In Southeast Asia, IJM staff work on the frontlines to bring rescue and relief to victims of sexual violence, including trafficked women and children, and to prosecute their perpetrators. Despite a growing commitment to fight this illegal activity in the region, trafficking continues to constitute a major human rights violation in Southeast Asia. Poverty, overburdened legal systems and social instability all contribute to the prevalence of trafficking.

In Cambodia, 60 percent of individuals in commercial sexual activity report being forced to join the sex industry, and as many as one third of the individuals in the sex industry are children. In the Philippines, where some estimates suggest that as many as 100,000 children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking remains a serious problem as well. In May 2003, the Philippines enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking law that imposes a stiff penalty of up to life imprisonment for convicted offenders; however, these laws remain under-enforced.

IJM staff work to ensure that national anti-trafficking laws are brought to bear on behalf of those victimized by this crime.

In the Philippines, IJM staff also work to ensure that Philippine laws dictating that children in conflict with the law not be detained with adult prisoners are enforced. In Thailand, IJM works to ensure that members of marginalized ethnic groups can access the citizenship to which they are entitled, decreasing their vulnerability to trafficking and other abuses. 

Lisa's Story - Cambodia


Lisa was an orphan when her life took a tragic turn — a turn that led to the biggest single case of pedophilia ever prosecuted in Cambodia. After her parents died, Lisa moved in with her brother and his wife. A local man repeatedly offered Lisa money that she knew could help her family. He sold her to a foreign tourist who raped her before giving Lisa to a "guesthouse" rented by a Russian businessman. Lisa was one of several girls kept for the use of Alexander Trofimov. After being raped four times, Lisa escaped.

After she and her brother went to the police, the local trafficker who had sold Lisa was arrested. IJM began to help Lisa, placing her in an aftercare home where she could begin to heal from her ordeal. Acting on IJM information, the Cambodian Anti-Human Trafficking Police arrested Alexander Trofimov on Oct. 17, 2007. “I want to see him, and I want him to see me when I tell what happened," said Lisa, as she asked the judge to remove the screen blocking Trofimov from her view during her day in court. Trofimov was sentenced to 13 years in prison. “I used to think I wanted to be a hairdresser. Now, I want to be a lawyer, so that I can help others just like me,” said Lisa, when the verdict was announced.