LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – After her husband’s sudden death in a car accident, Maureen’s brother-in-law was appointed administrator to the home she and her husband had shared. Though Zambian law provides for women to be named administrators of their own property, a male relative is frequently given the position. Serving as administrator can give unscrupulous perpetrators a veneer of legality for the criminal practice of land grabbing – after being named administrator, relatives can use the role to unlawfully strip the widow and orphans of their property.

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA – A 64-year-old man convicted of violently sexually assaulting the six-year-old child of one of his tenants has been apprehended after hiding for several months in an attempt to escape his sentence.

CHENNAI , INDIA - An IJM operation has brought freedom to 32 people held in a life of slavery at a brick kiln. At the kiln, dozens of children, women and men were forced into the hard labor of brickworks: the victims gathered water, dug dirt, mixed and carried clay, filled molds and dried bricks in grueling conditions. The soil used to make the bricks is notorious for causing sores on human skin and the victims’ hands were scarred and infected. Even the youngest child slaves suffered from open wounds on their hands.

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - In a modern-day David vs. Goliath story, a young girl’s testimony brings down a powerful expat investor accused in 18 other cases of abuse.

BANGALORE, INDIA - IJM has assisted the local Bangalore government in a surprise raid of a brick kiln, freeing several slaves held there. The kiln owners had trafficked 12 laborers and their families, including small children, across state lines and enslaved them in the abusive working conditions of the kiln. As is common in the practice of modern-day slavery, the owners and operators of the kiln had lured the victims to the kiln with promise of cash advances, regular wages and housing.