Operation Liberate is a faith-based human rights organization that embraces and builds on historical and contemporary ways of rescuing modern sex slaves and brings those who enslave and exploit them to justice. Leaving the fight against conditions that produce a supply of modern slaves to governments and global economic relief efforts, which are better equipped to address them, our teams of experienced criminal justice and social service professionals reduce the demand for illegal sex services. Beginning this work in the target country of Costa Rica, but eventually expanding to other areas of “the traffic market of the world”, Latin America and the Caribbean, our teams of rescue workers use cutting edge crime detection techniques to find victims and perpetrators, enable and facilitate law enforcement, prosecution and aftercare efforts to release and care for victims and deter those who engage in sex slavery by bringing them to justice, removing the environment of impunity in which they operate. As we do so, we train those we work with to carry on this task independently in their countries and transform the attitudes, laws and facilities (or lack thereof) that allow this crime to be perpetrated.
In accordance with this operational plan, we work to do what the Lord requires of us, going beyond the pale of ritual and putting our faith into action(Micah 6:8):
- We do justice by giving the victims of these crimes voice and vindication. Our core long term and short term teams of criminal justice professionals come alongside indigenous law enforcement, prosecution and judicial authorities to transform laws against this evil that are often no more than documents passed to satisfy the international community into living, breathing documents. We conduct investigations and gather intelligence regarding places and people who are involved in sex trafficking and exploitation. The information gathered is brought to appropriate authorities with whom we cooperate to rescue victims and apprehend perpetrators. Our core team then monitors and facilitates the prosecution of the perpetrators of these horrible crimes.
- We love mercy by rendering protection to victims who are rescued. One purpose of this provision is pragmatic, to facilitate the prosecution of perpetrators. Most of the countries where we work do not have the resources to provide victim/witness protection, which often leads to the dismissal of cases against offenders because of the unavailability of the victims to testify. On a more transformative level, our core team and short-term team social service professionals support, facilitate and strengthen indigenous aftercare efforts and facilities that bring real change to the lives of those rescued. Through these efforts, victims are rehabilitated from their trauma and enabled to construct functional lives that keep them from being re-victimized.
- We walk humbly with indigenous authorities who are working on efforts to eradicate the problem of sex trafficking and exploitation. Often this evil flourishes due to a lack of modern laws, procedures and law enforcement techniques and equipment designed to effectively confront it. Our core and short-term teams seek to transform laws, procedures and institutional structures by providing training to relevant actors, facilitating coordination of their efforts and assisting them in advocating for necessary changes in laws, procedures and funding.