Auburn International Justice Mission aims to erase human trafficking

The Auburn chapter of the International Justice Mission is fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves.

Cameron Morris, senior in marketing and head of the promotions team, joined the organization after seeing how the organization influenced others and some friends of hers.

“[IJM] stands for International Justice Mission,” Morris said. “ It is an organization that is based on the eradication of human trafficking.”

One of the main purposes of Auburn’s chapter of IJM is to increase awareness.

In 2010, Hannah Flayhart established the Auburn chapter of IJM.

“Our core value really is we’re advocates, so honestly, I think just being transparent with the issue, trying to say, ‘This is what’s going on, but we’re not going to avoid the tough spots that are hard to look at’ because sometimes human trafficking can be a little hard to look at,” Morris said.

IJM works with regions that are less developed than Auburn and the United States, Morris said.

Another organization that the Auburn chapter works with is House of Light, Morris said.

House of Light has a restoration house in India.

“A lot of girls coming out of especially sex trafficking will kind of see that as their only option as far as work goes,” Morris said. “And the fact that they have the abilities to have their own jobs and have their own skills outside of that is really important for their restoration process.”

A lot of IJM’s work happens at home, however.

“Serving through the people closest to you just because you can see the direct effects that it’s had,” Morris said. “So Haddie’s Home is a group; it’s basically a household that supports young women from ages 6 to 16 that don’t really have a stable home life, and they’ve been [with] churches or [with the] government. Different agencies will recommend these girls for this place, and then they go through a process to say you need this support.”

Auburn’s chapter raises money for these organizations through events such as concerts or the thrift shop Threads.

“We’re just going to have a pop-up thrift shop where our members will donate their clothing items that they don’t really need, and it’s kind of a way to free yourself of materialistic mindset, but also, we’re going to be raising money for Haddie’s Home and House of Light,” Morris said.

Morris said this is a prevalent issue because it is not going away as numbers rise and more women are taken into human trafficking.

“I-85, that interstate that goes in between Birmingham and Atlanta is the most trafficked interstate in the country,” Morris said. “So it’s prevalent, sometimes it will be right in front of your face. Like sometimes, not specifically on campus at Auburn I wouldn’t say, but in the community, it’s there, and a lot of people don’t really see it being an issue that’s close to home.”

IJM establishes themselves as a Christian organization, with prayer at the center of their meetings.

“Our core value would be faith, definitely, is a strong one,” Morris said. “We pray over every meeting, and we make sure that people kind of understand trafficking is … a form of slavery [that] isn’t just a physical one, it’s also a spiritual one.”