In 1994, Gary Haugen was a human rights attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice when the United Nations asked him to lead its investigation of the Rwandan genocide. As he dug through mass graves and massacre sites, he was struck by a devastating truth: the victims who had perished didn't need sermons, food, doctors, or teachers - they needed someone to restrain the hand with the machete. This realization ignited a vision for a new kind of human rights organization that would leverage criminal justice professionals to protect people from violent oppression.
Gary left his job and launched International Justice Mission in 1997 with a bold mission: to end slavery in our lifetime. Starting with a small team, IJM took on cases where victims couldn't depend on their justice systems to defend them. Over the past 25+ years, the organization has grown into a global leader with over 1,300 professionals working across 19 countries. IJM has partnered with local authorities to rescue nearly 500,000 people from violence and slavery, convicted over 8,400 perpetrators, and trained more than 431,000 justice officials. Through rigorous research and evidence-based approaches, IJM has proven that justice systems can be strengthened - reducing slavery and violence by up to 86% in communities where they work.