Transformation is Possible

International Justice Mission establishes an office in the Philippines.

When I came to Manila in the late 90s, early 2000s, the reality about child sex trafficking is that it wouldn’t take months or weeks or even days to find a child that you would purchase for sexual exploitation. It would take minutes.

Gary Haugen | Founder, IJM

A case involving the commercial sexual exploitation of children leads to IJM’s first conviction.

IJM Philippines received information about children who were being sold for prostitution in a city in Metro Manila. IJM’s investigation led to the rescue of two very young girls who were sold for prostitution in a brothel.

Back then, this was a new type of casework. We were fighting against the influence of power and money... The two young girls were afraid to speak against the people who exploited them.

Patty Sison-Arroyo | Field Office Director, IJM Manila, 2002-2008

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds Project Lantern, a $5 million, five-year anti-sex trafficking (of minors) project in Metro Cebu.

Project Lantern attempted to demonstrate the effectiveness of a law enforcement-based strategy to reduce the prevalence of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Metro Cebu area. At the end of the project, an independent study found 72% fewer children sold for sex in Metro Cebu.

IJM Cebu launches as commercial and sexual exploitation of children persists.

IJM Cebu worked with local governments, local law enforcement, and the local community and its churches to combat child trafficking, rescue survivors, and change the behavior of traffickers. Over several years, rescue followed rescue, momentum built, and even large establishments started to fall to law enforcement operations.

The first reported and documented case of online child sexual exploitation in the Philippines.

As the Philippine government demonstrated great success in suppressing child sex trafficking in bars and streets, we began working on cases of online sexual exploitation of children. This was a new crime, committed in a concealed setting—in homes and private spaces.

IJM takes its work to Pampanga, targeting areas notorious for child sex trafficking.

This was the first time in Pampanga that children trafficked for sex in bars and streets were rescued in a massive scale. Perpetrators were brought to justice, and survivors were guided to restoration. Nightclubs and bars in Pampanga closed down and our work contributed to a drastic reduction of minors in commercial sex in Angeles City by 86%.

The 4-year U.S.-Philippines Child Protection Compact Partnership begins, accelerating the Philippine government’s work against online sexual exploitation of children.

The Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership is the fruit of a generous award from the U.S. government in support of the Philippine government. The grant enabled the Philippine government to effectively understand, respond to, and combat the online sexual exploitation of children. From 2017 to 2021, IJM led over 200 partners and government organizations in this transformative collaboration.

Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC) is formed.

PICACC Members: Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, Australian Federal Police, UK National Crime Agency, National Police of the Netherlands, and International Justice Mission. The PICACC enables strong collaboration with international law enforcement against this borderless crime.

IJM establishes its Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children to partner with governments, industry, NGOs, and other stakeholders to protect children around the world from this crime.

IJM’s Center worked toward effective justice system responses in demand-side countries with the goal of sustainable protection for children and accountability for perpetrators and abusers — the source of the demand.

International Justice Mission Philippines plays a crucial role in crafting and implementing RA 11930 (Anti-OSAEC Act).

The law was signed in July 2022 to combat online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. IJM assisted in drafting the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

The Philippine Survivor Network (PSN) is established.

Two survivor groups from the local arm of the Global Survivor Network (GSN) merged to form the Philippine Survivor Network (PSN) to advocate for change and transformation in the justice system.

Findings of Scale of Harm Prevalence Study Released.

Also in 2023, IJM released the findings from Scale of Harm, a pioneering methodology to estimate the prevalence of trafficking of children to produce new child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) in livestreamed videos, images, and recorded videos, a two-year project led by IJM’s Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children.

IJM partners with the Philippine government for the first-ever National Summit Against OSAEC (Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children).

Strengthen our criminal justice system to the end that all who perpetrate this abhorrent crime are put behind bars . . . I have said it before, and I will say it again: this Administration will do everything. We will spare no effort to combat these heinous crimes against our children.

His Excellency President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. at the 2024 National Summit Against OSAEC

The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), in partnership with IJM, launches the IACAT ProtectPortal, a digital platform that centralizes and harmonizes data on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) across Philippine government agencies.

This is the Philippine government’s central gateway to protection and response. ... This data management tool would help us accelerate our efforts to protect our communities, especially children, from exploitation.

Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty | Undersecretary-in-Charge of the DOJ Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking (IACAT)

IJM Philippines focuses on dismantling OSEC through systemic change and disrupting the criminals' modus operandi.

Today, IJM's work focuses on empowering local communities, championing systemic change in the criminal justice system, advocating for online child protection and safety in international policies, and engaging technology and financial companies to deter and disrupt the crime.