International Justice Mission

International Justice Mission (IJM) is an evangelical Christian human rights organization with a focus on laws and law enforcement.

IJM states that its mission is to combat violence including sex trafficking, forced labor slavery, illegal property grabbing, police abuse of power, child sexual assault, and citizenship rights abuse. The bulk of IJM’s work focuses on sex trafficking. The organization’s participation in high profile raids of brothels and close coordination with third world police agencies have engendered criticism over its mission and tactics.

IJM has 18 field offices in Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia and a headquarters in Washington, DC. IJM states it employs 600+ full-time staff globally. Only practicing Christians may work for IJM. Workdays at all offices begin with a half hour of stillness and a half hour of corporate prayer later in the day as part of their spiritual formation practices.

History

IJM was founded in 1997 by lawyer Gary Haugen, who remains its current president and CEO. IJM cites the Bible verse Isaiah 1:17 as one of their core commitments.

IJM

IJM may refer to:

Gary Haugen

Gary A. Haugen (born 1963 or 1964) is an American attorney who serves as President and CEO of International Justice Mission, a global organization that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world. International Justice Mission partners with local authorities to rescue victims of violence, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors, and strengthen justice systems. Haugen founded the organization in 1999.

Education

Haugen received a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard University, magna cum laude, in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Chicago, cum laude, where he was the Ford Foundation Scholar in International Law and a Tony Patino Fellow. Haugen also served as a visiting scholar in politics at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Career before International Justice Mission

In the mid-1980s, Haugen served on the executive committee of the National Initiative for Reconciliation in South Africa. Chaired by then-Bishop Desmond Tutu and Michael Cassidy of African Enterprise, the NIR consisted of Christian leaders proactively devoted to political reform and racial reconciliation.

International law

International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations. International law differs from state-based legal systems in that it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to private citizens. National law may become international law when treaties delegate national jurisdiction to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court. Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national law to conform to respective parts.

Much of international law is consent-based governance. This means that a state member is not obliged to abide by this type of international law, unless it has expressly consented to a particular course of conduct. This is an issue of state sovereignty. However, other aspects of international law are not consent-based but still are obligatory upon state and non-state actors such as customary international law and peremptory norms (jus cogens).