SEE YOUR IMPACT
2023 Year in Review
Violence is a constant threat to people in poverty.
Human trafficking, forced labor slavery, violence against women and children and online sexual exploitation of children are just some examples of the kinds of violence affecting people every day in vulnerable communities around the world.
In 2023, you helped change that reality for thousands of children, women and men.
Because of your support throughout the year, entire families who were once enslaved are living in freedom today. Children who were abused and exploited are now safe and protected. Men and women who were victims of violence are now survivors and leaders in their communities.
And we continue to move closer to a world where safety and freedom is a reality for all.
In 2023, you helped IJM and our partners:
Relieve
10,372children, women and men from violence
Restore
243survivors to safety, stability and strength*
Restrain
3,143suspected perpetrators of violence
Train
22,197justice system officials to better protect their communities from violence
Convict
1,419traffickers and abusers in local courts
Train
18,206community members and other NGO staff to recognize and respond to violence
Note: Numbers reflect internal reports as of February 2024 for the calendar year of 2023.
*This number represents survivors "fully restored" using IJM's externally validated Assessment of Survivor Outcomes tool. There are thousands more survivors currently receiving support and participating in ongoing aftercare programs.
Faces of Freedom
If pictures are worth a thousand words, numbers are worth a thousand stories.
The numbers we report every year represent stories of real people whose lives have completely changed because of friends like you.
They are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, friends and neighbors and survivors who now live in freedom, without fear, because they are finally safe.
Radical transformation only happens when we’re brave enough to try
When coming face to face with a problem as immense as violence against vulnerable people, it might just be easier to believe that we are too small to make a difference. But the stakes are just too high to let fear prevent us from showing up for those who need protection and deserve to live in freedom.
So instead of looking away, you chose to lean in. And it made all the difference.
The stories you read in this year’s Year in Review are what happens when people like you draw near to the difficult work of justice. Yes, the stakes are high, and that can feel overwhelming. But our progress this year alone to protect children, women and men from violence has made one thing very clear: the arc of the moral universe does bend towards justice. And it’s because of people like you.
Sharon Cohn Wu
Regional President, IJM North America
YOUR IMPACT AT A GLANCE
A ten-year partnership to end child sex trafficking in the Dominican Republic concludes with astonishing results.
When IJM’s office in the Dominican Republic first opened in 2013, children were openly trafficked in the streets, public beaches and parks. Traffickers had no fear of ever getting caught because they knew local police didn’t have the resources to stop them.
So IJM began a decade-long partnership with the local government to help strengthen the justice system’s ability to enforce laws effectively and protect children from this violent crime.
In 2023, the program concluded with astounding results. Read the full story.
After three decades of forced labor, an entire village is free and thriving.
Amaragiri is a small fishing hamlet where a close-knit community of 100 children, women and men live peacefully, making a living off the fish they catch, process and sell at nearby markets.
In 2023, this tranquil community celebrated a unique milestone – seven years of freedom since they escaped three decades of bonded labor. Read more about how an entire village was enslaved for 30 years and how they found freedom again.
Advocates travel to D.C. from across 30 states to fight for legislation that would keep children safe from online exploitation.
The Advocacy Summit is an event that brings people together from across the country to learn from experts and meet directly with Congress to advocate for life-saving legislation.
This year advocates urged policymakers to support the EARN IT Act, a bipartisan bill that would put pressure on companies to create safer online environments for children and help bring an end to online sexual exploitation of children. Read more in the full report.