 years old. She was rescued from forced prostitution in Cambodia by local police with IJM assistance. She now lives in an aftercare home where most of the girls want to be flight attendants, but Lyna wants to be a lawyer to “help other girls.” |
Rescued victims experience their first few hours of freedom in safety after their rescue from commercial sexual exploitation in Svay Pak, Cambodia. IJM worked with local authorities to rescue 37 girls as young as 5 years old in a single day.
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—US State Department |
Yana was rescued from commercial sexual exploitation at age 6. She was one of 37 victims of sex trafficking that IJM was able to rescue from a village of brothels in Svay Pak, Cambodia in 2003. Many of these girls were sold for sexual exploitation by their families and are unable to return home. |
Yana, 6, and Lanah*, 7, watch as an IJM investigator makes ID badges for each of the rescued girls. |
Yana and several other rescued girls enjoy their newfound freedom at a safe house. |
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