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International Justice Mission, On A Mission To Save People From Slavery, Violence & Human Trafficking · The iHeart SoCal Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Lisa Fox here. It's the I Heart SoCal show.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 0:03
  Speaker 3: So October the 13th, One Republic, one of our all-time
• 0:06
  Speaker 3: favorite bands, One Republic is doing a benefit concert at
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: Morongo Casino Resort and Spa. In fact, every show that
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: we do there that's co-sponsored by I Heart Radio, I
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: Heart Media is a benefit show with our artists. So
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: that means proceeds go to the artist's charity of choice.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: So from Billy Idol, helping to fight teen cancer, Rob
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: Thomas and his animal charity, Sidewalk Angels, Daughtry raised money
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: for suicide prevention. Artists are putting the spotlight on causes
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: that mean something to them and wonder public. chose International
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: Justice Mission. Proceeds will go to International Justice Mission from
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: this show, a global nonprofit that protects people in poverty
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: from violence, slavery, and human trafficking. IJM.org for all the info,
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: but on to tell us more from IJM is Troy Groves.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Hi, Troy.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Hi, Lisa. Thanks for having me.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Ah, I know. It's like already a heavy topic.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Even knowing that these things happen in our world, it's
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: such a tough thing to even know about, but yet
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: here your organization is diving in and doing something to.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Help these people. How did this all get started?
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: I mean, again, I know it's a massive topic and
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  Speaker 3: you work in so many countries and cases here in
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: the U.S.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: And cases in many countries. We'll dive into that. But
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: how did all this get started? How did this organization
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: get started?
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: How did you find a way to organize helping so
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: many people who need it?
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think the scale of the
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: problem is what really motivated it. You know, some folks
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: are kind of deep inside the conversation around human trafficking.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: They're aware of some of the modern-day slavery. They may
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: have heard some of those terms. Some people, not so much.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, in short, there are about 50
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: million people enslaved in our world today, more than any
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: other time in history. And one in four is a child.
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  Speaker 2: And so we just feel like that should not be
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: the case. And so we have gone to work now
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: for about 30 years addressing this form of violence, this
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  Speaker 2: form of everyday violence that disrupts and ruins lives of
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: people around the world.
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  Speaker 3: How do we know these numbers even? Like, how do
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: you find find out about these people? who get in
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: trouble this way. How do we find out about these
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  Speaker 3: stories and people ending up in these terrible situations?
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so... Probably a whole bunch of.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: Ways, right?
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Yep, yep. We're located in 19 countries. And a lot
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: of our stories do come from victims who are in
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: these oppressive situations and they hear that someone is willing
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: to stand on their behalf. And the organization is called
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: International Justice Mission. And we provide the investigations. We partner
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: with local authorities to do rescue operations.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: In each country, right? Each of these countries, 20 plus countries.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right.
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  Speaker 3: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: Yep. And we do rescue operations and then our lawyers
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: stand with them in court. So we provide legal assistance
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: in these cases and stand with them until perpetrators are
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: found accountable and are prosecuted and And so I know
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  Speaker 2: that some of these things can be pretty dark to
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: talk about, like you were saying. But the good news
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  Speaker 2: is that to date, we have rescued over 500,000 people
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  Speaker 2: from slavery and oppression. And we have arrests and convictions
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: of over 20,000 people. And so This is what causes
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  Speaker 2: a real change in the community when you hold people
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  Speaker 2: accountable for their crimes.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: It's hard to believe. We don't want to believe it.
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  Speaker 3: And then we're like, what can I do about it
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  Speaker 3: when it's happening in Africa or Asia or Latin America?
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  Speaker 1: What can I do all the way over here?
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: To help people knowing that these terrible things or that
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  Speaker 3: I've heard these terrible things are happening? I mean, do
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  Speaker 3: we just, we donate to you or can we volunteer?
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  Speaker 3: Like how do we get involved in helping us solve
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  Speaker 3: what's happening?
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  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: Great question. So I would say awareness is key. It
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: all starts with awareness, understanding the scale of the problem,
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  Speaker 2: the scope of it, having a good eye for it
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  Speaker 2: in your community, understanding that you might be safe, but
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  Speaker 2: that's just not the case for everyone. And so awareness
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  Speaker 2: is key. And that, I mean, our IJM social media
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  Speaker 2: platforms continue to put out more and more facts and
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  Speaker 2: statistics and rescue operation details and things that we're working on.
