This past summer, four children in Bacolod, Philippines were rescued from unimaginable online sexual abuse.

The perpetrators were their own parents—the very people who are supposed to care and protect and love them.

But thanks to incredible justice-loving people like you, this story has a happy ending.

A team of local law enforcement, social workers and IJM staff have rescued the children. Now, they are in a safe place to heal and find freedom from the trauma they’ve faced.

With the support of people like you behind us, IJM is partnering with the Philippine National Police—all to take steps towards stopping the abuse of children in the Philippines.

Acting Chief Aladdin E. Dingal shares his passion for this partnership: “Together we’re determined to hold traffickers accountable for the crimes they have committed. This should be a warning to all traffickers: you cannot hide behind a computer screen.”

While these precious children were saved from abuse, many exploited children go undetected by authorities.

Online exploitation of children is a heinous crime that is far too common. Right now, 1 in 100 children are being abused for online sexual exploitation in the Philippines.

IJM has worked tirelessly on our Scale of Harm study, which provides estimates of how common online sexual exploitation is, along with invaluable data and insights for policymakers, law enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations to help stop these crimes.

That’s why your support is so powerful. It means we can work with our partners to rescue even more children.