Four years ago, when the owner of a rice mill offered him an advance of about $75, Gunamay* had no idea of the obstacles he would face in repaying it. The owner used the debt incurred by the advance to trap Gunamay’s family in slavery, forbidding them to leave his compound or seek work elsewhere before the debt was repaid. The owner provided Gunamay less than a dollar a day for the labor he, his wife and three of his five children – sons of only six, eight and 10 years of age – performed. Barely able to support his family on this wage, there was no way that Gunamay would be able to repay the loan, ensuring his family’s labor to the mill owner in perpetuity.

IJM celebrates this month as girls released from forced prostitution continue to thrive in their new lives of freedom. Kunthy* and Chanda* were trafficked into prostitution at ages 13 and 14. Held captive in a dilapidated structure referred to by locals as the “Anarchy Building,” the girls were raped nightly and routinely beaten, drugged and threatened by the brothel keeper and pimps. After discovering their horrifying imprisonment, IJM worked with local authorities to ensure their rescue.

Recent Sentences in Peru Send Strong Message to Community that Sexual Violence Will Not Be Tolerated

The work of Paz y Esperanza, IJM’s casework alliance partner in Peru, continues to make inroads in a judicial system that has been less than aggressive in the prosecution of sexual crimes against women and children. On June 14, 2007, after much work by Paz y Esperanza lawyers and investigators, the Second Penal Court of Huánuco handed down a sentence of 15 years imprisonment to a man guilty of violently raping a 19-year-old woman.

Working with local police, IJM Uganda investigators have secured the arrest of a woman who has evaded local authorities for several months after violently stealing the home of a widow.