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  Speaker 2: So that's a key area. For sure. I think, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: support is key. OneRepublic has just been massive in that
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  Speaker 2: area in our partnership with them. But, you know, support
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  Speaker 2: from a wide swath of folks, folks who run foundations,
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  Speaker 2: folks who are, you know, submitting grants, have those kinds
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: of things available. And then like just monthly donors. We
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: have a broad base of support and are always looking
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: for more. And then also petitioning our leaders to tune
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: into this and really like looking to pass legislation to
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  Speaker 2: protect people. There's a lot more happening right now in
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  Speaker 2: online exploitation. And there's legislation that's in front of our
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: government and others that is looking to change that accountability
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  Speaker 2: and provide protection for vulnerable people. So those are some
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: basic areas for sure.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I see on here a focus area of IJM,
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  Speaker 3: International Justice Mission, combating modern.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Day slavery, which is just horrific. How is that a thing?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Human trafficking, even scarier, abducting people and making them do
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  Speaker 3: unspeakable things. Like you mentioned, online sexual exploitation of children,
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  Speaker 3: violence against women and children, and police abuse of power.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Touch on that a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: So it's interesting because I was thinking about this the
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  Speaker 2: other day. There's a reason why the term organized crime
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: is out there. Because they're highly organized. And there can be,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: in some communities, people who are entrusted with power can
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  Speaker 2: actually be abusing that power and using it against their
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  Speaker 2: own citizens, profiting from this. And so we take on
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  Speaker 2: organized crime in that way. And so it's important that
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  Speaker 2: we are organized as well. And we do, unfortunately, find
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  Speaker 2: that corruption frequently. sometimes within systems that are supposed to protect,
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  Speaker 2: within justice systems. So we do a lot of police training.
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  Speaker 2: We walk along governments and officials and police. We've trained
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  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of police and judges in this work.
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  Speaker 2: When we started talking about human trafficking in India 30
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  Speaker 2: years ago and brought our first cases before the court,
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  Speaker 2: they thought we were It was a case around road trafficking,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: like vehicle traffic. They had never heard the term before.
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  Speaker 2: And so where we see a large scale in that crime,
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  Speaker 2: it's quite in these desperate situations. We also see the
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: most inspiring change happening as well. And so that's what
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: keeps us going.
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  Speaker 3: I would imagine in that case, 30 years ago especially,
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  Speaker 3: but even still today, you have to prove that it's happening, right?
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  Speaker 3: I think people may not believe that it's happening at
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  Speaker 3: the scale that it's happening.
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  Speaker 1: That you said, Troy, but how do we show that
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: to people, right?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it sounds like you are like super undercover
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  Speaker 3: cop vibes right now, but on the right side in
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: terms of trying to help these people who are getting,
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  Speaker 3: you know, what is it?
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  Speaker 1: They're getting kidnapped. They're getting groomed. I mean, right? All
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  Speaker 1: the ways you can... Especially young people who are vulnerable.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it's just all the bad things we don't
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  Speaker 1: want to think about in this world. This is in
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: that realm.
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  Speaker 3: And you guys have the guts to get in there
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  Speaker 3: and find ways to help as many people as you can.
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  Speaker 1: And that's the ongoing work.
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  Speaker 3: And like you said, to see some efforts improving in
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: terms of these operations, but also the cooperation of the government.
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  Speaker 3: And these countries and the justice system to help you
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  Speaker 3: get more to speak on behalf of people who have
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  Speaker 3: no voice and to get them out and to get
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: them safe and protected in the future.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that is true. Yeah. And when you when
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  Speaker 2: you prosecute a perpetrator for the first time in a
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  Speaker 2: community for these crimes, I mean, it changes everything. They
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  Speaker 2: realize others realize we can't get away with this anymore. Hmm.
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  Speaker 2: And truthfully, they're not that brave. And it's really not.
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  Speaker 2: There are some complicated problems out there, but this one
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  Speaker 2: is just not that complicated. We're talking about accountability for
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  Speaker 2: perpetrators who abuse children and family and other vulnerable people
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  Speaker 2: and bringing the law to bear on vulnerable people's behalf.
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  Speaker 2: It changes everything.
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  Speaker 3: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Amen.
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  Speaker 3: And Troy, can I ask, why are you so passionate
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  Speaker 3: about helping these people and being in this line of work?
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  Speaker 2: So I've been at IJM for 12 years. I've been
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: advocating for this work for about 25 years. I, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I've had a lot of titles at my at my work.
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  Speaker 2: I think my favorite one is basically like director of
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: letting people know there is hope. And we can agree
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  Speaker 2: that all is not as it should be, but all
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  Speaker 2: is not lost. And, you know, it's not, it's not an,
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  Speaker 2: I don't mean to be overly dramatic here, but like
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  Speaker 2: whether it's on stage with OneRepublic or them sharing about it,
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  Speaker 2: or even over the airways here, like, if you're out
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  Speaker 2: there somewhere, you're trapped in modern day slavery, we're coming
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  Speaker 2: for you. We will find you. We will get you
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  Speaker 2: home to your family. And if you're one of those
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  Speaker 2: responsible for this abuse and violence, we're coming for you too.
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  Speaker 2: And we never... give up. And I know that may
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  Speaker 2: sound overly dramatic, but that is just the truth. And
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  Speaker 2: we see it over and over and over again.
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  Speaker 3: You're fired up about it. You're passionate about it. You're
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: fired up about it because you know what? Hearing these
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: things should make people mad, very angry. And so you've
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: got the resources with the International Justice Mission to actually do– like,
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  Speaker 3: I don't have the tools to help stop this, but
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  Speaker 3: you do.
