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By Peter Biggs
 | | Jamie McIntosh, head of International Justice Mission's Canadian branch, is seen here with Bolivian children. |
SOMETIMES Christians can feel powerless in dealing with the shameful, disturbing issues of exploitation and abuse of the weak and young in some parts of the world. These abuses involve sweatshops, child prostitution, slavery and unprosecuted rapes.
Missionary aid personnel, who frequently witness such atrocities, are often not able to challenge governments, lest their ability to deliver aid be threatened. Enter International Justice Mission (IJM), which provides an independent voice of effective advocacy in such situations.
The work of IJM has been featured on Dateline NBC, and in Forbes, New York Times Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. IJM was founded in the US by Gary Haugen, who served as Officer in Charge of the UN investigation into the Rwandan genocide.
With field offices in 12 countries and home bases in Canada, the US and the UK, they employ some 280 staff worldwide -- including social workers, lawyers, criminal investigators and counsellors. The Canadian office is based in London, Ontario, and has a staff of five.
Jamie McIntosh, executive director of IJM Canada, told CC.com it is hard to describe their ministry briefly because it engages a wide range of issues.
"We take on individual cases of abuse, sexual exploitation, slavery [and] property grabbing, that are referred to us by missionary agencies and other non-governmental organizations," he said. "We are working in common cause with such agencies as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch."
IJM Canada was started in 2002. McIntosh described the ministry as representing a "third generation of human rights advocacy." The first, he said, was in the 1940s, with the UN Declaration of Human Rights giving the issues shape and voice.
In the '60s and '70s, there was a growth of agencies that monitored suspect countries and documented human rights abuses. These groups, said McIntosh, "are still effective. But today we are about 'enforcement' of existing national laws, by gathering incontrovertible evidence -- for example, hidden video footage -- and presenting it to the police or authorities."
Asked how they achieve action, McIntosh responded: "We try and find trusted law enforcers or an influential person of good will, and work with them. Sometimes we have to deal with non-caring people; we then move up to their superiors."
IJM is well respected by Canada's government, and can also bring some political influence to bear. McIntosh frequently speaks in churches and colleges, and to the media, and he is passionate about the scriptural mandate undergirding all that IJM does.
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"Justice is no longer about personal piety, but it has public dimensions. It's not simply passive and negative -- 'I won't sin' -- but positive," he said.
He said he is fond of verses such as Isaiah 1:17 -- "Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." -- and James 1:27, which states: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
IJM Canada's ministry budget has grown 40 percent over the last year, with opportunities for students interested in social justice issues who would like to serve as interns.
IJM has some flexibility in how it responds to the various issues it deals with. Concerned with safeguarding the rights of vulnerable members of Bolivia's society, and with protecting children and women from abuse and exploitation, Jamie McIntosh recently headed a team of seven to link with the newly opened IJM office in La Paz, Bolivia.
The team, all Christians, included an Ontario judge, a lawyer, a psychologist, a social worker and a private investigator. IJM usually seeks first for responsive leaders in a given country, who want to 'do the right thing.'
In Bolivia, they were able to have a private meeting with Miguel Vasquez, the General Commander of Bolivia's National Police. Vasquez warmly welcomed IJM to the country, and pledged full support of IJM Bolivia's efforts to defend the rights of vulnerable members of Bolivian society.
The positive results of IJM's work are exemplified by a case in the Philippines, where IJM has worked to curb the rape of young girls by standing with victims of rape and sexual abuse.
In 2001, IJM learned about a Manila girl named Alina, who was 11 when she was raped by the local chief of police. Her rapist threatened to kill her if she told anyone. IJM stood beside her through three years of investigation, counselling, court dates and legal proceedings.
Though the rapist bribed Alina's mother -- who sided with the police and testified against her daughter -- Alina stood her ground, telling the truth.
In February 2004, the chief was arrested and dismissed from his post. Alina told an IJM social worker: "From now on I'm very happy, because IJM helped me to be strong. I never thought that I [could] do it -- that I'm here now, standing and strong."
Alina is now a third year high school student and wants to study law, so she can help victims of abuse herself.
February 6/2008
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