Innovative Training For Prosecutors in India

CHENNAI, INDIA – In most of its cases on behalf of victims of forced labor slavery, IJM works with public prosecutors to bring slave owners to justice. But in and around Chennai, India, IJM’s staff discovered a recurring problem: Most of these prosecutors – those with the responsibility to pursue convictions in forced labor cases – lacked a basic knowledge of forced labor law and prosecution methods, and many did not understand the brutal nature these crimes.

To overcome this obstacle and ensure that perpetrators of this form of modern-day slavery are held accountable in court, IJM designed a new training to equip prosecutors with the skills to provide excellent representation for victims of forced labor in the region.

IJM approached the Tamil Nadu Director of Prosecution and requested permission to train his prosecutors on relevant laws. Not only did this Director allow IJM to conduct the training, he personally sent letters to the prosecution departments making the training mandatory for public prosecutors in the region.

As a result of this leadership, last month, 90 public prosecutors gathered for IJM’s forced labor legal training. IJM advocates ran in-depth sessions on forced/bonded labor law and procedure. IJM also conducted additional sessions on the powers of executive and judicial magistrates and the significance of prosecutors in the battle to eradicate this form of violent abuse in India.

After the training, one of the prosecutors approached IJM to express his excitement about offering future trainings to educate others on the law, explaining, "In [my district], bonded labor...and child labor problems are existing. We have to enlighten the police department and labor department to eradicate the menace....We have to conduct a [training] to enlighten those people and to create awareness."

Trainings are an integral element of IJM’s structural transformation programs worldwide – from equipping clergy to advocate for the property rights of widows in their communities in Africa, to training specialized anti-trafficking police teams on best practices for victim rescue and fair treatment of suspected perpetrators in Southeast Asia. Learn more about a recent IJM police training in Cambodia.