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  Speaker 1: So by– donating to you guys, supporting you guys. You
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: do the work.
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  Speaker 3: And I mean, I'm not being lazy, but I just
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: don't know how to do what you do.
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  Speaker 1: But it's wrong and we have to stop it.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, right. And it is specialized work. There's long, long,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: long-term relational things that have to happen with government officials,
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: with moving large bodies of organizations and communities around. And
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: so It's just we just don't go away. We just
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: don't give up. And so we stay there along in
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: that long, long process for sure. And that's not everyone's calling,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: but it is ours. And the support that we get
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: from our from our donors, from OneRepublic, from others is
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: just it's making that happen, making that real different.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Why is that?
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: And I'm sure, you know, I can ask when I'm
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: hosting the show at Morongo October 13th. I can ask
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: Ryan at the show, but, you know, we're on the
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: radio right now. Why do you know that Ryan Tedder
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: and the guys at Warner Public are so passionate about
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: this cause?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I love those guys. I've known them for forever.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: But why this cause, why it's so important to them.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: I mean, I know they've traveled the world, but yeah,
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: touch on why this is so important to them. Yeah.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, like a lot of us, they
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: hear about the scale of the problem and want to
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: do something. I would say that one of the big
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: influences was their time when they toured with U2 and
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: they witnessed Bono's, his passion for art and advocacy and
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: his passion for leveraging the platform that he's been given
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  Speaker 2: to make a difference beyond the stage. And so when
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: we met, we met at a it was a it
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: was at the Seattle Mariners Stadium backstage through a friend.
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  Speaker 2: And we shared about the issues. And they said, we
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: want to we want to do something about this because
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: we feel like like Bono, like you two has shown us.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: that there's something else we can do. You know, beyond
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: this incredible music, these amazing performances, we can actually respond
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: to people.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Big voices with massive reach, global reach.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: I mean, insane, insane. Yeah, it's incredible. So yeah, they
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: heard about that and they said, we want to jump
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: on board. And most folks, they wouldn't know it. They
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: don't take credit for this kind of thing, but they've
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: been working diligently behind the scenes with us for years. Um,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: they've been, we've been together in these communities. We've walked
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: these streets together in these dark, dark streets. We, we
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: have experienced, you know, these communities and the desperation, uh, together. We've,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: and then we've also sang songs with survivors. Uh, we've
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: pulled together some folks. We were in the Philippines together
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: and we did a, a day and, and brought survivors
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  Speaker 2: in who had spent their, many of them spent their
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: childhood in horrific situations and, and we got to sing songs.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: We got to sing good, good life with them.
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  Speaker 1: And offer some healing.
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  Speaker 4: Everyone wants a pic. Yeah.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: And everyone wants a picture with Ryan.
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  Speaker 4: You know, even me, you know, but no, just, just
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: amazing to see the, these, these kids light up and like, continue,
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: see the band, like, continue to bring hope in that.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: I love that.
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  Speaker 3: Again, International Justice Mission, IJM.org for all the info combating
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: modern-day slavery, human trafficking, online sexual exploitation of children.
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  Speaker 1: Violence against women and children and.
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  Speaker 3: Police abuse of power working in 20 plus countries all
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: over the world, trying to already make a massive difference. Troy,
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: is there a hotline or how do we reach out
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: if we know something?
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  Speaker 4: Right.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: We always say, see something, say something. Can we reach
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: out to you? What's that cell number, Troy? No, I
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: always like to.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Do we go to the website? How do we let
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: you know if we know something or we're suspicious about something? Yeah.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Okay. So in the U.S., it's 911 every time. And
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: here's the beauty of it. Like the U.S., we have
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: issues here, no doubt about it. But it's really the
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: model for ending trafficking worldwide. And so there are so
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: many countries out there, communities, they don't have a 911.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: They don't have anyone who will pick up the phone
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: on the other end. They don't have anyone that they
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: can turn to. So in the U.S., it's 911. Around
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: the world, people are connecting to us through social media.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: So our IJM on Instagram and Facebook and all the
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: socials are there. We get DMs from folks that are
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: in oppressive situations. There's no doubt about it. And IJM.org
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: is the home base. for everything as well.
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: Well, Troy Groves, we appreciate you tremendously, you and the
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: efforts of everyone there on your whole entire team at
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: IJM and bands like Wonder Public and people who want
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: to put this very unpopular topic, but real thing that's
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: happening on the forefront to let people know that it's
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: really happening, but also that there's real help for these
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: people who are stuck in these horrible situations. And again,
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: like Troy said, all the information is at IJM.org. IJM.org.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Troy. And am I going to
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: see you on the 13th at Morongo?
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be there, Lisa. Yes.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: A hug is waiting. A hug is waiting with all
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the guys. So thank you again.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: Thank you again for all that your team is doing there.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: International Justice Mission. IJM.org for more.